Cambodia News, Sihanoukville: The body of a murdered man was found on 29 April 2020 at 13:00, in the foot of the Thmor Mountain, Samrong Krom, Prey Nop District, Preah Sihanouk. The victim has been identified as a 19-year-old man who took his motorbike with a friend who had called him up to smoke some drugs in an isolated spot.


After the discovery of the body, the Prey Nop District Police Inspectorate conducted a thorough investigation until 30 April 2020 at 14:15 pm when they arrested Chan Ly Chheang, an 18-year-old male migrant worker in Cheung Ko village, Cheung Ko commune, district Prey Nup, Preah Sihanouk province, who was found with the black Honda Dream motorbike belonging to the victim. The suspect reportedly hit the victim with a large rock, and killed him at the scene before leaving with his motorbike.


The suspect had been trying to sell the motorbike, but nobody wanted to buy it because he had no papers for it. He has been taken into custody and charged with murder and aggravated robbery.

30 Apr 2020
Koh Santepheap TV

So just recapping this one then:

1. a guy phones up his friend and asks him to go with him to an "isolated spot" to smoke some drugs
2. the friend agrees and off they go
3. after smoking the drugs the friend decides to kill the guy so that he can have his scooter
4. the friend bashes the guy on the head with a rock, killing him, and rides the scooter home
5. he then tries to sell the scooter but no-one will buy it
6. the police become suspicious, and take the friend to the isolated spot
7. at the isolated spot, the friend admits to killing the guy and shows the police the rock he used as the murder weapon

Foreigner wrote: ↑Sat May 02, 2020 6:01 pm So just recapping this one then:

1. a guy phones up his friend and asks him to go with him to an "isolated spot" to smoke some drugs
2. the friend agrees and off they go
3. after smoking the drugs the friend decides to kill the guy so that he can have his scooter
4. the friend bashes the guy on the head with a rock, killing him, and rides the scooter home
5. he then tries to sell the scooter but no-one will buy it
6. the police become suspicious, and take the friend to the isolated spot
7. at the isolated spot, the friend admits to killing the guy and shows the police the rock he used as the murder weapon

OK, sorry detective foreigner, close but not quite. I missed an important detail: The suspect's phone number is given in the Khmer news, and it seems that his call to the victim just before he left his house was traced by police, and that was the vital clue. And then the suspect was found with the victim's motorbike, which probably clinched it for him.

There is also mention that the victim was found without his shirt on, which opens up other possibilities as to the real motive.

In the photo of him holding the rock they pixelated the rock (presumably the rocks guilt had not yet been established). Later, there is a full frontal of the rock, so we now know of its culpability. So, I guess that raises the question of whether the rock was in it from the start? And how might it benefit from the killing?
Or am I reading too much into this?
Pro tip, if your friend bludgeons you to death with a rock, he's not really your friend.