Cambodian court charges ex-military general with murder

[geovalin]

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian court on Sunday charged a former major general Kim Marintha, who allegedly killed his step-wife and daughter, Phnom Penh Municipal Court's deputy prosecutor Keo Socheat said.

Kim Marintha, 57, who is chairman of GST Express Bus Company, was arrested in Thailand by Thai police on Saturday and extradited to Cambodia on the same day after he had fled Cambodia for seven months since allegedly killing his step wife and daughter in February, the National Police's news website reported Sunday.

The suspect murdered his 30-year-old step wife and six-year-old daughter in their house in Phnom Penh city and packed their bodies in plastic bags to dump in Pich Nil valley in Kampong Speu province, more than 100 kilometers west of Phnom Penh.

The former general killed his step wife after he found that the woman had a love affair with another man and asked him for divorce. "The perpetrator could face life in prison if convicted,"the website quoted Socheat as saying.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/140914/cambodian-court-charges-ex-military-general-murder

[Lex Talionis]

I'm assuming step wife means the same thing as common-law wife. It's one thing to murder a cheating wife in a jealous rage, quite another to turn around and murder your own six-year-old daughter. Highly psychopathic. Extremely rare for a Cambodian court to go after someone so highly placed. Good to see though and good on the Thai authorities for a quick extradition. Let's hope justice will prevail in the end.