General gets life for murder of mistress, daughter

Kim Marintha sits handcuffed as authorities check his personal possessions near Poipet Town in Banteay 

Meanchey following his September arrest. PHOTO SUPPLIED

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea, The Phnom Penh Post

A FORMER two-star general was sentenced to life in prison this morning for murdering his mistress and their young daughter, while his son and son-in-law were handed lesser terms for helping to hide the bodies.

Kim Marintha, a business owner and former adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Ke Kim Yan, was tried along with his son-in-law Chea Soksamnang, 36, and 37-year-old son Kim Senrith, still at large, over the February 2014 slaying of Va Davy and her six-year-old daughter Kim Thavchida.

“Based on the hearing and Kim Marintha’s confession, the court has found him guilty,” Phnom Penh Municipal Court presiding judge Heng Kesaror said, reading the verdict.

“The court has sentenced him to a life sentence under the allegation of intentional murder with
aggravating circumstance.

“It is ordering him to pay $ 200,000 in compensation to the plaintiff [Va Davy’s mother].”

Davy and Thaychida’s bodies were discovered on March 20 last year, wrapped in black plastic bags by the roadside in Kampong Speu province.

In previous hearings, Marintha, who fled to Thailand following the murder, admitted he had strangled Davy in a fit of jealous rage for having an affair with another man but denied intending to kill her.

The court heard that Chea Soksamnang and Kim Senrithy helped their father transport the bodies.

Although initially charged as accomplices to intentional murder with aggravating circumstances, their sentences were changed to “hiding bodies”.

Speaking outside the court, Va Davy’s mother, 53-year-old Mey Lili, said she was pleased with the sentence.

“I am very happy, as the court has found justice for my daughter and granddaughter… but it cannot bring them back from the dead.”