Japanese Taxi Murder Update

Two Japanese men in their 20’s were arrested in Cambodia late on Sunday on suspicion of killing a taxi driver in the country’s north, a local police official said.

The men were identified as Reimon Ishida, 23, originally from Chiba orefecture near Tokyo, and Ryuji Nakakuki, also 23, originally from Fukushima prefecture.

The two admitted to killing Cambodian man Him Chan, 40, with a knife around 5pm on Sunday to steal his taxi which they planned to use in committing further crimes, according to Huot Sothy, deputy police chief in Siem Reap province.

The pair arrived in Siem Reap on Saturday via Thailand.

On Sunday morning, they allegedly hired a car and driver to take them to the neighbouring province of Banteay Meanchey with the intention of stealing the vehicle. They decided not to steal the car after discovering it was equipped with a camera.

They then allegedly hired their taxi driver victim on the way back to Siem Reap before killing him and stealing his car, the official said.

After stealing the car, the suspects almost immediately collided with a tractor carrying rice and came to a halt in front of a house about 300 metres away. The incident occurred in a village in Puok district, about 18 kilometres from the town of Siem Reap.

The victim lived in Siem Reap and was a father of four, according to the official.

Under Cambodian law, the suspects face somewhere between 15 and 30 years in prison if convicted.

Bangkok Post