In a rare move a Cambodia appeal court has released Olivier Van Den Bogaert, main suspect in the brutal murder of a young French tourist in February 2013, on bail after almost a year in detention. Under Cambodian law Van Den Bogaert could have been held for another six months before going to trial. The prosecuting judge has 15 days to appeal the decision.
The naked body of 25-year old Ophelia Begnis was pulled from the Kampot River on 10 February last year. Her face had been devastated with a heavy sharp instrument like a machete or chopper. She had left the guesthouse she was staying in, Les Manguiers, the previous afternoon on a rented bicycle and was not seen alive again. She was reported missing the next morning when she was due to leave Kampot by bus but did not appear.
Kampot is a quiet, pretty, historic town popular with backpackers and known for its famous pepper and resounding natural beauty. Violent crime against tourists is almost unheard of; the murder of Ms Begnis had an enormous impact on the local community.
From the start of the investigation police focused on the foreign community. Belgian guesthouse owner, Van Den Bogaert, 41, was arrested on 26 April, 10 weeks after Ms. Begnis’ death based on an eyewitness who allegedly saw him dumping a bicycle in the river. A bicycle was recovered but could not be positively identified as the one ridden by Ms. Begnis.
A French forensics team visited the town in March 2013 and gathered evidence from boats used for tourist trips and took DNA samples from a number of foreign residents. Cambodia does not have a criminal forensics laboratory capable of DNA assays so samples were sent to one of six laboratories in France.
The French examination showed that Ms. Begnis had not been raped and there was no evidence linking her to Van Den Bogaert.
Local press quote Seng Sivutha, deputy director of the Appeal Cour:
“We did not have sufficient evidence to inculpate him, so Appeal Court Judge Meng Khun Leang ordered his release.”
Although Van Den Bogaert is said to have been treated well, with friends sending food and a mattress, and despite being housed separately from Cambodian prisoners, his life for the last year has been intensely difficult in the country’s second most overcrowded prison.
A member of Van Den Bogaert’s family tells All Things Crime Blog “(His release) is a relief. His health and mental state is at the moment the biggest worry”.
Unless the prosecuting judge drops the charges in the face of the appeal court decision it may be many more months before a trial takes place.
Click here for more on the Kampot murder case.