PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Sam Bith, former Khmer Rouge guerilla, died on Saturday at the age of 74 while serving a life sentence for abducting and murdering three Western backpackers 14 years ago. According to his wife, Sam Bith was suffering from high blood pressure and diabetes.

Sam Bith was a Khmer Rouge commander in southwestern Cambodia when a train carrying the backpackers was ambushed. Nearly a dozen Cambodians died during the incident. The three backpackers, Australian David Wilson, Briton Mark Slater, and Frenchmen Jean-Michael Braquet, were then abducted and held for three months.

The Khmer Rouge Tribunal did not charge Sam Bith because the court’s jurisdiction was limited to crimes between 1974-1979 when Cambodia was controlled by the regime.

For more information, please see:

International Herald Tribune – Former Khmer Rouge Commander Dies While Serving Life Sentence for Foreigners’ Murders – 16 February 2008

The Jurist – Former Khmer Rouge Commander Dies While Serving Cambodia Life Sentence – 16 February 2008