PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A former Khmer Rouge commander who masterminded the abduction and murder of three Western backpackers in 1994, has died, his wife said on Saturday.
Sam Bith, 74, the most senior of the three ultra-Maoistguerrillas convicted in 2002 of abducting Briton Mark Slater,Frenchman Jean-Michel Braquet and Australian David Wilsonduring a train ambush in southern Cambodia, died in a PhnomPenh hospital on Friday.
Sam Bith, who has been in and out of hospital with avariety of illnesses in the past few years, denied anyinvolvement but lost his appeal in 2006. His lawyer had said hewas in a Thai hospital at the time of the attack.
"I spent all my money on his medical treatments in the lastthree years," his wife Khim Ry, 56, told Reuters at thehospital.
She said she could not afford to transport her husband'sbody to his home village in the northwestern province ofBattambang.
Information Minister Khieu Kanharith confirmed Sam Bith'sdeath, but declined further comment.
About a dozen Cambodians died in the ambush on the train.The three backpackers were taken hostage and held in a KhmerRouge mountain stronghold for about three months before beingshot during a rescue attempt by government troops.
Nuon Paet and Chhouk Rin, who both served under Sam Bith,are serving life sentences for their part in the murders.
A United Nations-backed tribunal has detaining five seniorleaders of the Khmer Rouge regime which ruled the country from1975-79 during which an estimated 1.7 million died.
The trials are expected to begin in July.
