A British Expat in Cambodia Was Found Stabbed to Death in a Park — and Police Suspect Love Triangle Motive

A British woman was found stabbed to death in a Cambodian park after an argument over what police called a “love triangle.”

Just before midnight on Friday, Aug. 29, Jessica Cariad Hopkins, 34, was found dead in a park near Koh Pich City Hall in the capital city of Phnom Penh, the General Commissariat of National Police said in a statement.

Hopkins was found laying in the grass at the park in the Chamkar Mon district of the city, with her sandals next to her body. The murder weapon – a bloodied knife – was found close by, police said.

Following a short investigation, at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30, police tracked down Kidikila Nganda Glodie, 33, of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at a nearby salon, and arrested her in connection with Hopkins’ death, according to the statement.

“This murder is a love triangle cause,” according to the statement. 

The suspect stabbed Hopkins in the throat, police said in the statement.

Hopkins and Glodie were roommates, living in a rented house in the Chroy Changvar district, Captain Em Vichetr, a Deputy Chief at the Criminal Investigation Office, said, the Khmer Times reports.

According to police, the two women rode a moped to Koh Pich, where they sat in the park and started arguing, per the Khmer Times.

The suspect “knocked the victim down and pushed her to the ground” before brandishing a knife and stabbing Hopkins “many times” in the throat, Vichetr said on Aug. 30. The suspect then fled the scene.

The suspect allegedly killed Hopkins over a man, Brigadier General Bun Satya, a Deputy Chief at the Phnom Penh Municipal Police, said, the Khmer Times reports.

“During the interrogation after her arrest, the suspect confessed that she had killed the victim because she was angry at her for having an affair with her Congolese boyfriend,” Satya said.

Glodie is expected to be charged with murder, according to the Khmer Times.

According to Hopkins’ Facebook page, she is from the small town of Harpenden, about 33 miles northwest of London.

In a touching Facebook post, her friend Sophors Chheoun wrote, “I am heartbroken to lose my lovely neighbor and dear friend Jessica Cariad Hopkins. She was such a caring person, always there for me and my family, helping in ways big and small. Her kindness, her smile, and her generous heart meant so much to me.

It feels unreal that she is gone. My heart aches knowing such a beautiful soul was taken from us too soon. Rest in peace, Jessica. You will forever be missed and remembered with love.”