khmer.SA: Mississippi native slain in Cambodia wanted on 12-year-old bench warrant

3:44 p.m. CDT July 15, 2014

A background check on a Mississippi native found slain in a dump in Cambodia shows an open bench warrant from 2002 when he missed a court date for manufacturing methamphetamine and third-offense DUI.
International media reported that a child found the bruised body of William Bryan Glenn, 43, in a garbage dump on Wednesday. He was allegedly wrapped in a yellow curtain held together with duct tape.
Villagers reported seeing a motorcycle taxi drive down the dirt road at 3 a.m. on Wednesday and then stop at the site just hours before the body was found.
Glenn's passport was confiscated by the U.S. Embassy before his death, a police official said yesterday.

"The ... team from the U.S. Embassy here told us they had been looking for this guy because he was involved in a drug case and they wanted to send him back to the US," said Choun Narin, deputy Phnom Penh municipal police chief in charge of penal crime, calling him "a wanted criminal."
Glenn, who is a Columbus and Lowndes County native, had a charge of manufacturing methamphetamines and third offense DUI outstanding with the Lowndes County Sheriff's Department from 2001. According to the Lowndes County Circuit Clerk's office, he was arraigned in Lowndes County Circuit Court in November 2001, and when he did not show up for trial in February 2002, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.
He was never convicted on the charges, because he never went to court on them.
The Columbus Police Department has not yet returned requests for further information.
U.S. Embassy spokesman John Simmons told the media that the U.S. Embassy was not involved in the investigation, but Narin said the embassy is involved.
"Inquiries may be addressed to the Cambodian police authorities who are handling the investigation," Simmons wrote in an email, adding that the embassy was not involved in the case. He went on to say that the embassy often collects personal effects to send back to a victim's family.
A State Department official told the Clarion-Ledger by email that the State Department offers condolences to Glenn's family and is in contact with them, providing all appropriate consular assistance.
"Out of respect for the privacy of those affected, we decline further comment," the email read.
Mok Chito, director of the central justice police department at the Ministry of Interior, said municipal police were handling the case "directly", so he was not aware of how far the investigation had progressed.
A post by Glenn on Expat-blog.com saids he is a graduate of the University of Mississippi and then taught in Mississippi for six years, but that's where things get murky.
The Mississippi Department of Education does not have record of a William Glenn, a Bryan Glenn, or a Will Glen.
The Lowndes County School District also does not have anyone in their records with the last name Glenn.
The Columbus Municipal School District was not able to access its records until next week, a receptionist said.
The University of Mississippi Registrar's Office and Alumni Association both have no record of Glenn at Ole Miss.
Heng Sokuthy, manager of the Golden Gate American School, where Glenn taught briefly, said he had mentioned living in Bangkok.