Lesson plan
Sam Bith
Sam Bith (May 1, 1933 – February 15, 2008) was a Cambodian guerrilla commander, convicted murderer for Khmer Rouge, and former deputy to its military head Ta Mok. On July 26, 1994, Bith and his fleet of rebels ambushed a train carrying the three backpackers – Australian David Wilson, Briton Mark Slater and Frenchman Jean-Michel Braquet, with at least ten Cambodians being killed in the attack itself. The group held the three foreigners and several Cambodians under "miserable conditions" at Vine Mountain rebel base in the southern Cambodian province of Kampot. They were killed three months after the attack when government-backed negotiations for their release and the $150,000 ransom failed. Fellow rebel Nuon Paet was sentenced to life in prison for his role in it in June 1999. In his trial, he testified against Bith, claiming that Bith, his superior officer, ordered them killed. By the time the manhunt began that same year Bith was a general in the Royal Cambodian Army after defecting from the Khmer Rouge in 1996. Bith was found following the publication in a Thai newspaper of reports of his lavish home in Pailin in western Cambodia. He was charged with kidnapping, conspiring in premeditated murder, terrorism and robbery in December 2002 and was sentenced to life in prison.…
Article summary
Sam Bith (May 1, 1933 – February 15, 2008) was a Cambodian guerrilla commander, convicted murderer for Khmer Rouge, and former deputy to its military head Ta Mok. On July 26, 1994, Bith and his fleet of rebels ambushed a train carrying the three backpackers – Australian David Wilson, Briton Mark Slater and Frenchman Jean-Michel Braquet, with at least ten Cambodians being killed in the attack itself. The group held the three foreigners and several Cambodians under "miserable conditions" at Vine Mountain rebel base in the southern Cambodian province of Kampot. They were killed three months after the attack when government-backed negotiations for their release and the $150,000 ransom failed. Fellow rebel Nuon Paet was sentenced to life in prison for his role in it in June 1999. In his trial, he testified against Bith, claiming that Bith, his superior officer, ordered them killed. By the time the manhunt began that same year Bith was a general in the Royal Cambodian Army after defecting from the Khmer Rouge in 1996. Bith was found following the publication in a Thai newspaper of reports of his lavish home in Pailin in western Cambodia. He was charged with kidnapping, conspiring in premeditated murder, terrorism and robbery in December 2002 and was sentenced to life in prison.…
Key claims
- date of death: 2008-02-15 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- The record states that the date of death is "2008-02-15". What evidence would count against this claim?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
No sources recorded.
Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.