Mystery continues to surround the sudden death of a father-of-two feared to have been murdered in Cambodia.

The body of John Connell, 43, of Brunswick Road in Sutton, was found by police on August 11, 2013, following reports of a rancid smell coming from his room in a guest house in the Daun Penh District of Phnom Penh, an inquest heard today.

His corpse, which had laid wrapped in tarpaulin for weeks after his death before being discovered, was flown back to the UK for a post-mortem examination but was too decomposed for a conclusive analysis.

His roommate Ricardo Perez Blundell was jailed for 10 years for his murder in December 2014, according to Cambodian press, which reported the 40-year-old Spanish national slept alongside Mr Connell’s body for two weeks before checking out of the guest house.

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Giving evidence to Westminster Coroner’s Court this morning, a witnesses said Blundell told him “something had happened to John”.

He said Blundell dismissed the idea of reporting Mr Connell’s death to the police because he feared he would be bribed by corrupt Cambodian officers.

Aaron Reed, a friend of Blundell, said: “Rick was in distress and talking in short sentences. He said something had happened to John.

 “He had heard the Cambodian police force demand bribes to remove a body, and he didn’t have a passport.

“The option of alerting the police was dismissed. What we should have done was inform the British Embassy.”

Mr Connell had a long history of alcohol and drug abuse and photos provided the court by the Cambodian police showed his arm was strapped with a tourniquet when his body was discovered.

The electrician, whose two children live in Surrey with their mother, was seen drinking heavily on the morning of his death by Mr Reed.

He said: “John kept to himself and didn’t engage in conversation.

“He kept swigging from a bottle of red wine and I thought it was odd for someone to be drinking so heavily on a Sunday morning.

Mr Reed said both the two roommates were in a good mood when he left the apartment. But Blundell later called him in a state of panic and he returned to find the Mr Connell’s body

There were no signs of any “struggle” and the room was as it was when he visited earlier that day, Mr Reed told the inquest.

The electrician had been travelling in south-east Asia for several months to come to terms with the death of his mother, after which he had inherited a large sum of money.

Coroner William Dolman recorded an open conclusion.