KUALA LUMPUR, June 13: A Malaysian court on Thursday charged a Pakistani security guard with the murder of a US pastor found strangled at his home in Kuala Lumpur last month, a report said.

David James Ginter, 62, was found dead in his home on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital in May, his hands and feet bound and a mobile phone charger cable wrapped around his neck.

A Kuala Lumpur district court charged Shahbaz, 25, with the murder, carrying a mandatory death penalty by hanging, Bernama news agency reported, adding that four accomplices were believed to be still at large.

It said the defendant was recorded as having only one name and that no plea was recorded. The next court hearing was set for July 18.

The report gave no details, such as a possible motive. Court officials and prosecutors could not be reached for comments.

Ginter had been a senior pastor at the Bridge International Church in Kuala Lumpur for three years.

Police previously cited robbery as a possible motive, noting that the pastor’s car was missing from his house.

Reports of burglaries and violent crime have surged in recent years in the country.

Police say statistics show they have managed to reduce crime, but anecdotes of break-ins, bag-snatching and violent crimes abound in the press and social media, fuelling widespread doubt about official crime figures.—AFP