Strangeland

Epizode

• 
  Introducing - The Burden: Get the Money and Run 19.05.2025 4min

  “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya, and his path was bank robbery. Joe was one of California’s most daring bank robbers. He used disguises, body doubles, speeding getaway cars… and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars, even as the FBI was closing in. Joe was also a soul searcher, driven by a dark rage he set out to understand. To do that, he must understand why trying to murder his father felt so good.
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  Ep 12 of 12: Heroes and Villains 27.09.2024 36min

  The story told at trial and in the press is that a Cambodian national hero was senselessly gunned down by three gang members. Over time, the known facts of the Haing Ngor case have been altered – or discarded – to fit that hero-and-villains narrative. So we pick it apart and offer a full picture of the four lives who tragically intersected on a dark night in Los Angeles.
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  Ep 11 of 12: Behind Every Great Fortune 27.09.2024 31min

  During an epic battle over Haing Ngor's estate, disturbing details start trickling in about the actor's private life. The paper trail shows that Ngor had enemies all around him, and some believe he was murdered by someone close to him.
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  Ep 10 of 12: The Cobra Strikes 20.09.2024 29min

  Many Cambodian refugees feel certain that Haing Ngor was killed for political reasons. The LAPD discounts these assassination theories. But then, a high-ranking Khmer Rouge officer gives a shocking testimony at a UN tribunal about the actor's murder.
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  Ep 9 of 12: The Bad Guy 20.09.2024 29min

  We have a hard time getting direct knowledge of what happened on the night of the murder. So many people connected to this story have passed away or are still too scared to come forward. But then, out of the blue, we get a call from someone who knows better than just about anybody what did – and didn't – occur in that dark alley.
• 
  Ep 8 of 12: The Color of Law 13.09.2024 40min

  Just weeks after the gang members were convicted, a massive scandal erupts inside the LAPD. The root of the department's corruption is the CRASH program, an initiative to get gang members off the streets using any means necessary, including by framing suspects for crimes they didn't commit. And there's a startling connection between CRASH and the team investigating Haing Ngor's murder.
• 
  Ep 7 of 12: Hell of a Movie 13.09.2024 29min

  The juries deliver their verdicts. But that's just the beginning of a multi-decade legal battle, as claims of police and prosecutorial misconduct emerge. Years after the murder, a lawyer bumps into a judge who expresses some deep concerns about how the LAPD investigated the Ngor murder. It turns out that the prosecution's star witness was not what he seemed to be.
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  Ep 6 of 12: Smoke and Mirrors 06.09.2024 36min

  In an extremely unusual trial, the state of California makes its case against Jason Chan, Indra Lim, and Tak Sun Tan. An LAPD cop-turned-judge presides over a circus-like courtroom, in which three juries are crammed into one jury box. Witnesses drop bombshells on the stand and fireworks explode between a hotshot prosecutor and a ragtag bunch of defense attorneys.
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  Ep 5 of 12: The Golden Lotus 06.09.2024 36min

  LAPD detectives turn up the heat in their search for potential witnesses. The cops get two boys who were allegedly hanging out near the crime scene to ID three local gang members. But both witnesses later recant – saying that the police coerced their statements. With help from a renowned interrogation expert, we revisit the interrogationto ask what – if any –information extracted from the witnesses is reliable.
• 
  Ep 4 of 12: Kill the Chicken Scare the Monkey 30.08.2024 35min

  The shadow of the Khmer Rouge follows thousands of Cambodians to southern California. Terrified of authority and distrustful of one another, these refugees struggle to adapt to life in America. So when police canvas Chinatown asking about the Ngor murder, many stay silent – until the LAPD forces them to talk.
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  Ep 3 of 12: Year Zero 30.08.2024 42min

  Most people involved in this case – the victim, two of three boys arrested for the murder, the main witnesses, and Haing's neighbors – were Cambodian refugees. So we return to the original crime scene – Pol Pot's killing fields – to understand how that tragedy shaped the way that the refugee community interacted with the LAPD.
• 
  Ep 2 of 12: It's Chinatown 23.08.2024 34min

  We head to Chinatown to hear the LAPD's official account of the crime and retrace detectives' footsteps as they worked this case. Authorities recount their breaks in the investigation – from clues found at the crime scene to revelations inside the interrogation room. The cops explain how they were able to charge the accused teens without any hard evidence. It all centered on the mystery of a golden locket.
• 
  Ep 1 of 12: The Tiger and Its Stripes 23.08.2024 42min

  LAPD officers respond to a shooting in Chinatown and identify the murder victim as Oscar-winning actor Haing Ngor. They find $4000 in cash on his body, and rule out a robbery motive. But the cops later reverse course and charge three teens – Jason Chan, Indra Lim, and Tak Sun Tan. But many, including the main witnesses, think the LAPD got the wrong guys in their rush to solve this high-profile case.
• 
  Season 3: The Killing Fields of L.A. 16.08.2024 2min

  In 1995, a Cambodian refugee was gunned down in an alley in L.A.'s Chinatown. But this wasn't a typical murder. The victim was Haing Ngor, an Oscar-winning actor and humanitarian. Many Cambodians believe Ngor was assassinated over his role in The Killing Fields – a film that depicted the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror. Three teenage gang members were convicted and sentenced to decades in prison for murder. Yet to this day, the Cambodian community remains unconvinced of the boys' guilt. In this season of Strangeland, journalist Ben Adair and Cambodian–American podcaster Mayly Tao piece through Haing Ngor's journey from genocide survivor to Hollywood start to murder victim – and re-investigate the LAPD's case to find out if justice was lost in translation.
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  Updates + Alphabet Boys 16.03.2023 12min

  Tips on the Narra case have been pouring in. Ben gives an update and shares your next podcast binge: Alphabet Boys.
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  Ep 14 of 14: Six Years Later 02.03.2023 36min

  Throughout our year-long investigation, Hanu has ignored our repeated attempts to contact him. So, in the Season Finale of Strangeland, we knock on his door to talk face-to-face.
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  Ep 13 of 14: The Witness 02.03.2023 24min

  A traumatized eyewitness walks us through his memory of March 23, 2017 - from Sasi and Anish’s arrival home that afternoon to Hanu’s puzzling behavior upon discovering the bodies. The Witness shares all ... including, a brand new lead. The biggest one yet.
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  Ep 12 of 14: The Payoff 02.03.2023 28min

  There were some dramatic lifestyle change following the murders, alongside a strange donation to a Maple Shade charity. We investigate that, plus the ongoing legal battle for Sasi’s estate. There’s more than a million dollars at stake.
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  Ep 11 of 14: The Friend 02.03.2023 26min

  There was a third person at the Narra’s apartment the night of the murders - a woman whose odd behavior triggers some red flags. Could this alleged “family friend” be the same woman Sasi mentioned in her letter? We track her across the Philadelphia suburbs to ask her some crucial questions.
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  Ep 10 of 14: The Mystery Woman 23.02.2023 19min

  After months of searching, we find the mystery woman from the 911 call. She does a sit-down interview and reveals some shocking details about the crime scene.