Strangeland

Sep 27 2024 40 ep. 28 mins 3.2k
Strangeland Podcast artwork

STRANGELAND from audiochuck is an investigative series that examines cases in immigrant neighborhoods. Season 3: The Killing Fields of L.A. is hosted by Ben Adair and Mayly Tao. In 1996, 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. Because the thousands of dollars in cash found on Ngor didn’t square with the LAPD’s story, and multiple witnesses said investigators coerced their testimony. 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 star to murder victim — and re-investigate the LAPD’s case to find out if justice was lost in translation. Strangeland is produced by Western Sound.

  True Crime
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Ep 12 of 12: Heroes and Villains

Sep 27 2024 36 mins  
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.

Ep 11 of 12: Behind Every Great Fortune

Sep 27 2024 31 mins  
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.

Ep 10 of 12: The Cobra Strikes

Sep 20 2024 29 mins  
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.

Ep 9 of 12: The Bad Guy

Sep 20 2024 29 mins  
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

Sep 13 2024 40 mins  
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 mur

Ep 7 of 12: Hell of a Movie

Sep 13 2024 29 mins  
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.

Ep 6 of 12: Smoke and Mirrors

Sep 06 2024 36 mins  
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.

Ep 5 of 12: The Golden Lotus

Sep 06 2024 36 mins  
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 extra

Ep 4 of 12: Kill the Chicken Scare the Monkey

Aug 30 2024 35 mins  
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.

Ep 3 of 12: Year Zero

Aug 30 2024 42 mins  
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.