Rotten Mango

It was supposed to be a cute little road trip.  12-year-old Isabella, her best friend Asunta, and Isabella’s mom were in the car heading towards the beach.  Isabella’s mom tried to keep the spirits high for the girls -  “Okay, why don’t we all share a story! Get our creative juices flowing!” 12-year-old Asunta offers to start. Her voice suddenly shaky -  “There once was a girl who laid in her bed to sleep. She awoke to a man in a mask dragging her body off her bed, covering her mouth, and then choking her with his big strong hands. The girl could not breathe. She could not scream. She was going to die.” Isabella’s mom pulls the car over to the side of the road because Asunta is bawling her eyes out. “Sweetie, are you alright?” Asunta was not alright. This was a true story, and it happened to Asunta - a man broke into their home and tried to kill her.  But when Isabella’s mom talks to Asunta’s parents about it - she’s even more confused. Why are they not freaked out? Why didn’t they report this to the police? Who is this masked man, and is he still out there? Why would he want to kill Asunta? And did the man come back? Because 2 months later, Asunta would be murdered.  Soon - everyone in Asunta’s life would become a prime suspect. Including her wealthy adoptive parents.  Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Department of Justice makes a very public statement—it feels more like a threat.  “Please do not reproduce, share, or use this exhibit in any way. If you have downloaded this file, please delete it off your device.”  The DOJ had accidentally leaked a file they previously moved to seal from the public. Not one thing, nor one name was redacted.  The file in question - is the client list to one of the most high profile sex workers in all of Manhattan.  Her revenue in just a few years was in the millions of dollars - her hourly rate was $1500.  It’s safe to assume that this leaked, ’sealed’ file includes the names of NYC’s upper elite. High peorfile businessmen, millionaire-married couples, artists, restaurant tycoons, and lots and lots of rich married men.    Some of the names were recognized to be high level executives at Apple, other major retailers, one wealthy hedge fund manager, one international diamond dealer, and a former NY Supreme Court Judge.  But they hadn’t just been listed as clients for sex work.  They had all been named as alleged clients of a sex trafficking business run by a college cult.    10 years prior, a man had walked onto an elite private school campus to visit his daughter, a sophomore at the university. The man, her father, ends up staying on campus, living in his daughter’s dorm, and quickly begins the process of grooming and brainwashing all of his daughter’s friends.    The result was a decade long cult. Some of the friends turned cult members were ‘promoted’ to chauffeur or solder. Others into forced labor. His daughter’s friends would become his wives.’ And that left one, forced to turn to sex work. They all served one old, middle aged man.  This is the case of Lawrence Ray and his decade long cult of college students and sex.  Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Hey, can my dad stay with us for a little while after he gets out of prison?”  It was an odd request but Talia’s roommates felt like they couldn’t say no. Talia was a good friend, she always talked about wanting to become a lawyer and help people. She just had this tiny little quirk…  She was obsessed with her dad.  Even at parties - she would not stop talking about what an incredible man he was. He’s just going to stay in their dorms while he looks for a new place. What could possibly go wrong? When Larry Ray moves into Talia’s dorm - he slowly starts brainwashing all of Talia’s friends. Soon, he will be sleeping in Talia’s best friend’s room. Encouraging the students to all have intimate relations with each other… while he watches.  This would be the start of his decade-long college cult.  Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oh Won is getting into his next at home project – everything is set up for success. He has a whole bottle of his favorite Chinese liquor. It’s stronger than Vodka, but he’s tossing it back like water.  His hand reaches for his phone as he feels the urge again. He’s on autopilot mode - staring at his screen, swiping, swiping… He presses play and puts his phone up against the bathroom sink. The woman’s moaning is just echoing off the bathroom wall… He lights a cigarette and squats down with his 8-inch knife. He starts moving the knife back and forth.  The key is that each cut has to be uniform; all the same thickness and size. It’s the most enjoyable for consumption that way… Before Oh Won knew it, six hours had passed. 365 pieces of meat, meticulously sliced into uniform, same-sized, thin pieces. He portioned them out and placed them into 17 separate black plastic bags. All that’s left are the bones and the parts that aren’t really important. He flips over the piece he was working on all morning. He stares at her face. He didn’t—couldn’t take any meat from there. Her face and hair were untouched, but below her neck, all of her flesh had been sliced off up until her knees.   He had deboned her. Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The "3 Body Problem" was going to be Jeff Bezoz’s billion-dollar investment. The plan? Invest $1B into a new sci-fi series and watch the subscriptions to Amazon Prime Video flow in. All they have to do is buy the English adaptation rights off from the Chinese gaming giant – Yoozoo Gaming. They own the film and TV rights to the “3 Body Problem Universe.” The deal was close to being done – till CEO Lin Qi of Yoozoo walks into a conference room in LA. Dressed like a gangster. Puts his feet up on the table and suggests a co-production. He blew up the deal that Amazon had been working on for 8 months. Amazon was upset but as they were walking out of the meeting room… they noticed something. Nobody around CEO Lin looked happy either. They wouldn’t be surprised when they heard the news 2 years later. The billionaire CEO Lin was murdered by someone inside his company. Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s a boring red brick building in the middle of Yale University’s campus. If you walk past it you might think it’s an administrative office. It looks - boring.  But if you look closely - there are 75 CCTV cameras pointed directly at the building. Covering every square inch of the exterior. Why would they need so much security for a university building? It is the Animal Research Laboratory. It houses over 4000 research mice and has tens of millions of dollars of research experiments being conducted inside the brick walls.  It is one of the most secure buildings on campus.  Till a brilliant Yale graduate student disappears inside.  She walks in.  Never walks out.  She is nowhere to be found in the building - or at least that’s what the authorities initially thought.  But have they checked the walls? Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He once controlled the entire economy of the country—to put it simply. The man in the restaurant security footage is an ex minister of Kazakstan, the third most powerful person in the entire country.    His name is Kuandyk Bishimbaev and his wife, Sultanat Nukenova, were supposed to be on a dinner date; instead the security cameras capture something else.   Around 7 in the morning, the ex minister grabs his wife by a fistful of her hair and throws her onto the ground in the hallway.   Her jacket naturally flips open – and she’s naked, barely covered on the cold dirty floor of the restaurant. He’s standing over his wife’s limp body on the ground. The ex minister lifts his right leg up and starts kicking his wife as hard as he can. He’s holding onto a table to maintain his own balance.    That’s how much force is being used.   Then he drags her by the hair into a bathroom – where there are no CCTV cameras. Any footage of her after that has been erased.   But the ex-minister is seen many times after on the security footage. Spending time with other women – a lunch date with an influencer, texting an alleged sex worker, all while his wife lay dying in the VIP booth of the restaurant.    His excuse for why he couldn’t call for help or get his wife's battered body out of the restaurant? Well—because— Vladimir Putin is coming.  Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

That was it. He was going to kill her.  Sato, a bachelor, a young man who still lived with his mother terrorized her within the walls of her own home. Sure, she could still go out, enjoy her life, but Sato had control over the household in a way that made her feel suffocated.  Trapped.  Sato’s mother called the police on him the first time she felt that her life was truly in danger. She was sure he would kill her.  At least that was the version she told the police. But when they came to her house and found a kidnapped girl in her son, Sato’s bedroom— They discovered the girl had been missing for nearly a decade.  She was nine years old when she had disappeared.  Still, the mother kept to her story. That she too, was held emotionally captive and it seems the police believed her.  But the girl, now a young woman, remembers things a little bit differently To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He melted onto the street.  He was 6 years old when he was walking down the street in South Korea. Someone walks up to him and pours sulfuric acid down his throat and all over his face. His clothes were burnt black. The floor had bits of melted flesh.  Third degree burns over most of his body - the boy had a 5% chance of survival.  He was rushed to the hospital where he told the officers that the man - “Mr. Kim” who owned the fried chicken shop was running up behind him with the bag of acid. He was the one that did it!  “Nonsense, acid is liquid. You can’t put it in a plastic bag - it will burn through the plastic.” That was the police’s response. Had they investigated properly - they would have realized… the fried chicken shop owner was indeed, a little strange.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A family TikToker that posts wholesome videos with his 8 kids goes viral in China. HIs account starts blowing up with followers and a journalist decides it’s an easy story. Wholesome Tiktoker, wholesome interview, an easy article.  But when he gets to the man’s house - he notices something very odd. A woman.  Hidden inside his shed.  Chained.  He quickly records the woman before the TikToker notices. He exposes the wholesome TikToker but the question on everyone’s mind remains - who is the chained woman??? Netizens start digging but as they’re getting close - the video of the chained woman is wiped from the internet. Like she never existed.  How do they save her now?  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The first thing they feel is how stiff the table is underneath them… it feels so cold. Then, they open their eyes, and see a masked man staring straight at them holding a scalpel.  The first instinct is to scream. To run.  But that would be silly. They paid thousands of dollars for this surgery.  Suddenly, their eyes start feeling heavy again. The room looks blurry and they start to feel like something heavy is sitting on their chest.  The only comfort is knowing that they booked the best plastic surgeon in all of South Korea. It was a little strange that they had an opening for a surgery the same week… because wouldn’t his schedule be fully booked? If he’s that popular? And they could have sworn that he had 5 other surgeries scheduled for this very time slot… how could the doctor be in 5 operating rooms at once? But that’s why they’re called “ghost doctors.” You book a surgery with a top doctor, pay top dollar, only to have him walk out the room the second you are sedated. Then a strange man will come in and perform surgery.  The man that worked the front desk? The medical salesman? The custodian?  They can all be your doctor if they put on a white coat.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The summer sleep away camp for youths is held on the Island of UTOYA every single summer. About 500 teenagers will gather on the wooded island. They sleep in tents, have bonfires, and tell creepy stories while roasting marshmallows. But when the kids start playing games - that’s usually when the fun starts. Card games, tag, hide and seek - A group of 11 teenagers were lying down in the grass right off the “Lover’s Path.” “Here lay down right here and don’t move. Shhhh. Act like you’re dead.” If a single one of them sneezes, coughs, or so much as moves - their covers are blown. They hear the footsteps getting nearer on the path… closer… One of the 11 looks up. There is a young guy, blonde hair, striking blue eyes - just standing over them. She makes eye contact with him… he lifts his hand up and a black rifle appears. He opens fire. Out of the 11. 10 will die. 1 will survive. Another 59 on the island will be killed within the hour. There is a mad gunman on the loose on an island full of teenagers. Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There was an emergency at Terri’s daycare. This had never happened before. Ever.  She picked up the phone -  “Hi, uh - there’s been a family emergency. Please come pick your children up right away. Please hurry.” The parents rush to pick up their children and they let out a sigh of relief when they see all the toddlers are in one piece. But something is wrong with Terri. She’s rushing them into their car seats and you can just tell her mind is elsewhere.  Once all the children are gone - Terri rushes to her phone and dials 911 -  “Hi, it’s an emergency. I found something in my son’s closet wrapped in a plastic bag. He has a shotgun in his room… he just pulled up. Can you please just come?” Terri kept an eye on her son that just arrived at home.  Any louder, and Brian might hear her.  Any louder and he might realize that his mother Terri knew what he did.  Any louder and he might investigate and find what’s in the kitchen sink. Underneath a blue towel - lay a decapitated head and pair of hacked off hands.  Any louder and the Cohee family would have to ask their 19 year old son - where is there rest of the body??  Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ruth just wanted to tell her boyfriend the truth. It’s not like their relationship sucked - he was just fine? He was kind of smart? But he lacked ambition. He was just a taxi driver… and… well she did have another big secret she was hiding from him. It was finally time to come clean. Bryan wasn’t expecting it to hurt this much. It was bad enough to hear the love of his life had betrayed him… but to have it happen so publicly? Bryan looks up and sees rows and rows of people staring at him. He could feel their pity radiating in the air. He glances around - the cameras are all trained on him. Recording his every move and every facial expression. Soon, millions of people will see the most embarrassing moment of Bryan’s life. Bryan, along with Ruth’s parents, found themselves on the reality TV show “Moment of Truth” set. They were sitting there listening to their beloved Ruth share all her deepest, darkest, secrets. The ones she had been hiding from them. And one of them would get her killed. Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the seat facing away from the camera, all they could see was the student’s back and her arms digging through whatever was in her lap. For several minutes, she stayed like this. Then she got up. Turned around. And looked straight into the lens of the CCTV camera in the corner.  She locked eyes and stayed like that. They felt a chill as they watched the footage. An icy stare. Frozen in place. Then she lifted up her hands and held a body up to the camera. A cat--a campus stray, lovingly named Princess by the other University students. She grabbed the back of the kitten’s neck. Then, with her other hand, wrapped her grip firmly around the kitten’s throat and squeezed.  Shanghai Tech’s very own serial cat killer. This is the case dubbed the ‘animal Nth rooms,’ about the world-wide cat (crush, torture, and kill) gang that was responsible for the viral video—the cat blender. Who is behind it all? And why? Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Teenage girls start rushing to the apartment building, jumping excitedly and shouting “Hey Lindemberg! Come to the window, I came here just to see you!”  “We like bad boys!” - it’s like a concert for a boy group celebrity.  But Lindemberg is a ticking time bomb. He’s hiding away from the window in the apartment.  The hollers, catcalls, hearing his name - ugh he can’t focus! He needs to focus right now.  He stretches his arm out the window and waves his hand around wildly as a pulls the trigger on his gun.  Pop! Pop! Pop! He shoots straight into the crowd that had formed below him - the groupies and admirers scatter - but Lindemberg is still fuming.  He can shoot into a crowd of admirers but he can’t shoot the girl he came to kill. The one he had taken hostage just hours before. The one he had groomed since she was 12 years old. The love of his life. He’s still deciding if he should spare her or shoot her.  Maybe he should give the big crowd below him what they came for - a show.  Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jolly’s whole family was dead. Well, almost all of them, but she never let that get her down. But this time, her friends noticed - something was very wrong with Jolly.  She seemed out of it at the small gathering. Anytime someone tried talking to her - she would glance across the room. It seemed like she was waiting for someone to walk in.  “Don’t you want to marry someone like him?” - Jolly said.  Her friend looked at her like she sprouted another head - “Excuse me?” “That guy over there - he just seems so peaceful and calm.” Jolly’s friends were confused - was she talking about Shaju? He’s happily married with two kids… and not to mention… he’s her cousin.  Her friends didn’t think too much into it until Shaju, Jolly’s new love interest, his wife and child died mysteriously…  Was Jolly Joseph killing everyone that she felt was in her way? Or… was there something just in the curry?  Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kenta's Tuesday morning routine was always the same — a 5 a.m. breakfast of rice, miso soup, and salted salmon, followed by his walk to work at Tomogaoka Middle School, where he greeted students at the blue gates every morning. But today was different. Kenta took the same route as always — turned the same corner — and dropped his briefcase onto the ground. His hand flew to his mouth. Maybe he let out a scream, maybe he didn’t – and it was all just in his head. Shaking, Kenta read the letter: "This is the beginning of a game You stupid police Try and stop me if you can Murder is something I cannot help but enjoy There's nothing I want to see MORE than people's deaths Let the foul vegetables be punished with death Let there be bloody judgment for my many years of bitterness." On the blue metal gates of the school — right next to the sign that read TOMOGAOKA MIDDLE SCHOOL — sprouting from one of the jagged metal picks of the fence -  The severed head of an 11-year-old. The note was shoved in his mouth. Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Timothy, a film director, had a new script land on his desk. The movie was in its final screenwriting stages and it just needed his final approval.  They had been working to turn Alice Sebold, the famed author of “The Lovely Bones,” they were working on turning her memoir into a movie. Her memoir was about her real life assault in college and her fight to send her violent attacker to prison. But the more Timothy read - the more he didn’t feel right about this. There was so much wrong. The details. The evidence.  Timothy picked up his phone - he called his private investigator. I need you to look into Alice Sebold for me. The New York Times Bestselling author… something’s not right. I think… I think she’s lying.  It was during the production of her movie - that it was discovered, Alice Sebold, had sent the wrong guy to prison for 16 years.  Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

15-year-old Eddie comes home from his jog – changes out of his soiled clothes – and starts googling on his computer:  HOW TO COMBAT ANXIETY.  He’s waiting for a text message from the girl he likes - but it’s not her.  It’s a former classmate of his – Scarlet. The message reads.  “My brother just told me not to go to Linear Park because a woman got stabbed there.”  Eddie replies: “Jesus – really?”  She responds: “Yeah, they say it’s murder…” He lets the news sink in—someone was murdered at the very park that he had just been to… When the realization of that hit, Eddie would do two things.  One, he would hide the 5-inch knife in his room; it was covered in blood.  And two, he would never speak again. Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices