EP64: Pranked and Poisoned
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All right, welcome back to another episode of the Psychopedia podcast. I'm your co-host Tank Sinatra here with my co-host, I think. Investigator Eclipse. I don't know. That was not funny. That was very good. I like it. I can't see shit. I can't see. My senses are off. My humor is just not on now. What are your plans for the Armageddon? I need to take these off because like I can't tell when it's my turn to speak. Yeah, yeah. Go for it.

Are you going to sit with them on? To be honest with you, I feel very free. All right. So listen to our listeners. We have on our solar eclipse glasses right now. You can see it on YouTube. They're not even going to hear this because the world is going to end today. Is that what's supposed to happen? Shit. Yeah. I didn't realize that we should have done this a couple of days sooner. Yeah. Give them one last episode. Oh man. Well, it's been a fun ride. It's been amazing. Listen, if there's any way to go out,

It's doing psychopedia. I agree with that wholeheartedly. This is a fun way for me to go out. I would want to be doing nothing else than sitting here recording with you and foosball waiting for the impending doom of the lunar eclipse, which has apparently never happened before. An eclipse? Never happened before. This is the first time ever. First time ever. Based on people's reactions. It is the year 1508 and we are cavemen and we don't know what's happening. We're all drunk on wine and I have dysentery. And

So that explains why you keep running out. Got it. It's probably going to kill me. That game, what was the name of that game? I don't know. Oh, the game you used to play on the computer where like you would die of dysentery. Like that's how bad things were back then. People were like, things are unbearable today. You used to die of diarrhea. Well, dehydration is serious. That's why it's called diarrhea, not liveria. Is that right? No. Oh, God. Yeah.

Gotcha, though. I know. Hey, welcome back to another episode of the Psychopedia Podcast. I am Tank Sinatra, and we are having fun. I'm here with my Sherbert colored co-host, Investigator Slater, and we are going to do a case that I obviously have no idea what's happening. She knows everything. She knows all the facts. I know nothing. I try and keep up. I make jokes because I get nervous, but you know what I want to say? What? If it's your first time listening, welcome, you little freak. And if it's your 50th time listening, welcome home, freak. I love that. Can

Can you try to remember that? I know. I do. I get so excited when we start recording. I forget everything. I know. I know. That's why I have a script. Wow. That's a great... But I tried to do that and it started coming off as like rote because I started saying all the same things. Because you were quite literally reading a script. When you tried to deliver the intro that you just did off the cuff, which was beautiful. Yeah. You had it in front of you on your phone. I remember this. Yeah, yeah. And you were actually reading it and it came across that way. Yeah. So just memorize it. You're good at this stuff. I don't know how you do it. I mean...

I'm reading. It doesn't sound like you're reading at all. Really? Yeah. Honestly, that's a tremendous compliment. Yeah. Especially since we started YouTubing. Yeah. I feel like, obviously, I need to engage with you and look at you and look at the camera and also look at my screen, but also keep in mind that this is geared towards audio. Yeah. So it's, you know...

Gotta work on it. Good reminder, by the way, if you're not subscribed to us on Apple, Spotify, or I don't know why I said it all. Long Island fucking... Spotify. I'll have the prime salad on Spotify, Lannis.

Apple, YouTube, and Spotify, and wherever. Wherever you listen, subscribe, subscribe, subscribe. Especially YouTube. We're going to have a lot of stuff coming out on there. Fun clips and whatnot. And it helps us out a lot, you guys. So thank you for your support. It is a great way to support us with like very little effort besides listening, obviously, which takes a tremendous effort because you're sitting here listening to us for an hour. I think it takes a lot of effort for you.

less for our listeners. Yeah, maybe. And that's okay. And listen, if you're not getting enough of what you want here and you want more of us, head on over to patreon.com slash psychopedia pod for episodes of Psychopedia Unhinged, which is exactly what it sounds like. We revisit a case and, you know. Go from there. Barely.

So, and one thing I want to say about today's case. Yes. This has to be a phenomenal case because my dad is paying very, very close attention to this case in particular. Why? Because it's a topic that interests him. It's a topic we've spoken about. It's a topic we texted about. And I know his ears are going to be in it. And so like, it has to be done well. Yeah. So I have a lot of pressure today. Hi, Mr. Slater.

He says, hi. I hope you enjoy the case. I hope you enjoy it a lot. He wants to know when you're coming over to barbecue. Whenever. Great. I'm ready. I'll let him know. All right. So without further ado, let's hear about this case. Is this the one that you said is going to be my favorite or the next one? This one? Yeah. Wow. I didn't want to say anything because that's the hype that I tend to, you know, I talk a big game and. Well, I believe you. Yeah. I believe you that this is going to be my favorite case. Yeah. All right. Here we go. Let's find out.

Hidden camera practical joke reality TV, also known as prank comedy, has solidified its place in the entertainment world by harnessing the universal allure of humor and the element of surprise.

Wow. I know. 1948? I know. Wow.

showing that unsuspecting, ordinary people getting caught in extraordinary setups will never not be funny. No. And let's take a minute to honor the real kings, the impractical jokers. Yes. Shout out to Sal Volcano. Thanks for having me on Hey Babe. Hi, Chris. Love you. There you go. Yeah.

So it's never not going to be funny, right? Unless. Unless. Unless. The so-called prank wasn't just a silly staged ruse culminating in laughter, but instead was the gruesome reality of a meticulously planned murder that left one unsuspecting participant, a man, dead on an airport floor.

And not just any man, but rather a man poised to be the future leader of the Kim dynasty in North Korea, making his public death in the context of a silly prank show, in actuality, a political assassination. Oh, wow. Right? Kim Jong-un's brother? Yes. I like barely remember this. By the way, nobody does pranks before.

than over there. I've never seen Korean prank shows, but this Japanese prank show that I saw, I fucking, they played Japanese binocular soccer where they had binoculars on backwards so everything looks far away. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The funniest fucking thing I've ever seen in my life. Prank comedy is very big in Asia. Yeah. Today's case is...

absolutely bananas. It unfolds like a script from a world where a spy thriller and a reality show meet, cast a Korean exiled heir who becomes unwittingly entangled in a global chase by international operatives that ends in Malaysia, roping in unsuspecting ordinary people along the way to participate, unbeknownst to them, who go on to change lives

The course of history seems almost too absurd to be true. It was just a prank, bro. It was just a prank. But alas, this is a true crime podcast. And what I'm about to tell you actually happened. All right. So with that said, let's get into the case of the assassination of Kim Jong-nam. I thought it was Kim Jong-dos or something.

No. No? What did you think it was? Well, Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-dos, Kim Jong-do. Oh.

Funny enough, some kid gave a presentation in college about Kim Jong-il. This guy did a presentation on him, mind you. So spent countless hours researching him, referred to him as King Jong II the entire time. Oh my God. I couldn't keep it together. Listen, I'm going to try my best with the pronunciations. You must have been so confused. Today, I'm not going to fuck up on that type of an epic level. Yeah. But just bear with me, okay? Okay.

On the morning of February 13th, 2017, Kuala Lumpur International Airport, one of the busiest airports in Southeast Asia, was as hectic as always. Located in the Sepang district of Selangor in Malaysia, about 31 miles south of the capital, the airport is spacious and airy with sweeping roofs and an extensive use of glass that bathes the interior in natural light to create a welcoming atmosphere for

All travelers. It's one of those sick airports. It is. It's pretty nice. I've seen a video of like Singapore airport. I want to go there just to see. Yeah, they have like greenery inside. It's lovely. Yes. Kuala Lumpur serves as a major hub for international flights across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Oceania. On any given day before the pandemic, the airport would see roughly 190,000 passengers passing through its terminals.

So it would have been quite easy to overlook a lone traveling 45-year-old North Korean man sporting a blue polo shirt, a blazer, jeans, and a backpack preparing to check into his flight to Macau. In the bustling environment of the airport where business travelers, stressed out families with screaming children, airport personnel, and various other figures like flight attendants, pilots, and mechanics all share the same space, amidst the backdrop of packed restaurants, busy shops, and kiosks, it

It also would have been quite easy to miss the presence of two women lying in wait for that seemingly random, albeit specific man in a polo shirt and blazer to enter their vicinity. Yeah, airports are hectic. I feel like if somebody, this happened in an airport that I was in, I would 100% miss it. Totally agree. I see people standing on line at Starbucks before their flight. I'm like, how the fuck do you get here with enough time to go to Starbucks? Yeah.

Before your flight. Who do you think gets there hours early? You? Yes, I get everywhere hours early. What do you do then? I'm the most punctual person ever. You know that. I'm getting coffee. I'm enjoying myself a little bit. True, true. Right?

As this man walked towards the AirAsia self-check-in kiosk at 8.59 a.m., one of the women who was waiting for him suddenly approached him and, in an unusual maneuver, swiped her hand across his face, which can be seen on CCTV footage very clearly.

Moments later, the other woman, wearing a white sweater with LOL emblazoned across the front, came from behind and covered the man's eyes with her hands before sliding them down over his mouth, offering a quick apology and then walking away. Sorry, I just fell. Okay.

Less than 20 minutes later, the man was dead. And while it seemed like absolutely no one in that airport had taken notice of what happened, at least four North Korean agents were hiding nearby to witness what was later established to have been an assassination. Yeah. Not according to North Korea, by the way. They deny it, but that comes later. Well, yeah, North Korea doesn't. They're not that forthcoming with information. Very true.

Because this individual, as we said in the intro, was no ordinary passenger. The man who now lied dead in the ambulance speeding away from the airport was the third generation descendant and former heir to the North Korean Kim dynasty. So what happened... Did this happen? I'm sorry to interrupt you. Nope, nope, that's okay. Okay. This happened in 2017. Okay, so Kim Jong-un was already...

Rowan at that point. Yes. Is that his son or his brother? No, so Kim Jong-un was... Kim Jong-il's son? Yes, exactly right. So it was Kim Jong-il. He passed away. Kim Jong-un became the leader. And his half-brother is Kim Jong-nam. Oh, okay. The man in question today. Got it. Okay.

So what happened exactly? Who were those two women who were decisively not special agents or members of any sort of professional espionage organization? And how the hell did they manage to discreetly yet openly and flawlessly execute such a daring, high-profile assassination in broad daylight and in full view of the public?

Let's start with who they were. Okay. Siti Aisha, a 25-year-old woman from Indonesia, and Duan Thi Hoang, a 28-year-old woman from Vietnam, were employed as escorts in different regions of Malaysia. Perfect, by the way. Thank you, sir. According to their accounts, in the months preceding the murder, they were unwittingly groomed by North Korean secret agents to become assassins.

So Siti was born on February 11th, 1992 in Rangkasumur, a rural hamlet in Indonesia with around 500 residents who primarily engage in rice cultivation and raising water buffalo. So they were working as escorts and they got groomed by the government to become assassins. The North Korean government. Yes. So obviously when they became escorts, this

This was when they were adults. But right now I'm starting from the beginning so that you can get a full picture of how each woman wound up being absolutely in the worst place at the worst time. Yeah. Okay. So we're starting with City. Okay. She spent her childhood searching the neighboring forests for firewood, taking baths in streams and capturing crickets to skewer and roast over coals. Have you ever had a cricket? I think I had a chocolate-covered cricket once, but it was mostly chocolate with like a little crunch in it. I think you might have had a chocolate-covered grasshopper.

No, they do crickets. I know, but I feel like grasshoppers are more common. Yeah, but they're so big. Okay. I think I would know if I hit into a juicy-ass praying mantis chocolate bar. Man, this is a big-ass cricket. It's like three inches long.

So Sidi's family grappled with economic challenges, and from a young age, she was brought up with a strong sense of responsibility and the need to work hard to provide for her family. As a child being raised in the world's largest Islamist country, Sidi was described as being a quiet and religious girl who began covering her head at the age of nine.

Wow. Wow.

Citi worked 13-hour days for $50 a month making knockoff high-end dresses. Oh my God. It was hot as hell in that sweatshop because the steam machines were constantly blowing hot air, but the bosses would keep the doors shut and locked, meaning fresh air never came in and people never got out.

Stupid question. Is that why they call it a sweatshop? It's not a stupid question, and it seems likely. I mean, I never thought about it. I just thought the most I ever thought about it was maybe that people were working so hard that they were sweating. Well, that's exactly what I thought. But if you're working in 120-degree heat, you're sweating no matter what. It's so hard. Why do they do that? That's so fucked up to lock the doors. I guess so people can't run out. There's a million reasons. It's so inhumane. It's horrific. Yeah.

My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for career day and said he was a big ROAS man. Then he told everyone how much he loved calculating his return on ad spend.

My friend's still laughing at me to this day. Not everyone gets B2B, but with LinkedIn, you'll be able to reach people who do. Get $100 credit on your next ad campaign. Go to linkedin.com slash results to claim your credit. That's linkedin.com slash results. Terms and conditions apply. LinkedIn, the place to be, to be.

At 16 years old, Siti actually wound up marrying the son of the man who owned the sweatshop, and she had a baby boy by age 17. Sadly, though, in 2012, Siti and her husband wound up getting a divorce after her husband accused her of infidelity, and she lost her son in a custody battle. However, Siti knew that her son would receive a solid education in Jakarta, so with a heavy heart, she left her son and set out for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, seeking employment.

And when she left Indonesia, she never would have imagined that her life would take the turn that it did. So it's, by the way, determined that around 400,000 Indonesians a year make a similar journey legally and that an additional 600,000 do so illegally, meaning they go from Indonesia to Malaysia. That's wild. Yeah. Those numbers are high. It's a lot. When Siti arrived in Malaysia, she transformed in so many ways.

Swapping her headscarves for lacy black dresses, Siti transitioned from sharing posts about Allah on her Facebook page to uploading selfies, showcasing her social life with fashionable friends that she'd met at coffee shops. And despite this change in lifestyle, she never lost sight of her true objective, which was to secure a job that would enable her to earn enough money to support her family back home. Like many women facing desperate circumstances, Siti was caught in the grips of the sex trade.

Believing she was accepting a legitimate job as a masseuse, she instead found herself in a situation that preyed on her vulnerability. Employed at the Flamingo Hotel Spa, she was promised $15 per client doing sex work, $15

But the reality behind closed doors was starkly different, pushing her into survival sex work for a fraction of the earnings as her employers kept the majority of the income. Oh, really? Yep. So she was barely making anything anyway, and then they were keeping the majority. Additionally, under the alias Kelly and donning blue contact lenses, Citi's profile also appeared on the escort website HavenForMen.com.

where she offered services far beyond massage for around $40 a pop. On top of that, after her official hours at the spa ended around 10.30 p.m., Siti would also venture downtown to the beach club where, alongside similarly desperate women from Indonesia and Vietnam, would continue her struggle to make money and engage in street sex work into the very, very late hours.

And it was through that particular line of work that City's entire life would take a massive leap into crazy town on January 5th, 2017. At 3 o'clock a.m. on that night or morning at the Beach Club, which was often frequented by middle-aged men from America and Japan and occasionally by Kim Jong-nam, though he was not present that night, just a weird coincidence,

Citi encountered a 40-year-old taxi driver called John who served as an intermediary between sex workers and tourists. That night, John relayed a rather strange request from a man wanting to hire Citi to perform a very specific task. At first, it sounded like she was being asked to participate in a pornographic film, which caused her to hesitate.

But the proposed payment of more than $100 quickly had Siti overlooking any apprehension that she initially felt. After all, she was still supporting her impoverished parents back home in Indonesia and sending money back to her son. Her dream was to build a home in her native village in which she could live with her entire family, and $100 would go a long way towards that endeavor.

So less than seven hours after their initial encounter, John picked up Siti, who was now wearing tight jeans and a red turtleneck sweater that exposed her midriff and accentuated her hourglass figure because she's thinking that she's about to produce pornography. She also had braces on her teeth, which made her appear even younger than her 24 years. So she, I think, was thinking some pretty bad stuff was probably likely in store for her. And it was, but not what she was thinking.

Siti, now going by the alias Nidia, was taken to the luxurious setting of Pavilion Mall amidst high-end stores like Dior, where John introduced her to a man claiming to be Japanese in his 30s and called James. Speaking in fragmented English and occasionally relying on Google Translate for communication, James described this project as being very different from a porno.

James explained to City that he wanted to feature her in a candid camera style comedy prank show destined for YouTube audiences in China and Japan. Oh. Okay? Okay. James indicated to City that her role was to apply a baby oil-like substance onto the face of an apparently unsuspecting Vietnamese woman at the mall, which is where they met, while he captured the entire scene on video and would, you know, capture the woman's reaction with his smartphone. Okay.

And that's the humor. That's the funny part, right? So the openness of the act lent it sort of this air of legitimacy. And James even insisted that City offer the woman an apology after she rubbed baby oil on her face. And so City kind of felt like, I don't know, she kind of just got the vibe that this was authentic. Yeah. And she went through with it. Okay.

Hey, we just got back from watching the eclipse outside. So that's why Investigator Slater has a blanket on now. She got cold because the sun went away. That was pretty cool to watch. It was cool to watch. I'm interested to hear from people who watched it what they thought of it. Let us know. Let us know in the comments below. Make sure to subscribe. Hit that notifications button. I'm a real YouTuber now. Yeah, you are.

So that same morning, John, James, and Citi visited another upscale mall where Citi was compensated once again, this time for rubbing hot sauce on the face of Chinese-looking men. That was her directive. Chinese-looking men? That was her directive.

Because they said that the YouTube channel was going to be huge in China and Japan. So they were, I think they were also trying to get her used to the fact that they were targeting specific people. So that when they needed to target their real target, it wasn't out of left field. Like, why are we going after some, you know, random, specific,

Yeah, we're going after guys with blue polos today. I mean, but it would line up. 100%. Even if it doesn't, it makes just enough sense to be like, oh, right? Okay. Right. And for Ziti, the more specific things got, the more legitimate it felt. Yeah. You know what I mean? So she's two days in. Day one was baby oil. Yes. Day two was hot sauce. Correct. Which I would be furious. Oh, the hot sauce. I mean, I'd be furious either way, but hot sauce.

Hot sauce can be dangerous. I don't like pranks where people are, like, touched or... Hurt? Yeah. Yeah. No. I always had a hard time watching Jackass, even though they were doing it to themselves. There's one scene in Jackass that...

haunts me. Oh, my God. They were giving themselves paper cuts. Oh, no. Between the toes. Yeah, no. Oh, my God. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Thank you. So for Siti, this was easy money as far as she was concerned. And bizarre as it was, it didn't ring any alarm bells insofar as she wasn't breaking any laws or doing anything behind a veil of secrecy. This was all happening in the public eye over the course of four days from January 5th to

to the ninth. That must be some kind of like, if you think it's out in the open, it must be good. It must be legit. Exactly. It's not bystander syndrome, obviously, like we've talked about a hundred times, but something similar. It's actually bystander effect. Excuse me. I was, no, I say bystander syndrome. Oh, you do? Yeah, I was shocked to find out. Oh, well then excuse you. Yeah.

Okay, so Siti also thinks because everything is being videotaped, again, that there's this level of authenticity to it. But Japanese James, because remember, he said his name was James. He was in his 30s and he was from Japan, wasn't filming a prank-style game show like he told Siti he was doing. James, in fact, was not really James. He was a 33-year-old North Korean agent named Ri Ji-woo, who was, in fact, training her to kill people.

And when he proposed creating a video at the airport the next day, City was ready and eager to participate. In fact, she felt that she may actually have a shot at becoming a celebrity after these stunts would air. After all, on January 21st, James actually flew her to Cambodia for more spoofing. That's what she called it. Wow. And that's what he called it, which only served as further proof for City that this prank show was going to be big and that she finally would make all the money that she needed to

To help her family in the way that they needed. That's way too sad. It is. Did you ever see those, like speaking of pranks, the prank scratch-off lottery tickets? No, but that already sounds horrific. Dude, you scratch it off. Oh, I got everyone scratch-off tickets for Christmas or Thanksgiving or whatever. Scratch it off. It says you won like $3 million. The videos of these people elating.

Exuberant. Jubilant. All the errants. Ecstatic. That was just another E1. Ecstatic. And then the letdown. Talk about you give us and then you take it. Yeah, but disproportionately. The pinnacle. Yeah.

On February 3rd, 4th, and 7th, Cydia accosted unsuspected victims at Kuala Lumpur's airport under the supervision of a different person now, a man whom James introduced as Chang, who increased Cydia's salary to $200 American dollars per hit, as we're calling it. Oh, per person or per day? Per person. Oh, okay. Yep. Instead of what she was making, which was half that amount in Malaysian currency. Okay.

On February 11th, Citi's 25th birthday, Chang bought her a taxi ticket home as a present and instructed her to be back by February 13th for their next prank. So she thinks that she's being like,

Not wined and dined, but like the equivalent in a business transaction. Like they're giving her a taxi ticket. Yeah, exactly. That's like you think you're on the up and up. You're doing such a great job. You're getting more money. You're getting flown around, chauffeured. Yep. And it just further, further convinces her that this is like, this is going to be huge and I'm going to be huge. But in reality, it's a pretty cheap way to train an assassin. I mean, for what she wound up doing, the exchange they made out. Yeah. Yeah.

So at 8 a.m. on that day, February 13th, Siti found herself having coffee with Chang and a Vietnamese woman, Duong Thi Hoang, at a cafe close to the airport terminal too, okay? So at this point, she went home for her birthday. She came back like she was instructed. And now she's at a cafe across from the airport.

Just 59 minutes later, the two women would wind up assassinating Kim Jong-nam because like James, Chang was not who he said he was. In actuality, Chang was a 34-year-old North Korean intelligence officer named Hong Song-hak. Wow. So wait, they're training two women? Yes. So remember how I started this by saying there were two women. There was one from Vietnam and one from Indonesia. And I began by telling you City's story, right? And how...

The two of them were both working as escorts at the time in which they were poached, basically. Did they know each other? They did not know each other. So this is their first time meeting. Yeah. Okay. And we're going to get into the introduction of the two of them and how they met at the airport and how they carried out this act together. Because until this point, they were each trained independently of each other to do this prank. Yeah.

But first, I want to tell you about Duan, T. Huang's life, okay? Because we talked about City and how she was in this desperate situation, wound up being, you know, involved in survival sex work. And obviously, when this situation presented itself, it was too good to turn down, right? Duan is the other girl. Exactly. Until that point, her life was similar in many ways to City's, but different in that she was educated, having gone to a university where she studied accounting. Okay.

Unfortunately, Duong struggled to find employment as an accountant in Vietnam, so she took a waitressing job as well as a few modeling gigs and a few roles in YouTube videos just to help pay the bills.

So she was like doing that already. She was interested in acting. Okay. All right. And Duan quickly realized how much she loved to act and how much she felt that it might be a better path for her to take. So when a fellow waitress told her about a Japanese production company making prank comedy videos on YouTube looking to hire participants, Duan jumped at the opportunity to star in these videos.

After meeting with a man who called himself Mr. Y, who promised to make Duan a star and take her to America and Japan, she was all in, off the bat. And just like Siti was trained to do, Duan was taught to put a baby oil-like substance on her hands before firmly pressing her hands into the eyes of an unsuspecting target and holding them there for at least three seconds. Then she... Eyes, you said? Yes. Okay. Okay.

Eyes and then rub it down the face. Yeah, yeah. Then she was to apologize and walk away all while he filmed this hilarious encounter. Oh, yeah. It sounds like a fucking riot. Right? Baby oil on the face, a classic prank. Well, that's what I want to know. So, and I'm totally not blaming Siti or Duan at all, but

Who's laughing? Like, at what point do you realize this isn't prank comedy? Because I'm sure the victim who you just rubbed oil all over isn't laughing. There's no big reveal at the end. There's no, like, this was just a hoax. You're on candid camera type of thing. You know what I mean? Well, two things. One, funny is in the eye of the beholder. True. Much like the baby oil. Two...

Two, when you're getting paid, you can convince yourself of a lot of things. And they were desperate and they were vulnerable. So I don't mean to blame them. No, I don't think you are. It's just something that you don't think about. Like, why would you do that? Because...

I know from experience, like when there's a, let's say a brand that's paying me like a good amount of money to talk about them. I love nothing more than that brand. Yeah. I really do. Right, right. No, it makes sense. Some brands I do love. Right. And to work with them is great, but a lot of times it's like, oh yeah, I fucking, I love your brand. They're buttering your bread. Yeah. I get it. It makes sense.

So, similar to Siti, Duan was instructed to apologize to her target and then walk away, all while this was being filmed. And after Duan was sufficiently groomed, Mr. Y flew her to Kuala Lumpur, which confirmed, again, like Siti in her eyes, that he was indeed the successful baller that he purported to be.

What else did Mr. Y do at this point? Pop quiz. Pop quiz. A, purchased a life-size teddy bear at the airport and instructed Duan to practice her prank moves on it.

B, provided her with a new passport that listed a North Korean address, assuring her that this was a standard procedure for actresses. C, informed her that she was now under his control, warning that noncompliance with his demands would result in the death of her family back home. B.

A. Yes. That was my first fucking guess. You got to go with it. I know. But if my first guess is the first choice, I second guess it because I'm like... Well, now I know to make the right answer the first choice. Well, now I know you're going to make the right answer the first choice. Now I know that you know that, so... Why don't you just tell me what movie you want to see? So the next day, Mr. Y brought Duan to the Kuala Lumpur airport where she met up with her co-star for the first time, Siti, and Siti's handguns.

Handler Chang. Okay. Got a big bear. And we're going to call them by their names. We know that Chang's name is not Chang. We know that James's name is not James. We eventually know that Mr. Y is not Mr. Y, but this is how the women knew them and this is how we know them hitherto this point. So we're just going to roll with it. Yeah. I'm so glad that I brought that word into this podcast.

You know what? I was going to save this for the Patreon, actually. Oh, my God. If you listen to the episode where you say that I came up with psychopedia, you go, I can't believe it. I remembered wrong. It's, you know, whatever. And then I go, just like what happened with Hitherto. Nope. That can't happen. Nope. Made one mistake once. Can't be two. Yeah, that checks out. I can't wait to... Find it. Go through the transcripts. Find it. Taryn Flesherton is doing the heavy lifting for me right now. Did you ask...

I don't, I don't, I, I, I, I maybe put it out there. I don't remember. I don't know, but I got, so I saw, I mentioned it on the Patreon, which you're not on. So I do all of my talking on there. Wonderful. And then I saw Taryn Flesherton liked Lucha Libre, Lady Killer, ad free. So he's like, he's running through. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Good to know. Taryn Flesherton. Thanks buddy.

Okay, so now at this point, everybody's met up and it's the big day. It comes so natural to us. It bears explaining that Taryn Flesherton is somebody's Patreon name. Yes. Okay. You're right. We make it seem like, yeah, fucking, you know, the guy Taryn. Taryn Flesherton. Right. Weird name. Nice guy. So the women were only told that their target was a fat, balding man wearing a blue polo shirt, jeans, and a backpack.

The men had the women's slick baby oil onto their hands, per usual, which the women noticed this time smelled a bit like machine oil. While the previous liquids had been odorless, the ladies were also instructed to clean the oil off of their hands immediately after the prank was over. Again, that was an instruction that they never received before. Yeah. As their target, fucking Kim Jong-nam approached and

Chang ducked away and Siti advanced. After covering Kim Jong-nam's eyes with her oil-soaked hands, she legged it out of there, went immediately to a bathroom to wash her hands, and then left the airport, spending a little bit of time at the shopping mall as instructed. They were paid before, I'm guessing? Mm.

We'll find out. Oh, okay. Duan, immediately after Siti covered Jong-nam's eyes, did the same thing with her hands and was sure to leave them on there for at least three seconds like she practiced on the teddy bear. Oh, it was two eyes? Two eye gets or whatever? Coverings, yes. I thought for some reason when you said before, I thought one got the bottom half of the face, the other one got the top half of the face. So Siti got the eyes, Duan got the eyes, and then rubbed it down his face. Okay. All right.

All of this, by the way, is captured on CCTV. So strange. All right. Well, there's a rhyme and a reason for all of this. I know they're killing him. Well, yes, but even the motions, there's a rhyme and a reason. Okay. And the order in which they were to execute this. Okay. It's wildly calculated. We're going to circle back, aren't we? We sure are. So what exactly did Siti and Duan rub on Kim Jong-nam's face at the airport as he stood beneath the departure board, innocently looking up?

The substance that SIDI applied to Kim Jong-nam's face was something called VX, but it was not standard VX. According to Vimpin Narang, a political science professor at MIT with a background in chemical engineering...

It was a variant dubbed VX2, which was likely used in this case. So VX2 was created by splitting VX into two non-reactive components, which then recombined on Kim Jong-nam's face to form active VX. And what VX is, is it's a highly toxic nerve agent classified among the most potent of all chemical warfare agents. Okay. I'm not laughing at that. That's horrible. What are you laughing at?

When I say lethal poison, what do you hear me say? Lethal poison. Okay. I just, I watched the movie Envy with my sons over the weekend with Jack Black and Ben Stiller. Okay. Jack Black comes up with this way, this spray that makes dog poop disappear. Oh, I love it. Becomes mega rich, but he's always dreaming. So Ben Stiller was like, whatever, dude. And then they don't go into it together. So Jack Black becomes mega rich. Ben Stiller stays poor. So Ben Stiller kills Jack Black's horse.

By shooting an arrow at it. And the whole time he's like, such a small arrow. It's such a big horse. Like, how did it possibly kill this horse? I can't imagine it would do that much damage. So they go to the hospital after a whole thing, whatever. And the woman goes, the combination of the chemicals in the whatever with this, with the apples he was eating every day became a little poison. And Ben Stiller goes, little person? Yeah.

So I'm going to start calling you a lethal poison. Oh, wonderful. That's great. Really great.

So VX, okay, the toxic nerve agent. So it gets reconstituted on the face. Exactly right. And it's part of the organophosphate family, which was initially developed for pesticides, but then later weaponized. VX is a clear and tasteless liquid with the consistency of motor oil, and it can remain lethal for long periods, especially in colder environments.

So the agent works by inhibiting an enzyme that I have zero chance of pronouncing at this stage. Why don't you give it a shot? I kind of want you to give it a shot. Let's see it. Okay, here. It's in parentheses right there. Acetylcholine erasterase.

Fucking nailed it, dude. That was so good. I just felt like a fucking cyborg. Yeah. Who looked at it, calculated, took a second, relaxed into it. That was a masterclass. That was incredible.

So anyway, this enzyme is necessary for muscles to relax after they've been stimulated by the nervous system. So when VX blocks this enzyme, muscles contract uncontrollably, leading to paralysis and eventually death due to asphyxiation as the diaphragm and respiratory muscles are affected.

So you can see in CCTV the deterioration of Kim Jong-nam. At first, you see him starting to walk with a slight limp while he's telling security what just happened. Then you can see him passed out on a chair, like in the medical wing of the airport. But he's still alive and he's looking up at the camera. You can see. And then within an hour, he was dead.

VX can be absorbed through the skin, it can be inhaled, or it can be ingested. Its use in warfare or any other context is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, to which about 193 states are parties. The synthesis of VX for any purpose outside of very controlled research environments is prohibited due to its extreme danger and the international agreements in place to prevent chemical weapon proliferation. Keep that in mind. Just...

The fact that it's like banned. Yes, exactly. This was a sophisticated assassination technique and it had several benefits. Reminds me of Game of Thrones. It does, yeah. Primarily, the components were harmless until they were mixed, which reduced the risk to Siti and Duan. Oh, because it goes in through the pores. Exactly. And only when the two chemicals were combined on his face did it become...

But the second one for sure would have had a little bit of lethal VX2 on her hands. Yes. This is why they were instructed to immediately go wash up. Yeah, yeah. Given the sequence of events, it's probable that Citi was exposed to the reactive VX2 because she was the first one to rub it, even though she said after the fact that she vomited post-attack, but later it came out that she didn't. Due on...

who struck second, as we know, likely wasn't harmed either due to the minimal toxin contact on her hands and the fact that she promptly washed them. As Kim Jong-nam approached the self-check-in kiosk after glancing at the departure board...

and this is before he was obviously attacked, at least four North Korean operatives coordinated Sidi and Doohan's actions from across the expansive terminal. It's like a 007 movie. After administering the VX, Chang retreated to a bathroom with another North Korean agent standing by to ensure the operation's successful execution. Another agent observed from the coffee shop where Sidi and James had been earlier and then where they met Doohan and Mr. Y.

And as the women made their exit post-assassination, they passed a fourth operative, unbeknownst to them, a senior spy who might have subtly communicated with them signaling the mission's success. This is like, some people argue that the women knew what they were doing and they feel that this was caught on CCTV. And according to some sources, there was a fifth North Korean operative as well who was trailing a black suitcase on like rolling, like a rolling suitcase.

and that he was discreetly listening to Kim Jong-nam uttering his final words to the airport information counter where he was trying to get help. And that that guy stuck around and made sure that he died. So Kim Jong-nam is alone in the airport? He is. That's so weird. It's not weird. We're going to go into why it's not weird. He was living in exile. Oh, that's right. Yeah. That's right. So Kim Jong-un exiled him.

Yes. And then most likely had him killed. Most likely. They deny it. He denies it, but most likely. But I just feel like I have to mention that. Of course, yeah. I don't want to die. Okay. Yeah, no. I mean, he probably didn't do it. Exactly. But it's a maybe. He's innocent. Yeah, he's innocent for sure. If you're listening. Right. Kim Jong II.

After participating in a political, historic assassination, Sidi and Duan went back to normal life as if nothing happened. Yeah, and that's not just like a regular kill. That's like a massive... It's insane. I know. This case is insane to me. How the whole thing went down. Yeah. How these two women who were conned into doing this literally changed the course of history. Unwitting, unwilling. Exactly. Exactly.

They casually walked out of the airport in a way that some who felt that they knew exactly what they had done

say that they look directly into the CCTV in a challenging way and that they're walking out of the airport in this cool and calculated manner. So easy to read into things. Honestly, I truly believe that they had no fucking idea what they just did and they were walking out like, I'm going to make a shit ton of money doing very little like I've been doing for the past however many weeks. They were feeling like fucking superstars. Exactly. There's no reason for them to have thought that anything nefarious was going on or that that instance was

Any different from any of the previous ones. Yeah. So by that same afternoon, Siti was back turning tricks at the spa, waiting for Chang to contact her with their next prank. And Duan went back to her hotel and was waiting for the same type of directive. Yeah. The next day, which was February 14th, Duan went back to the airport to meet Mr. Y as planned. But he never showed up.

Even stranger, his phone was now disconnected. And Chang hadn't contacted City the next day either, which was strange since their pranking had been occurring on a somewhat regular basis. Damn, they both got ghosted on Valentine's Day? Ooh, never thought of that. That's cold. Sad. And obviously, we know that the men had no further use for the women. Yeah. Unbeknownst to them, their jobs were effectively done.

And then just left to figure out what happened. Exactly. And we're going to discuss what happened to Sidi and Duan. But first, I want to talk about why. Why did North Korean intelligence operatives facilitate this hit? Again, even though they deny doing so. According to Nam Soong-wook, a Korea University professor and former head of a research division within South Korea's intelligence service, he said,

The assassination was meticulously planned. From the moment Kim Jong-nam departed Macau, he was under constant watch by the North Koreans. A team was even on his flight. Upon his arrival in Kuala Lumpur, he was immediately picked up by another surveillance team who monitored him continuously even while he was asleep.

Kim Jong-nam was closely watched right up to his entry into the terminal and then quite literally until he died. Sounds like Santa Claus. Same thing, Tank.

Now, the assassination of Kim Jong-nam has been widely speculated about, as you can imagine. Yeah. And there's been no official confirmation from North Korea regarding the reasons behind it or even an acknowledgement of their involvement at all. Analysts and experts outside of North Korea, however, have suggested several possible motives for Kim Jong-nam's assassination, which may involve internal politics, perceived threats to Jong-un's rule, or janghaprojection,

Jung Nam's outspokenness and potential alternative to Jung Eun's leadership. Yep. Okay. So let's explore possible motives for the assassination. One, Kim Jung Nam was a perceived threat.

Seems like the easiest reason, right? So despite living in exile, Kim Jong-nam might have still been seen as a potential rival to Kim Jong-un's leadership. And there were several reasons for his exile. But the main one, I want you to tell me. Pop quiz? Pop quiz. What is said to be the main reason for Kim Jong-nam's exile from North Korea and for falling out of favor with the leadership?

A, he publicly macked on Kim Jong-un's wife, Ri Sol-ju, in 1999, which left no choice but for severe retaliation even years later. 18 years later. Mm-hmm. Okay. B, he attempted to enter Japan in 2001 with a forged passport so that he could visit Tokyo Disneyland.

which was an embarrassment. Okay. Wait, what was an embarrassment though? Disneyland or the trip? He used a forged passport so that he could visit Disneyland in Tokyo. And he got busted and it was an embarrassment. C, he defiled a portrait of Kim Jong-un in 2002 when he was seen throwing away a pamphlet containing the Supreme Leader's image. C. No.

Made it up because that seems pretty reasonable. Yeah. That would have happened. It all seemed very reasonable. Yeah. And by that, by North Korean standards, which means not reasonable. A? Nope. He went... Yep.

I really fucking wanted to go to Disneyland. So he attempted to enter Tokyo with a fake Dominican Republic passport with the Chinese name Pang Xiong, which means fat bear. Fat bear from the Dominican Republic? Yes. And this incident apparently... I want to go to Disneyland, but... How do you say? I don't have a...

Dominican Republic, bro? Yeah. And this incident apparently humiliated the North Korean regime with Disney being a very American establishment and America being enemy number one to North Korea.

Which is why when Jong-nam got busted attempting to take his family there, it essentially marked the beginning of his estrangement. So when he got busted, was he just like, I was going to Disneyland or like, you know what I mean? Like, did they get his itinerary or did he try and cover it up or? No, he was taking his family there. That I'll be honest with you. He didn't say that, which is fine because you shouldn't have given all the details right away. Okay.

I pictured him as a grown man doing anything he could to get to Tokyo, Disneyland, including getting a Dominican Republic passport that said fat bear. Got it. Yeah. No, he was taking his family there. All right. There were even rumors suggesting that Kim Jong-un's mother, because he had a different mother. Same dad. Same dad. That she was the one who tipped off the police in Japan to ensure that her son would be the one to ascend the throne. Oh.

Very Game of Thrones. Again, I think I said thrones instead of thrones. We're leaving it. And as a result, Jong-nam lived most of his adult life in exile. Over that? Yes. Legitimately over that. I mean, there was like some other stuff. Like there's all these possible motives. That's what we're running through right now. Yeah. But that Disneyland trip, getting busted with the fake passport, is what is said to have been the absolute turning point. That's just something that's unforgivable. Yes. Well, apparently. Yeah.

But in terms of Jong-nam being a potential threat, well, his existence as the eldest son of Kim Jong-il could make him a figure around which opposition to Kim Jong-un's rule could rally. So the older brother too. Yes, especially if there were any factions within North Korea or among its allies dissatisfied with Kim Jong-un's leadership. Did Kim Jong-il...

die married to Kim Jong-un's mother. Yes. So that, yeah, I mean, I get that. You get that she's worried about her son losing his...

I get why she would feel and he would feel that he should have the dictatorship. Yeah. Do you know why this is a total side note? Why Kim Jong-un is not referred to as the president of North Korea? I just thought this was interesting. Because it's not a republic? No, but that was excellent. But no.

Oh.

And perpetual leader of the country of North Korea. So I thought that was interesting. I would like to go to North Korea in my mind. I wouldn't want to even go there in my mind. Yeah. It's fascinating to me that it is so secretive. And I don't know if you've seen like these documentaries. Oh, yeah. I've watched the Vice ones so many times. Like when people, for those who don't know, North Korean citizens have no access to anything. No TV, no newspapers, no books, no internet, no nothing. Right.

They legitimately think that he is God. It's really tragic. It's one thing if they were alive and well and thriving in their own little bubble, but they're not. No, no, they're being starved. It's horrific. Yeah, it's terrible.

Okay, so that was one possible motive that they wanted to take out a potential threat. Yeah. Second possible motive, Kim Jong-nam's criticism of the Kim regime. So, Jong-nam was known to have criticized his half-brother's regime and the hereditary succession of power within North Korea.

His public statements, which included doubts about Kim Jong-un's capabilities and the sustainability of the regime's leadership structure, might have been viewed as the threatening, like of the legitimacy of his rule. So he's got to go. Yeah. All right. So that's one, another motive. I could also see why Kim Jong-nam feels entitled to that position also. He didn't want it. Oh, he didn't want it? No, that's the irony in this whole thing. He didn't want it. He just wants to go to Disneyland. Yeah, man. He's living off the grid a little bit.

Okay, third possible motive, deterring defection. So by eliminating Kim Jong-nam, the North Korean leadership might have intended to send a strong message to any potential defectors or critics of the regime, demonstrating the lengths to which it would go to silence dissent and opposition, regardless of status or location.

Like Putin. Yes. Who just has all his enemies destroyed. Do you know that he doesn't let anybody get within like 12 feet of him or something like that? Really? I mean, it doesn't surprise me. There's meetings. There's pictures of him in a meeting and it's like him at one end of the table and everyone else at the other end of the table. That's like Batman and Vicki Vale. Like he won't even let, because in case they try to poison him, baby oil in his eyes or whatever. I don't know what Vicki Vale means.

Vicki Vale was in Batman 1 with Michael Keaton. It was like his love interest and they were having dinner in his mansion and they were at opposite sides of the table and it was this huge banquet table and it was just very silly because they were on a date. I think that was just a visual gag, not fear of being killed.

What? In Batman? Yeah. I know. But you were saying that if he sits so far away and I said, oh, like Batman and Vicki Vale. Got it. Okay. I don't know if you do, but we'll leave it. No, I got it. Okay. I just don't care.

I didn't think you were going to hear that. I'm sorry. Yeah. Well, you said it out loud, so I heard it. Into the headphones. Yep. Okay. So in terms of going to great lengths, right, to like silence dissent and opposition, to that end, by releasing a chemical weapon at an international airport, a place that is symbolically shared by the global community, North Korea was warning all other nations potentially not to fuck with it. And as the Korea University professor Nam stated, he,

Kim Jong-un wants to reign for a long time and negotiate as a superpower. The only way to do that is to keep the world in fear of his weapons. He has a grand design, and this is a part of it. It's more him as a person that's scary, because his weapons are like...

We'd shoot those out of the sky in two seconds. But it also... Chemical warfare? I mean, that's scary. I don't think they have the resources. I wouldn't know, honestly. The problem is the country is, if you let the people work and earn money, he'd be way, way richer. Yeah. It's just like an incredibly short-sighted way to look at things. Like if they start working, they might rise up. It's like, dude, you'll be dead by that time. It's all about the power. It's so sickening.

Okay, another motive, external influence. So there has been speculation that Kim Jong-nam had connections with China, possibly being seen as a pro-China figure who could be used as a puppet leader if

if China or other external forces ever sought to install a more compliant regime in Pyongyang, which is the capital of North Korea. So his assassination could be an attempt to preempt any such maneuvers, right? This is like so deep and it's crazy because obviously they just deny all of this, but there's so many reasons why they would have wanted to do what they did.

And then the last potential motive here is that Kim Jong-nam was working with the United States Central Intelligence Agency. So on June 10th, 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported that former U.S. officials stated that Kim Jong-nam had been a CIA source. Really? A book by Anna Fifield, the Washington Post bureau chief in Beijing...

She wrote, she previously reported that Kim Jong-nam had been filmed abroad with a U.S. intelligence agent. So maybe. But honestly, the secretive nature of the North Korean regime makes it difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain the exact motives with certainty. For all those reasons. Exactly. But what seems pretty clear is that Kim Jong-nam knew everything.

that his life was in danger. Prior to his murder, he had become increasingly fearful and paranoid in the prior few years, fearing retribution from his younger half-brother. It was even determined that in his backpack at the time of his death,

was approximately $100,000 in cash, four North Korean passports, all bearing the name Kim Cole, which was his pseudonym, and 12 doses of atropine, which is an antidote to VX nerve agent. Really? Yes. How the hell did he know that? He had a...

What do you call it? A gut- A premonition. He had a feeling. But was VX popular? I don't think it was popular, but maybe he knew that his brother- Yeah, it was his- Had access to it. Weapon of choice. Exactly. Wow. What is it called again? The VX nerve agent or the antidote? Antidote. Atropine? Okay. Okay. I want to get some of that. After this podcast. I'm not going to the mall without my atropine.

Okay, so now we're going to get back to the case and the women that were used as pawns in all of this. Yeah. So Siti was arrested on February 15th, 2017 and Duan the day after. Pop quiz. After Siti was arrested, what happened? A, she confessed thinking it would help, which effectively ended her trial before it began and fast-tracked her to execution. B,

B, she claimed that she had no recollection of the event, possibly a side effect of being exposed to the nerve agent or possibly a lie. Okay. C, she thought the arrest was a prank and even after going to jail, just kept asking for her money so she could leave. C. Yes. Yeah. You went with your gut. Well, good job on the A. Oh, thank you. Because they're in Malaysia. Yeah.

Being killed over there is not... They were in jeopardy at this point for being hanged. Yeah. Hanged? Yeah. Yeah. Wow. I know.

So Siti believed that her imprisonment was part of the prank, that this was like all part of what she'd been doing all of this time. It wasn't until her fourth visit from the Indonesian ambassador in Malaysia who showed her a newspaper article of Kim Jong-nam's death in the airport that the reality hit her, which led her to absolutely break down. Yeah.

At the end of July, Siti was led into court wearing a bulletproof vest over a traditional Malaysian dress with a policewoman gripping each of her arms. And I've seen the footage of this and they're like rushing her. It's so chilling. Just the whole scene. She's like a mob around her. She's got her head down. Ugh.

Both Siti and Duan consistently claimed that they'd been tricked, and as such, they pleaded not guilty. Oh, they claimed that together, so their stories were at least matching up? Absolutely consistent. Yeah. And again, if they were found guilty, they would be hanged. In terms of the North Korean operatives, including James, Chang, and Mr. Y, and then the other one from the airport, at least one, possibly two more, they weren't arrested because Malaysian police couldn't find them or identify them.

As following the murder, they all hightailed it back to North Korea and faded to black. Where they're totally safe. Exactly. Yeah. Do I get any? Faded to black? Yeah. I don't know if that was a Metallica or a Jay-Z reference. It's both. It's both. I don't mean to brag. There you go. Crackers gonna act like I know that. There you are.

So Sidi and Duan's trial began on October 2nd, 2017 at the High Court in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia with Judge Datuk Azmi Arifin presiding. Suck it. I nailed it. Wow. Was that AI or was that you? Then on October 8th, the trial actually had to be moved to a high security laboratory due to the danger posed by the nerve agent tainted clothing admitted into evidence. Really? Yes.

Holy shit. This really happened and like not that long ago. No. I remember him dying. I remember reading about it. You do? Okay. Yeah. Isn't this like a spy thriller? Yeah. Like this, it's just wild to me. So the prosecution based their argument on the meticulous planning of the attack. The only evidence they offered suggested that the women had foreknowledge of Jong-nam's death

Because they cleaned their hands after the poisoning, which they argued showed that they knew that they had a toxin on their hands. However, obviously the defense attorneys counter-argued by saying that the North Korean operatives told their clients or their pawns to wash the liquid off of their hands without informing them of what it was. Yeah.

The defense went on to argue that the women were pawns, unknowing scapegoats in a political assassination with clear links to the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and that the prosecution failed to show that the women had any intention to

to kill and intent to kill is crucial to a murder charge under Malaysian law. Yeah. In the end, after two years, Siti Aisha was released and freed of charges on March 11th, 2019 after Malaysian prosecutors suddenly dropped the murder charge against her. Now, in Malaysia, I probably got a visit from fucking Kim Jong-un. The,

They did not, but they did get a visit from somebody else. In Malaysia, the power to dismiss charges against any individual rests with the nation's attorney general as established in their constitution. In Siti's case, the government in Indonesia, her home country, reached out to the attorney general in Malaysia, a man named Tommy Thomas, and the next thing you knew, charges were dropped.

But in Duan's case, the charges remained, even though her government in Vietnam similarly reached out to Tommy Thomas. Defense lawyers argued that the Malaysian... Probably called him Tommy, that's why.

Oh, you think we're friends? How about you fucking say my name right? Defense lawyers argued that the Malaysian government demonstrated bias within the judicial system as evidenced by the court's decision to release only one of the suspects despite initially finding a prima facie.

against both of them. I'm going to tell you what that is. A prima facie signifies judgments made at a first sight or based on first impressions. And they suggested that both individuals initially appeared equally culpable under the law. The Malaysian attorney general's different treatment towards the two suspects attracted significant criticism from several members of the Malaysian parliament who maintained that this

would cause a bilateral problem with Vietnam if they didn't treat Duan the same way that they treated Citi. And why would they not? So it's a little unclear why they didn't. All that's known is that the Indonesian government contacted the attorney general in Malaysia and he was quick to drop the charge. But when the Vietnam government did the same thing on behalf of Duan, they didn't do it. Yeah.

So it's a little, this is why there was like hoopla about it because it was like, what really happened? What type of favoritism are you showing? And it's going to cause big problems. Duann must have felt so relieved when Siti got released. Well, when, yes and no. It's funny you say that because when Siti got released,

Duann, she was so happy for Citi. You can see them hugging like she was so happy for her. She thought she was going to get out too. Then she stayed awake, they said, for three days straight because it became very clear to her that she was not going to be released.

And apparently her mental health took such a dramatic, drastic turn. Oh, yeah. And for three full days, she was wide awake with extreme anxiety. Well, because you are in there with your Cody. Nice. Uh...

I love rap. And they get out. Yeah. You hug. You must think, all right, my rescue is right behind them. Yep. And then a minute goes by and it's not there. And then five and then an hour later,

And then you got to like lay down at night and try and sleep figuring out what the fuck is going on. Why are you not being released? We've talked about this before. We've talked about it on our guilty until proven innocent case. We talked about it on a Patreon episode recently being wrongfully convicted and like that prison in your own mind, right? Like you're just screaming and no one is hearing you. It is terrifying.

Ultimately, thankfully, on April 1st, 2019, the murder charge against Duan was dropped. Oh, good. And she pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means.

Consequently, she was sentenced to three years and four months in prison. However, thanks to a one-third reduction in her sentence, she was released on May 3rd, 2019, but she still had to plead guilty to something and she still had to serve. Wait, one-third reduction? What does that mean? She served one-third of her sentence. Oh, okay.

Yeah, but at least at that point, you know you're not going to get hanged. Right. That's true. Not knowing. That's what I'm saying. Not knowing is like, especially, listen, not knowing what, you know, what you're having for dinner that night is like, I'd like to know, but I'm not going to fucking lose my mind over it. Yeah. Not knowing whether or not you're going to live or die. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. No, thanks. What became of their lives in such a short amount of time? Yeah. It's so wild. Yeah.

So there was a huge global reaction to Kim Jong-un's assassination. It sparked a diplomatic standoff between North Korea and Malaysia, with the countries briefly banning the other's citizens from leaving. Leaving? Yeah. North Korea was relisted as a state sponsor of terrorism by the United States on November 20th, 2017, and cited the assassination as one of the reasons.

Additionally, in March of 2018, the United States Department of State imposed additional sanctions on North Korea, having asserted that North Korea used VX nerve agent to assassinate Kim Jong-nam.

As years pass, the assassination of Kim Jong-nam continues to provoke questions about power, loyalty, and the dynamics within one of the world's most enigmatic regimes. But Malaysia, why would North Korea have Malaysian citizens in it? Don't they not let anybody in ever? I don't know. Or maybe they did a few. I don't know. I'm not sure. Honestly. I may be completely wrong. I'm sure you can go. I think if you go...

you're like on a tight leash. I know that like journalists have gone there before. Yeah. And exactly that. It's so, so strange because there is this Vice documentary about North Korea, not about this case, but North Korea that I've watched like a bunch of times. Grocery stores? Yeah. And just how when you go, those who go to visit, and I'm honestly, honestly not sure how they select who comes to visit and who doesn't, but those who visited and had like video footage, everything is staged. Yeah.

It's so creepy. And for those of you who don't know what we're talking about, the Vice documentary, there's a scene where this person has a hidden camera, basically, or is turning it on when they're not supposed to turn it on. Yeah. And they show these grocery stores, which has like...

one 60-foot row of full produce, food, whatever, and then the entire rest of the supermarket is completely empty. So you're only supposed to film that area where it's full. Yep. And they show restaurants where they're bringing their guests, and it looks absolutely beautiful, and all the tables are set meticulously, like fine china, everything. There's no one there. Yeah. It's just empty.

It's a set. It's staged. Yeah. It's just so creepy. It's like those ghost cities in China. I don't know that. We haven't talked about that? No. Another Vice documentary. China basically to build up their economy has been, was giving, I don't know if they're still doing it, was giving these giant contracts to developers and builders to go build these cities and

outside of the established urban areas. So they'd go 50, 150 miles into the country, build an entire city, high-rise buildings, roads, drainage, sewage, electric, malls, you name it. And then nobody lives there. It's so wild. So like they went into these malls and there's like somebody living in one of the stores in the mall, somebody who doesn't have a house. Oh my goodness. It's crazy. It's wild. We're going to end this episode

episode on a PQ. Okay. All right. Pop quiz. Who knows literally everything about North Korea and is someone I used as a source on this case? Oh, I know. Don't even do the pop quiz. Nope, nope. You need to hear it. Why? Because I think you're going to get it wrong.

Okay. A, my history-obsessed father, Joseph Slater. Okay. B, my former criminology professor, Dr. Gaston, who was also once the warden at Rikers Island. Okay. C, my 10-year-old son. Your 10-year-old son? Oh, you do know. Yeah.

I thought you were going to think it was my dad because I posted like a text exchange between us and I told him that I was doing a case that he was going to really like. Whatever. And also at the beginning of the episode. And the beginning of the episode, which seems like four hours ago. I know your family. Okay. I know your kids. Yeah. He knows everything about this case. In fact, I asked him the name of Kim Jong-un's wife or excuse me, mother, and he knew it.

You did fact check though, right? Yes, of course. Apparently North Korea is made out of chocolate milk. Dave and I were dying. We were dying. We were asking him all of these obscure questions and he knew the answers. I hope he, uh, I hope he enjoys this podcast. I,

I hope so. I think he might actually listen to this one. I have to give him an edited version. Yeah, for sure. For sure. But that's the case. I thought this was fascinating. Definitely different. You keep saying, I thought, I think, like I'm not interested in it. It's more me projecting my insecurities about this being a little bit of a different case. Like it's not your typical true crime case. For our listeners, I guess is what I'm also... I liked it. I don't know how you felt about it, but I enjoyed the case. Okay, good.

Good. Yeah, we like the case. We, you're talking on behalf of the listeners too. Yes. All right. Always. Good. Well, I gauge, I gauged my work on your reaction because you are a man of the people. I hope for you at some point you come into an episode confident and just...

Don't question yourself. I have some like self-help work to do. Like I'm insecure. It just is what it is. I got to work on it. Yeah. We all have insecurities. I'm not going to stop because I love this too much. But I refuse to believe that you could be this good at something and have insecurities. No, thank you. Speaking of, before we end, let me do a little Tanks tidbit, a.k.a. Tanks titties, a.k.a. I bounce my pecs when I want to.

I have a question. I've been asking a bunch of people that I know this question. What is it going to take for you? What milestone do you need to achieve? What needs to happen in your life that you don't feel like an imposter anymore? Oh, imposter syndrome. Yeah. Like Chris DiStefano. Shout out to Chris. I shouted him out earlier in the episode.

quit his job as a physical therapist to become a stand-up comedian. Started kind of okay, great. Got on Guy Code, did well. Guy Code ended, didn't go so well. Lulls and, you know, valleys and peaks in his career. Then, you know, he has this, one of the biggest comedy podcasts in the world. Two of them, actually, sorry. Hey Babe and Chrissy Chaos, which I've been on, episode two. Check it out on YouTube. Hi. And he fucking sold out Radio City Music Hall and the theater at MSG. Yeah.

And he's still like, I don't even know what I'm doing. It's like, what do you need to happen? I feel like though that is maybe a healthy, mine is definitely not a healthy dose. Like I need to definitely. Neither is his. He sold that Radio City Music Hall. Maybe that's what keeps the fire burning. Maybe. Maybe that's what you think keeps the fire burning. But it's keeping the fire from really breathing.

Ooh. Yeah. Oh my God, I need a therapist. You got one right here. I know. I need to book you for an hour, seriously. I thank you on behalf of the listeners for doing all that hard work and heavy lifting to make this case seem so easy and simple to listen to and understand and follow. Thank you. I love this case because it's fascinating. I'm so sorry somebody died and I'm so sorry that those women had to go through hell. Yeah. It's fascinating. Yeah.

Well, thank you to everyone for listening slash watching. I hope that you liked it and found it informative and interesting. And maybe I'll be able to sleep at night if you did. Thank you for listening. We'll see you guys next week. Bye. Bye.