Zankou Chicken Murders

Crime Scene

Sony Music

True Crime

3.9 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2026

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Los Angeles, a family-built chicken chain becomes a citywide obsession, with lines out the door and garlic sauce that borders on myth. When the mogul behind its expansion walks into his sister’s Glendale home one morning and executes her and their 75-year-old mother before turning the gun on himself, the killings expose a buried history of illness, paranoia, and an inheritance war inside one of LA’s most beloved “mom-and-pop” empires. Subscribe to The Binge+ For ad-free listening to Crime Scene and access to over 60 true crime series, subscribe to The Binge+ on Apple Podcasts, Patreon, or at GetTheBinge.com. For ad-free listening to Crime Scene and access to over 60 true crime series, subscribe to The Binge+ on Apple Podcasts, Patreon, or at GetTheBinge.com. Watch Crime Scene on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBingeTrueCrime Follow Crime Scene: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebingecrimescene/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebingecrimescene Get our free true crime newsletter for behind-the-scenes details at Patreon.com/TheBinge. When you’re finished listening to this true crime story, go see Hunting Matthew Nichols in theaters. Learn more at https://www.huntingmatthewnichols.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Isn't life grande?
0:01.9	And making it better just got easier with Starbucks new protein cold foam.
0:06.7	A little something, something to take your favorite drinks up a notch with 15 grams of extra protein.
0:13.2	Turn your usual iced caramel latte into a smooth iced caramel protein latte.
0:18.5	Add a delicious swirl on top of your drink, just like that.
0:23.3	Protein never tasted so good with Starbucks new protein cold foam. Subject to availability while
0:29.1	stocks last. They say blood is thicker than water. What if it's not? And what if you get into a feud
0:34.9	so deep, even being family can't pull you out of it?
0:38.3	In January of 2003, three members of the Iskandarian family were gunned down in their own home.
0:45.1	A family that appeared to be the embodiment of the American dream was living a nightmare.
0:50.4	Welcome to crime scene, the show where we tell the stories behind the world's most unforgettable crimes.
0:56.5	And this week, a family undone by loyalty tests, betrayals, and murder.
1:02.2	From Sony podcast and The Binge, this is the story of the Zanku chicken murders.
1:13.6	Hey, y'all. Welcome to crime scene. My name's Jonathan Hirsch. And I'm Cooper Mall.
1:17.6	And together each week, we're going to bring you the most remarkable cases and crimes now and throughout history.
1:23.6	We'll dive into every aspect of it. The investigations, criminal, the legal, the different
1:29.3	angles, but most importantly, we'll tell you the story, beat by beat, line by line.
1:36.1	This show is a part of the binge, which is Sony's True Crime podcast network of limited series
1:40.6	shows that I head up, where you will find me and Cooper now and again.
1:45.4	Think of this as all the things that you love about limited series, true crime stories told in one episode.
1:52.0	So Cooper, this is a wild story.
1:54.6	It's about a family.
	...

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