Anatomy of Murder

A murder case has many layers: the victim, the crime, and the investigation. To truly understand it, you need to dissect each piece of a tragic puzzle. Join Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi and Scott Weinberger every Wednesday for an insider’s perspective, as they reveal to you the Anatomy of Murder.

NEW SEASON: Strangeland

NEW SEASON: Strangeland

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 08:00

Maple Shade, New Jersey is a quaint suburb; its slogan is “Nice Town, Friendly People.” But on the evening of March 23, 2017, an Indian tech worker, Sasikala Narra, and her six-year-old son, Anish, were found brutally murdered in their apartment. Police questioned the husband and father, Hanumantha, but his alibi had checked out.

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Each week we walk through homicide cases from around the country, dissecting the details to unravel the many layers, from the victim to the crime and the overall investigation. But what happens when the path to justice for victims gets lost in translation? In the new season of Strangeland, murder in Maple Shade, a husband comes home to find his wife and son brutally murdered in their home. Because the husband had an Allen by that checked out, the case eventually went cold. Now, six years later, the case is still unsolved. You may know from our show that some cases have stand out clues that may require some unconventional investigations, and that's exactly what happened. Strangeland's investigative journalist Benedict Eare and veteran journalist Tinku Ray sought out to conduct their own investigation to reveal the details, the authorities, neglected to acknowledge. Check out the trailer to hear about this devastating case that shook up the town of Maple Shade, New Jersey. Maple Shade, New Jersey, is a quaint suburb of Philadelphia, about 20 minutes from downtown, population 20,000. In recent years, it's become a landing pad for foreign workers drawn to Philly's booming tech businesses. But Maple Shade's main street still looks like it was ripped straight out of the 1950s. Pink dogwood trees, churches on nearly every block. Our town motto is nice town, friendly people. Typically, calls to the police are for normal stuff. Car accidents, people passing quietly in their sleep. But around 10 pm on March 23rd, 2017, the Maple Shade police were called to the scene of a gruesome murder. A man arrived home to his apartment to discover his wife and son stabbed to death. 9-1-1, where's your emergency? My wife and 10 men are not talking, I'm dead in the kitchen, dead in the bedroom. The man on the call was Hanumanthanaara or Hanu. He's a computer tech from India. His six-year-old son Anish and his 38-year-old wife, Sasi Gala, had been killed in one of the most grisly murders in Maple Shade's history. In Maple Shade, it is a heinous crime that has law-abiding citizens shaking their heads and dismays. The brutal murder of a 38-year-old and her son has shocked the Indian community. That's wrong, it's lit, there's blood everywhere. I'm investigative journalist Ben Adair. Suspicion immediately fell on the husband, but his alibi checked out so the police let him go. Now, six years have passed and there have been no arrests, no new suspects, no answers. When I tell you Maple Shade didn't do shit, they didn't do shit about that and I'm still trying to figure out as a whine. I'm veteran journalist Tinku Ray and this is the new season of Strange Land. In my three decades as a journalist covering news largely in South Asia, I've never encountered a story like this one. In our new season, there are no big city cops, no high rise apartment buildings. We had across the country to New Jersey to look into how a brutal murder of an immigrant mother and son could go unsolved. Did law enforcement do its job? Did the victim's immigrant status influence the investigation or was justice lost in translation? From Audio Chuck and Western Sound, this is Strange Land Season 2, murder in Maple Shade. Maple Shade's motto is nice town friendly people and I always say nice town shady people. Strange Land Season 2, coming February 2nd. Daivin to the new season of Strange Land, now available wherever you listen to podcasts.