ReadersDigestAustraliaNewZealand-April2018

April• 2018 | 77

READER’S DIGEST

down four storeys to
the ground. No alarms
sounded; no lights
swept the exterior.
They’d done it. They
were out.
The fugitives alleg-
edly irst visited friends,
who gave them money.
By 9pm, the escapees
werestillinSantaAna
and needed to get away.
Duong phoned a taxi
service that advertised
in a local Vietnamese
newspaper. Long Ma
answered the call.
As the men in the
motel hooted and mar-
velled at their images
ontheTV,Mawasin-
troduced to his captors
by their televised rap
sheets.Thethreemen
were in jail awaiting
trial. Tieu had allegedly
takenpartinadrive-by
shootingthatleftonepersondead;
Duonghadallegedlyshotamanin
the chest after an argument. And
Nayeri,well,hewasplainnotorious.
Fouryearsearlier,actingona
hunchthattheownerofamarijuana
dispensary had buried $1 million in
theMojaveDesert,Nayerihadal-
legedlysnatchedtheguyandhis
roommateanddriventhemtothe
spot where the loot was thought to
be hidden. There, Nayeri and his

crew were said to have shocked the

manwithaTaser,burnedhimwitha

butane torch, and poured bleach on

hiswounds,amongotherabuses,all

in a failed attempt to locate the cash.

AfterthemanassuredNayerithere

wasnoburiedmoney,hewasleftout

theretodie.(Hisroommatefound

helpandsavedhislife.)

Spooked, perhaps, by the prospect

that Ma’s disappearance had been

noticed, the escapees decided they