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Khmer Rouge Murdered Star of Killing Fields

UN tribunal testimony implicates Pol Pot in '96 hit on Oscar-winner

By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 21, 2010 5:00 AM CST
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(Newser) – The LAPD and FBI call the 1996 murder of actor Haing Ngor a closed case of gang violence, but many Cambodians and Cambodian-Americans remain convinced that Pol Pot ordered a hit on the Oscar winner—and recent testimony at a UN tribunal on the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime has boosted their case. "Haing Ngor was killed because he appeared in the film The Killing Fields," a former Khmer Rouge prison chief told the court.

Ngor, a vocal critic of the Khmer Rouge, was gunned down outside his Los Angeles apartment in 1996 in what looked to US authorities like a political hit, the LA Times reports. But after an investigation failed to find any link to the Cambodian regime, three local gang members were convicted of the crime. Conspiracy theories have since surrounded Ngor's murder, which has taken on a sort of JFK-assassination-like status in the Cambodian-American community.

Dr. Haing Ngor, the Cambodian star of The Killing Fields, at a BAFTA ceremony in London, holding his awards for Best Actor and Best Outstanding Newcomer. He was shot at his Los Angeles home in 1996.
Dr. Haing Ngor, the Cambodian star of The Killing Fields, at a BAFTA ceremony in London, holding his awards for Best Actor and Best Outstanding Newcomer. He was shot at his Los Angeles home in 1996.   (Getty Images)
Human skulls on display at the Choeung Ek Genocide Memorial June 1, 2002 outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The remains of nearly 9000 have been excavated at the killing fields of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge.
Human skulls on display at the Choeung Ek Genocide Memorial June 1, 2002 outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The remains of nearly 9000 have been excavated at the killing fields of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge.   (Getty Images)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
yukonchuck06
Jan 21, 2010 7:51 AM CST
Yea, that's true but still, who cares....
yukonchuck06
Jan 21, 2010 5:37 AM CST
That sucks.... But I ask you? Who cares? He was a minimal activist and crappy actor... Why don't we put more energy into finding the person/persons who killed Toupac and Biggie?
Silverbow7
Jan 21, 2010 3:55 AM CST
I thought the movie, "The killing fields" was his own personal story. Be it gangs or a Pol Pot ordered hit, his life and death were very tragic. It was more than possible for that hit to have been ordered. He outed Pol Pot big time to the whole world, on the big screen, and full color.

 
FBI • murder • Los Angeles • Cambodia • LAPD • assassination • Khmer Rouge • Pol Pot • JFK assassination • The Killing Fields • murder plot • Haing Ngor

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