Devil in the Desert is a new podcast from ABC Audio and 20/20 that unravels the life of Hossein Nayeri, the man behind one of the most brutal crimes in California history.
Hosted by ABC News chief national correspondent Matt Gutman, the story begins in 2012, when a sheriff’s deputy found a woman with her hands bound, wandering in the Mojave Desert. She led authorities to a crime scene where a barbaric attack had taken place on her roommate.
This triggered an international manhunt for the suspected mastermind behind the murder, Nayeri, who was linked to California’s early medical marijuana scene.
The podcast follows his journey from Newport Beach to the Czech Republic and Iran, detailing how US officials eventually used his then-wife as an undercover informant to lure him back for arrest.
Even after he was jailed, Nayeri’s story took another shocking twist, as prosecutors found themselves launching a second manhunt for him.
The six-part series builds on ABC News Studios’ Hulu docuseries Wicked Game: The Devil in the Desert. It features new material including taped police interviews, undercover recordings of his ex-wife, and Nayeri’s own phone footage of a prison escape recorded while he awaited trial.
Devil in the Desert launches on 17 June across all podcast platforms.
