1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: There's no doubt about it. Business is war and wondering 2 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:08,200 Speaker 1: drops you right in the thick of the battle. With 3 00:00:08,320 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: Business Wars. From Pepsi versus Coke, Netflix versus Blockbuster, and 4 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:18,639 Speaker 1: Marvel versus DC, there have been major, huge corporate battles 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,800 Speaker 1: the full stories I bet you've never heard. In Business Wars, 6 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: the host David Brown brings you the brutal, the unvarnest 7 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:32,280 Speaker 1: truth behind some of history's greatest corporate wars. And in 8 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:35,560 Speaker 1: the latest episode, David tells the story of a legendary 9 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:40,479 Speaker 1: la restaurant chain, Zenco Chicken, which became the source of 10 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 1: shocking and untimely deadly family conflict that threatened to derail 11 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: the business for good, and I mean deadly. If you're 12 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 1: a fan of true crime, the Zoncoe Chicken Murders episodes 13 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 1: are for you. Whoever thought there'd be a Zonco Chicken 14 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 1: murder case? But there is. You're about to hear a 15 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 1: preview of Business Wars where you get to meet the 16 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 1: family behind Zencote Chicken Murders and hear how the family 17 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: feud turned deadly. But while you're listening, subscribe to Business 18 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:20,200 Speaker 1: Wars on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening right now. 19 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: January fourteenth, two thousand and three, a white stucco mansion 20 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 1: high in the hills above Glendale, California, LA's Armenian Enclay, 21 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 1: Fifty six year old Martyrus Iskandarian closes his bedroom door. 22 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: He inches down the stairs step by painful step. He 23 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 1: is the founder of the family owned chain of rotisserie 24 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: restaurants Zencoute Chicken, an La institution. He's wearing a white 25 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: silk suit that hasn't fit him for decades. Several years 26 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: battling cancer iff whittled him down from a burly, middle 27 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: aged restaurant mobile to a frail, though dapper, invalid. He 28 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:06,560 Speaker 1: walks into the kitchen, where his wife, Rita sits at 29 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,519 Speaker 1: the table, sipping a cup of mulberry tea. Rita fell 30 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,800 Speaker 1: in love with Mardius in Lebanon when she was just twelve. 31 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:17,919 Speaker 1: Seeing him now, she can't believe how handsome he looks 32 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: for a man so sick, so near death. Ah, marders, 33 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 1: you look like a movie star. But where do you 34 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: think you're going in that fancy suit. You're too weak. 35 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: You haven't been out of the house on your own 36 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:35,920 Speaker 1: in months. Margoros fiddles with the cuffs of his stiffly 37 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:39,919 Speaker 1: starched dress shirt. He looks anywhere but into his wife's eyes. 38 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 1: He knows she can usually see right through him. Don't 39 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,839 Speaker 1: worry about me. I feel so much better today. I'm 40 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: going to meet Garrow at the restaurant. I haven't seen 41 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: him in well forever. Rita doesn't believe him. Mardaros hasn't 42 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: met up with any friends since his last round of treatments. Again, 43 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:03,920 Speaker 1: he doesn't want them to see him like this, But 44 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: even in his weakened state, her husband is not a 45 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: man she can easily control. Mardoros kisses the top of 46 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:14,519 Speaker 1: her head, picks up the keys to the Mercedes from 47 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: the hook by the door, and hobbles past the Quoi 48 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 1: pond in front of the house to the driveway. This 49 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: is the last time his wife will ever see him alive. 50 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: By the end of this day, the business the family 51 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: started forty years ago in Beirut Lebanon, re established from 52 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: scratch in Los Angeles and made into a California legend, 53 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: will be shattered, perhaps beyond repair. The restaurant entrepreneur, respected philanthropist, 54 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: and family man is on a bloody mission and one 55 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: of the great success stories of the Armenian diaspora will 56 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: be forever marked by a terrible triple asterisk, encompassing some 57 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 1: of the worst acts anyone, above all, any Armenian could commit, 58 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: because just a few hours after Margaros is Kendarian gently 59 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 1: kisses his wife goodbye, he will kill his sister, his mother, 60 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 1: and then himself. From wondering, this is business wars. I'm 61 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:53,359 Speaker 1: David Brown. While it's a cliche that the history of 62 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: every family empire includes scenes of Shakespearean drama, rarely does 63 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:01,479 Speaker 1: a legit enterprise involving something as innocent as take out 64 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: Peter wraps engender the kind of violence that has run 65 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: through three generations of this family of entrepreneurs who fled 66 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: war on two continents, only to see their business erupt 67 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:17,239 Speaker 1: in a bloody climax. This is episode one of Zankou 68 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: Chicken Out of Beirut. To understand what happened on that 69 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: one fatal day in Glendale, California, two thousand and three, 70 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:29,599 Speaker 1: you have to travel a long way across continents and 71 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: far back in time to nineteen sixty two and a 72 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: one room storefront in Beirut Lebanon. It's another searing summer 73 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 1: day in the Armenian quarter of Beirut. One room storefronts 74 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:48,280 Speaker 1: line a dusty side street. Between a bakery and a cobbler. 75 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: There's a narrow glass fronted business with a bright blue awning. 76 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: The sign on it reads Zencou Restaurant in white Arabic script. 77 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:00,280 Speaker 1: A white friend cadillac pulls up in A man jumps 78 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: out of the driver's side and darts into the store. 79 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:05,039 Speaker 1: He calls out a greeting to a plump woman in 80 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:07,800 Speaker 1: an apron cleaning a pile of garlic clothes at a 81 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:11,360 Speaker 1: table by the front window. Hello, my cousin and his 82 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:13,600 Speaker 1: family drop by, and all they can talk about is 83 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaker 1: your chicken and garlic paste. Margaret is Kandarian looks up, 84 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:21,239 Speaker 1: smiles briefly, and returns to her garlic. She spends hours 85 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: a day whipping up tomb a paste of raw garlic 86 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: that will eventually lure customers from all over Beirut. Margaret's 87 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:33,600 Speaker 1: recipe will eventually draw not just their Armenian neighbors, but Arabs, Christians, 88 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,599 Speaker 1: and many other people who make up this cosmopolitan city 89 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:40,600 Speaker 1: known as the Paris of the Middle East. The customer 90 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:44,039 Speaker 1: Samir rushes over to the two rotisserie ovens that take 91 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: up nearly the entire store. There are no tables, no chairs. 92 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: There isn't even a cash register. The owner, Margaret's husband Barcas, 93 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:55,479 Speaker 1: turns the golden chickens on their spits and welcomes his 94 00:06:55,560 --> 00:07:00,479 Speaker 1: regular customer with a smile. Samir or gutisi, how many 95 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:03,680 Speaker 1: do you need? Three? Please? An extra tomb? My cousin 96 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:07,039 Speaker 1: eats it up with a spoon. In just moments, the 97 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: chickens are in a paper bag, and Bartkass stuffs a 98 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: few more bills into the wad of cash in his 99 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:16,280 Speaker 1: left shirt pocket. Samere maneuvers his oversized American car down 100 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:19,200 Speaker 1: the narrow alley and heads home from his second visit 101 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: that week to Zancou's, But in his haste, he didn't 102 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:25,640 Speaker 1: check his order. If he had, he would have noticed 103 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: that Bartkas had forgotten the extra dallops of garlic sauce 104 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: that often happens when Barcass is drinking, and Barcass is 105 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:38,840 Speaker 1: often drinking. When he's sober well, he's as smart and 106 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 1: generous as they come. In fact, the idea for the 107 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 1: restaurant came to him during one of his longer experiments 108 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:48,240 Speaker 1: with abstinence. He was visiting a friend back in Armenia 109 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: and took a walk along the Zancou River. A family 110 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: was barbecuing chicken over a wood fire on the river bank. 111 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: The smell of roasting meat and the laughter of the 112 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:02,640 Speaker 1: children made Barcass smile. He decided right then and there 113 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 1: to open a rotisserie chicken restaurant back in his home 114 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:08,559 Speaker 1: in Beirut, the haven where his parents settled after fleeing 115 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: the Turks during the genocide of nineteen fifteen. That was 116 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:17,800 Speaker 1: before his thirst got the better of him. Now he 117 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 1: sometimes disappears on a bender for days. If it weren't 118 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 1: for Margaret's excellent cooking in her almost maniacal capacity for 119 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 1: working fifteen hour days, Zenkou would have folded in its 120 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: first weeks. But thanks to her, the story is thriving. 121 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: It supports them, their three children, and Margaret's mother, another 122 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:43,560 Speaker 1: genocide survivor. It's hard punishing work these early years of 123 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 1: the business, and Bartka's love of Ogee Armenian vodka only 124 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:51,120 Speaker 1: makes it harder. And when the family does take time 125 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 1: to gather and have a meal, Margaret's mother often chooses 126 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:59,360 Speaker 1: those moments to tell vivid stories about the genocide, the 127 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: forced arts through the Syrian desert, the starvation, random violence, 128 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: mass executions, all of the horrors she witnessed in nineteen 129 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: fifteen during her flight to Lebanon, reminding the family never 130 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 1: forget the Eskandarians hardly need the admonition. In fact, these 131 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: stories will come to haunt them in unique ways for generations. 132 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 1: That was just a preview of the latest from Business Wars. 133 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,679 Speaker 1: To hear the rest of the Zancou family story, subscribe 134 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: today on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.