March 19, 2026
Introducing - Blood Will Tell
Sharing a special episode this week from a new podcast called Blood Will Tell. When a birthday party in suburban San Jose turns deadly, 18-year-old identical twins are arrested for suspected murder. One brother spends nearly two years in jail before the truth comes out: authorities locked up the wrong twin. How could one brother let his twin take the fall? And why would the other sacrifice his freedom for a crime he didn’t commit? Blood Will Tell is a modern-day saga of Shakespearean proportions, following Vietnamese-American brothers whose unbreakable bond is tested by silence, sacrifice, and an unthinkable choice.
In this episode, after a drunken fight at a birthday party turns deadly, police narrow in on two suspects — identical twin brothers, Trung and Anh. But when an eye witness mistakes the brothers for each other in a lineup, one brother must make a heartbreaking sacrifice.
Listen to more episodes of Blood Will Tell at https://wondery.com/shows/blood-will-tell/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:08
Speaker 1: Campsite media.
00:00:18
Speaker 2: In front of me, there's a group of acting students. The youngest ones are in their twenties, the oldest is over seventy, and they're intently.
00:00:28
Speaker 1: Focused on their teacher.
00:00:30
Speaker 2: She's a woman with wiry, salt and pepper hair, and she's leading them through an exercise. She calls out two conflicting emotions.
00:00:38
Speaker 1: Let's start with love and fear.
00:00:42
Speaker 3: So let your movements.
00:00:43
Speaker 1: Expressed love and fear.
00:00:45
Speaker 2: And suddenly these actors are circling the room silently pantomiming feelings of love and fear. They're warming up to rehearse the final act of Othello, a play about jealousy and deception. I'm here in California on assignment for The Washington Post.
00:01:06
Speaker 1: I'm reporting a piece.
00:01:07
Speaker 2: About Shakespeare as therapy, how these stories about our deepest humanity can help people heal from their trauma because Shakespeare's plays, at a core level, they're about what human beings do to each other, what we're capable of at our best and our worst.
00:01:27
Speaker 1: I start talking to one of the actors because I'm gentle yet can't drop my stories. Trung is friendly and soft spoken.
00:01:39
Speaker 2: Literally, I have to lean in close in order to hear him. He's mid twenties, clean shaven with impeccably palmated hair. He tells me he's a substance abuse counselor, and that tracks the way he looks at me. I can tell he's really listening. And when I ask him, Trunk says, there's a lot of reasons he wanted to join this Shakespeare group.
00:02:02
Speaker 3: Had a OA and I did a break dancing too.
00:02:10
Speaker 2: He loves to perform, and he likes these plays, how they're universal themes of sacrifice, loss, and love have helped him access his emotions, to see himself more clearly. He says, these plays have allowed him to confront the pain he's caused. I ask him what he means by that, and to my surprise, he doesn't hesitate. He launches into a story that I cannot believe is real, A story that feels like Shakespeare himself could have written it, A story that starts with Trung's identical twin brother.
00:02:52
Speaker 1: Shakespeare was fascinated by siblings. There's Ophelia and.
00:02:56
Speaker 2: Laertes, Edmund and Edgar Sebastian, and in both his comedies and his tragedies, he makes them compete.
00:03:05
Speaker 1: For the attention and approval of their parents.
00:03:08
Speaker 2: He tests the limits of their love for one another, and he pushes them apart, sometimes violently. Shakespeare himself was the father of twins, Judith and Hamnet, and when Hamnet died at the age of eleven, Shakespeare began to process this very particular grief in his plays. He writes Twelfth Night about twins separated in a shipwreck. The action of the play is built around mistaken identities, but it's really about the unique bond these siblings share and what happens when that tie is broken. Trung knows all about this, and it's a tale he's now pouring out to me. Six years earlier, Trung tells me his twin On got into a fight at a birthday party. By the time it was over, the twins had embarked on a journey that would forever change both of them, not just who they were as individuals, but who they were to each other.
00:04:15
Speaker 1: So where's your brother, Morn?
00:04:18
Speaker 2: As Trung and I talk, his fellow Thespians are rehearsing right there beside us, and I hear Othello, Morn, you must speak of one that loved not wisely, but too well. I can see how Trung and On are guilty of having loved each other too well, if not always wisely.
00:04:40
Speaker 1: Twins bonded through DNA and.
00:04:43
Speaker 2: Also hardship brothers who were best friends, who trusted each other completely, who would have followed each other anywhere, even if it meant losing absolutely everything. From Wondery and camp side Media, I'm Jen Miller and this is Blood will tell. This is episode one, Shakespeare in San Jose. It's a Saturday evening in January when eighteen year old Trung knocks on the door of his brother's bedroom. They live in the same home, but they haven't seen each other much lately. Trunk's been swamped juggling a sales job at T Mobile, a full course load at college, and finishing his Eagle Scout certification.
00:05:53
Speaker 1: And Trung is missing his best friend. But there's a party tonight.
00:06:00
Speaker 3: Pretty much for the first time like that. So these parties, like it felt like a drag, but at the same time, it's like, oh, let's go have fun. He sounds like a good way to relax.
00:06:11
Speaker 1: On looks up from his bed, which is littered with textbooks.
00:06:15
Speaker 3: How do you want to go my at homework.
00:06:18
Speaker 1: Trunk is surprised.
00:06:20
Speaker 2: He's the one typically concerned about how today's choice will impact tomorrow's outcome. That's how he's two semesters ahead in college. But more recently, On has felt the pressure to keep up with Trunk. On begs, let me study. Trunk's not having any of it.
00:06:38
Speaker 3: You know what, we deserve this. Let's just go and have fun.
00:06:42
Speaker 2: Maybe this party will be a good way to blow off steam for both of them.
00:06:47
Speaker 1: So On relents, all right, let's do it.
00:06:50
Speaker 3: It's hyped up. Pick our outfits.
00:06:55
Speaker 2: The party is a twenty first birthday thrown by a friend of Trunk's girlfriend.
00:07:00
Speaker 1: There's a black and white theme.
00:07:02
Speaker 2: The twins pull on their true religion genes and long sleeve black shirts. When they were little kids, their parents often dress them the same, so this it's like a fun throwback, and tonight it makes it almost impossible to tell them apart. They're both five nine around one hundred and sixty pounds. They have a few physical differences, though Trung's face is clean shaven and more narrow, and On has a sparse mustache and the shadow of a mole over his lip. These minor physical differences are going to be crucial for what's to come for the both of them. After a final fit check in the mirror, they're ready to head out. Trung drives his brother and their girlfriends we're calling them Monica and Carly to a well appointed split level home in the foothills of San Jose, California. It's a short trip and a world away from the affordable housing complex where the twins grew up. They walk past a rock garden and flower beds. Following the thump of music, Trung enters the party and takes a quick scan.
00:08:22
Speaker 1: He's impressed.
00:08:23
Speaker 3: Looks like pretty bougie and had a DJ and everything.
00:08:29
Speaker 1: He goes to pour himself a drink.
00:08:32
Speaker 3: They opened like a cooler and I saw shot glasses made out of ice.
00:08:37
Speaker 2: Trung makes his way through the house. The guests are mostly Vietnamese like him. Some of them are college kids, but he doesn't recognize them. They're at four year schools, not community college like him and An.
00:08:51
Speaker 1: Trung is relieved. In recent months.
00:08:53
Speaker 2: He has been trying and largely failing to avoid situations and people he knows are trouble.
00:09:00
Speaker 3: When we would go out with specific individuals, Sho would always pop off right. I would always feel the needs jump in and participate.
00:09:09
Speaker 1: But the vibes here are good.
00:09:11
Speaker 2: The booze is flowing, pop brownies are being passed around, and the music is pumping.
00:09:20
Speaker 3: It was turned down for what, Well, John like that song just came out.
00:09:27
Speaker 2: Trung and On make a bee line to the beer pong table, where they proceed to completely bite it.
00:09:33
Speaker 3: We played horribly because didn't we sat on that table? Yeah, we had to sit on the table man, which told like we didn't make any shots. It was embarrassing.
00:09:46
Speaker 1: Trung is so happy to have his brother here.
00:09:49
Speaker 2: It's been so long since they've simply hung out like this as brothers. Around them, everyone is getting drunk or high or both. Troun is fully in the moment. He's making the rounds a beer in his hand. For a while, he loses track of his girlfriend Monica, that is until she heads toward him, clearly upset.
Speaker 1: Campsite media.
00:00:18
Speaker 2: In front of me, there's a group of acting students. The youngest ones are in their twenties, the oldest is over seventy, and they're intently.
00:00:28
Speaker 1: Focused on their teacher.
00:00:30
Speaker 2: She's a woman with wiry, salt and pepper hair, and she's leading them through an exercise. She calls out two conflicting emotions.
00:00:38
Speaker 1: Let's start with love and fear.
00:00:42
Speaker 3: So let your movements.
00:00:43
Speaker 1: Expressed love and fear.
00:00:45
Speaker 2: And suddenly these actors are circling the room silently pantomiming feelings of love and fear. They're warming up to rehearse the final act of Othello, a play about jealousy and deception. I'm here in California on assignment for The Washington Post.
00:01:06
Speaker 1: I'm reporting a piece.
00:01:07
Speaker 2: About Shakespeare as therapy, how these stories about our deepest humanity can help people heal from their trauma because Shakespeare's plays, at a core level, they're about what human beings do to each other, what we're capable of at our best and our worst.
00:01:27
Speaker 1: I start talking to one of the actors because I'm gentle yet can't drop my stories. Trung is friendly and soft spoken.
00:01:39
Speaker 2: Literally, I have to lean in close in order to hear him. He's mid twenties, clean shaven with impeccably palmated hair. He tells me he's a substance abuse counselor, and that tracks the way he looks at me. I can tell he's really listening. And when I ask him, Trunk says, there's a lot of reasons he wanted to join this Shakespeare group.
00:02:02
Speaker 3: Had a OA and I did a break dancing too.
00:02:10
Speaker 2: He loves to perform, and he likes these plays, how they're universal themes of sacrifice, loss, and love have helped him access his emotions, to see himself more clearly. He says, these plays have allowed him to confront the pain he's caused. I ask him what he means by that, and to my surprise, he doesn't hesitate. He launches into a story that I cannot believe is real, A story that feels like Shakespeare himself could have written it, A story that starts with Trung's identical twin brother.
00:02:52
Speaker 1: Shakespeare was fascinated by siblings. There's Ophelia and.
00:02:56
Speaker 2: Laertes, Edmund and Edgar Sebastian, and in both his comedies and his tragedies, he makes them compete.
00:03:05
Speaker 1: For the attention and approval of their parents.
00:03:08
Speaker 2: He tests the limits of their love for one another, and he pushes them apart, sometimes violently. Shakespeare himself was the father of twins, Judith and Hamnet, and when Hamnet died at the age of eleven, Shakespeare began to process this very particular grief in his plays. He writes Twelfth Night about twins separated in a shipwreck. The action of the play is built around mistaken identities, but it's really about the unique bond these siblings share and what happens when that tie is broken. Trung knows all about this, and it's a tale he's now pouring out to me. Six years earlier, Trung tells me his twin On got into a fight at a birthday party. By the time it was over, the twins had embarked on a journey that would forever change both of them, not just who they were as individuals, but who they were to each other.
00:04:15
Speaker 1: So where's your brother, Morn?
00:04:18
Speaker 2: As Trung and I talk, his fellow Thespians are rehearsing right there beside us, and I hear Othello, Morn, you must speak of one that loved not wisely, but too well. I can see how Trung and On are guilty of having loved each other too well, if not always wisely.
00:04:40
Speaker 1: Twins bonded through DNA and.
00:04:43
Speaker 2: Also hardship brothers who were best friends, who trusted each other completely, who would have followed each other anywhere, even if it meant losing absolutely everything. From Wondery and camp side Media, I'm Jen Miller and this is Blood will tell. This is episode one, Shakespeare in San Jose. It's a Saturday evening in January when eighteen year old Trung knocks on the door of his brother's bedroom. They live in the same home, but they haven't seen each other much lately. Trunk's been swamped juggling a sales job at T Mobile, a full course load at college, and finishing his Eagle Scout certification.
00:05:53
Speaker 1: And Trung is missing his best friend. But there's a party tonight.
00:06:00
Speaker 3: Pretty much for the first time like that. So these parties, like it felt like a drag, but at the same time, it's like, oh, let's go have fun. He sounds like a good way to relax.
00:06:11
Speaker 1: On looks up from his bed, which is littered with textbooks.
00:06:15
Speaker 3: How do you want to go my at homework.
00:06:18
Speaker 1: Trunk is surprised.
00:06:20
Speaker 2: He's the one typically concerned about how today's choice will impact tomorrow's outcome. That's how he's two semesters ahead in college. But more recently, On has felt the pressure to keep up with Trunk. On begs, let me study. Trunk's not having any of it.
00:06:38
Speaker 3: You know what, we deserve this. Let's just go and have fun.
00:06:42
Speaker 2: Maybe this party will be a good way to blow off steam for both of them.
00:06:47
Speaker 1: So On relents, all right, let's do it.
00:06:50
Speaker 3: It's hyped up. Pick our outfits.
00:06:55
Speaker 2: The party is a twenty first birthday thrown by a friend of Trunk's girlfriend.
00:07:00
Speaker 1: There's a black and white theme.
00:07:02
Speaker 2: The twins pull on their true religion genes and long sleeve black shirts. When they were little kids, their parents often dress them the same, so this it's like a fun throwback, and tonight it makes it almost impossible to tell them apart. They're both five nine around one hundred and sixty pounds. They have a few physical differences, though Trung's face is clean shaven and more narrow, and On has a sparse mustache and the shadow of a mole over his lip. These minor physical differences are going to be crucial for what's to come for the both of them. After a final fit check in the mirror, they're ready to head out. Trung drives his brother and their girlfriends we're calling them Monica and Carly to a well appointed split level home in the foothills of San Jose, California. It's a short trip and a world away from the affordable housing complex where the twins grew up. They walk past a rock garden and flower beds. Following the thump of music, Trung enters the party and takes a quick scan.
00:08:22
Speaker 1: He's impressed.
00:08:23
Speaker 3: Looks like pretty bougie and had a DJ and everything.
00:08:29
Speaker 1: He goes to pour himself a drink.
00:08:32
Speaker 3: They opened like a cooler and I saw shot glasses made out of ice.
00:08:37
Speaker 2: Trung makes his way through the house. The guests are mostly Vietnamese like him. Some of them are college kids, but he doesn't recognize them. They're at four year schools, not community college like him and An.
00:08:51
Speaker 1: Trung is relieved. In recent months.
00:08:53
Speaker 2: He has been trying and largely failing to avoid situations and people he knows are trouble.
00:09:00
Speaker 3: When we would go out with specific individuals, Sho would always pop off right. I would always feel the needs jump in and participate.
00:09:09
Speaker 1: But the vibes here are good.
00:09:11
Speaker 2: The booze is flowing, pop brownies are being passed around, and the music is pumping.
00:09:20
Speaker 3: It was turned down for what, Well, John like that song just came out.
00:09:27
Speaker 2: Trung and On make a bee line to the beer pong table, where they proceed to completely bite it.
00:09:33
Speaker 3: We played horribly because didn't we sat on that table? Yeah, we had to sit on the table man, which told like we didn't make any shots. It was embarrassing.
00:09:46
Speaker 1: Trung is so happy to have his brother here.
00:09:49
Speaker 2: It's been so long since they've simply hung out like this as brothers. Around them, everyone is getting drunk or high or both. Troun is fully in the moment. He's making the rounds a beer in his hand. For a while, he loses track of his girlfriend Monica, that is until she heads toward him, clearly upset.
