In the next episode of American Detective with Lt. Joe Kenda, the crime victim, Franklin Yuen, is found in his garage gunned down. And a nearby briefcase filled with cash has the Orange County detectives perplexed. What was a pharmacist doing with so much money, and why would anyone want him dead?
On discovery+ returning season, Kenda serves as the mediator and host between actual cases that are re-enacted and the beginning, middle, and end of grisly murders all over the country.
This episode has Kenda deeply suspicious of the nature of Yuen’s actual business. Was it as a local pharmacist or something much more nefarious?
The Drugstore Cowboy episode
In Monsters & Critics’ exclusive clip, the detective on the case is Detective Dale Mason. The detective and the police arrive at the deceased man’s home to find not only a body but a briefcase full of money. In this execution-styled murder, why target a family man who was a pharmacist?
The detective notes that the man was married and had two kids. His wife said he just got home from work.
Kenda explains the bigger picture and says: “He’s [Yuen] a pharmacist by trade. He owns several drug stores in Carson, California—more of a tough working-class kind of neighborhood. But he lives in Huntington Beach and travels back and forth to work.”
One of the detectives assigned to the case by Mason is Detective Richard Hooper, who has discovered the briefcase that has a surprise. The amount of cash in the case has them immediately suspecting it might have to do with drugs and a gang hit.
They try to guess the amount, which Kenda says is thirty grand.
Suspicious as he is curious, Kenda lays it on the line: “Now why is a pharmacist traveling around with thirty grand in his briefcase? He is a pharmacist, which means he can buy schedule one narcotics. So the question becomes, what is your work, Franklin? And what are you doing with this much cash?”
About the series, American Detective
Lt. Kenda is one of the most experienced and successful homicide detectives, boasting a 92% solve rate as a 23-year Colorado Springs Police Department veteran.
His career was profiled in nine seasons of ID’s hit series Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda. However, there’s no retirement for Lt. Kenda yet as discovery+ asked him to spotlight other great men and women who answered the call.
Over the years, Kenda has heard about cases that expose the worst of human nature. Now, Kenda trades in his case files to bring viewers astounding investigations from across the country, with each episode profiling a different homicide detective whose hard work nets real justice for the victim.
American Detective is Streaming Wednesday, February 16, on discovery+
Did I miss it, or did they neglect to say what sentence the perp received? Do you know what sentence he got? I’ve searched like the Dickens to no avail.