POLICE are baffled by the murder of the Academy award winning actor Haing Ngor (45), a Cambodian refugee who survived the "killing fields" of the Khmer Rouge only to be gunned down outside his home in Los Angeles.
Investigators said they had no suspects, no witnesses, no motive and little evidence so far to help them solve the murder, which took place on Sunday night at the actor's apartment building in the city's Chinatown section.
Ngor, a refugee doctor who won an Oscar for his portrayal of a Cambodian journalist in the 1984 film The Killing Fields, was shot dead after returning home from a gathering of family and
There was speculation in the city's Cambodian community that Ngor may have been the target of a political assassination for his outspoken criticism of the Khmer Rouge reign of terror and his tireless support for refugees.
But one law enforcement source said the shooting had all the markings of a "follow home" robbery that turned violent.
Trained as a doctor, Ngor was captured and tortured following the 1975 takeover by the Khmer Rouge rebels, who overthrew the US backed Cambodian government and ushered in one of the most murderous regimes in history.
When a Vietnamese invasion ousted the Khmer Rouge four years later, Ngor escaped to Thailand, and in 1980 he settled in the United States. He resumed his medical career and in 1984 was cast in the The Killing Fields, based on the memoirs of New York Times correspondent Sidney Schanberg.
In his acting debut, Ngor played a role that mirrored his own survival story. He portrayed journalist Dith Pran, Schanberg's assistant, who stayed behind to help the American reporter after the US evacuation in 1975.
Ngor's performance earned him an Oscar for best supporting actor, making him the first non professional to receive an Academy award since 1946.
In his 1988 autobiography, Ngor recounted his own struggle to survive the Cambodian carnage. Millions died violently or by starvation in the Khmer Rouge's systematic attempt to rid the country of Western influences.
When the Khmer Rouge first took over Phnom Penh and began executing doctors and other professionals, Ngor fled his hospital, leaving a patient in the middle of surgery.
Ngor was arrested and tortured three times in efforts to make him confess to being a physician. Hi captors cut off half of one of hi fingers and chopped into his ankle with an axe.
Ngor told of other harrowing experiences of seeing his ow father led away to his death for stealing food and of watching silence as Khmer Rouge medic injected an infant with what he knew was a fatal dose of the wrong medicine.
Ngor, a gentle, soft spoken man later organised charities to help Cambodian refugees.