Catastrophic Failure

By Times UnionSociety & Culture Documentary True Crime

Catastrophic Failure episodes

April 14 More from the Times Union - 'Long Buried'
After human remains were found during the construction of a new home in the Hudson Valley in April 2024, it took investigators nearly two months to identify them. When they did, the mystery only deepened. Through newly unearthed records, exclusive interviews and a meticulous examination of the evidence, reporter Phillip Pantuso confronts a haunting question: how does a woman disappear for 44 years without anyone asking why?

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3 min
March 18, 2025 More from the Times Union - 'Rainwalker: The Lost Boy'
On Nov. 1, 2007, a 12-year-old boy named Jaliek Rainwalker went missing in upstate New York. His adoptive father was the last person to see him alive. The case was ruled a probable homicide, but no one has ever been charged. Times Union journalists reopen the cold case to search for answers.

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3 min
March 12, 2025 13. Victim Impact
Who were the 20 people who died in the Schoharie limo crash? In this episode, we’ll look at the lives they led and how they were all connected.

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54 min
November 12, 2024 Update
An appellate court in Albany has rejected Nauman Hussain’s appeal, upholding his 2023 manslaughter conviction in the deaths of the 20 victims of the Schoharie limo crash.

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8 min
October 22, 2024 12. Loose Ends
As Nauman Hussain awaits the results of his appeal, unanswered questions still linger around his case and the crash.

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54 min
October 15, 2024 11. Reflections
Limo company operator Nauman Hussain receives his sentence. The families of the limo victims begin to settle lawsuits with Mavis Discount Tire. And Larry Rulison hears from someone he's been trying to reach for a very long time.

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53 min
October 08, 2024 10. Justice
Nauman Hussain's trial continues in Schoharie, where shocking testimony from former employees of the Mavis Discount Tire in Saratoga Springs reveals new information about the 2001 Ford Excursion stretch limousine and its maintenance record.

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57 min
October 01, 2024 9. Scapegoat?
Nearly 5 years after the crash, Nauman Hussain's trial begins in Schoharie. While the prosecution fumbles, the defense deftly raises questions and points to faults in the system.

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33 min
September 24, 2024 8. Expect the Unexpected
Limo company operator Nauman Hussain took a plea deal that would spare him prison time. But in a shocking twist, a new judge rejects the plea deal and gives him a choice: prison or trial.

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33 min
September 17, 2024 7. The Informant
The FBI agrees to share an internal investigation into its handling of informant Shahed Hussain amid pressure to answer questions about whether they were shielding his family from misdeeds that led to the limo crash. And Hussain finally breaks his six-year silence.

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53 min

About Catastrophic Failure

From the publisher's feed

The limousine crash that killed 20 people in rural upstate New York on Oct. 6, 2018, remains one of the deadliest ground transportation disasters in United States history. Investigators determined that the brakes failed on the 2001 Ford Excursion stretch limousine as it barreled down a hill at 100 mph, carrying 17 friends on their way to a 30th birthday party. It plowed into the parking lot of a busy restaurant and slammed into a ditch. All passengers, the driver and two bystanders perished.