Amy Jane Brandhagen, Karen Lang: ‘Dateline NBC’ Covers Bizarre Pendleton, Oregon, Murder By Killer Lukah Chang

The murder of Amy Jane Brandhagen, of Pendleton, Oregon, and the assault of Karen Lang, will be profiled tonight on Dateline NBC. Tonight’s episode, entitled “Someone Was Out There,” was first aired in 2014. Each week, Dateline NBC brings dedicated watchers timely information on the latest crimes in society. The Amy Jane Brandhagen murder was one that shook the small town of Pendleton back in 2012. Amy Brandhagen had been found brutally murdered at the Travelodge motel, where she worked as a housekeeper. A year later, Karen Lang was savagely assaulted and beaten with a pipe on a jogging path. A photo with both Amy Brandhagen and Karen Lang baffled police as they tried to find a killer. The two women were from the same town and attended the same church.

Amy Brandhagen’s case went unsolved, until investigators were able to review video footage that showed an Asian man hiding a pipe. Police officers knew the man as Danny Wu, a homeless person in the area whose real name was Lukah Chang. The man was eventually arrested after police were able to track him down. During the police interrogation, Chang readily admitted that he killed Brandhagen and attacked Lang. When investigators asked him why, he told them that he wanted to know how it felt to kill someone, and that after he committed the murder — he felt sadness because he realized that life was precious. Here are Chang’s exact words, according to a report by NBC.

“See how it felt,” said Chang.

“See how what felt?”

“Taking a life.”

“Why?”

“I was curious.”

“How did it feel?”

“Empowering. Saddening.”

“Empowering and saddening at the same time?”

“Uh huh. Yes. Empowering because I took a life. Saddening because I realized at the same time, life is precious.”

The town couldn’t have lost a nicer person. People who knew Amy Brandhagen say that she was a dedicated worker who was always thinking of others. She was a spiritual woman who had a kind heart.

As for Lukah Chang, a former Marine Corps man, he was ruled by evil, despite his Christian missionary father. Originally from Thailand, Chang was raised in North Carolina, before drifting to Pendleton. For his despicable actions, a judge sentenced the killer to 35 years in prison, according to Oregon Live.

Dateline NBC’s coverage will include interviews with law enforcement officials who worked on the case, as well as video footage from Lukah Chang’s interrogation video. Be prepared to watch another compelling episode of Dateline NBC tonight at 10/9 central. Here is the tease for tonight’s show. Previously, the Inquisitr brought you the Dateline NBC reports featuring the cases of Cathy Torrez and Justine Swartz Abshire.

“Violent crimes committed a year apart against two women from the same church in a small town leave police in a desperate race for answers. When a photograph suggests that the cases may not be a coincidence, authorities are determined to try to connect the dots.”

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