Charles Ng

On June 2, 1985, Officer Daniel Wright, of the San Francisco Police Department, was dispatched to a lumberyard where a shoplifting had just occurred. Upon arrival, a store employee informed the officer that an Asian man had concealed a bench vice in his jacket and was seen placing it in the trunk of a 1980 Honda Prelude., and when the employee attempted to question the man he quickly fled on foot. Officer Wright looked into the vehicle and discovered a bag that contained a silenced handgun. At this point a bearded man approached the officer with a sales receipt claiming that he had paid for the vice his friend had taken. Officer Wright questioned the bearded man after discovering that he had someone else’s drivers’ license and the vehicle plate had been switched. Wright recovered the silenced handgun from the vehicle after placing the bearded man under arrest.

At the department the bearded man was further interrogated by Officer Wright. Approximately 30 minutes into the interrogation the bearded man asked for a pen and paper along with a glass of water. The man then identified himself as Leonard Lake and that he was a fugitive wanted by the FBI. He also identified the Asian man to be Charlie Chitat Ng. Lake then stated, “I didn’t think a lousy bench vise would bring me to this.” With out saying another word, Lake placed the letter he had written to his wife in his pocket then quickly removed and ingested something from under a label on his shirt. The substance sent Lake into convulsions which resulted in Lake’s death a few days later. The substance was later identified as having been two capsules of cyanide. When Officer Wright inventoried the impounded vehicle his findings ranged from spent bullet casings and blood, to ID’s and other belongings from several missing people.

On June 3, 1985, after long hours of questioning and piecing together information about Leonard Lake and his friend, Charles Ng, who was still at large. Lake’s ex-wife had informed authorities of a very remote area where Lake and Ng had stayed. After confirming the information, Police obtained a search warrant of the premises. When the warrant was executed more findings consisted, of blood, bullet casings, and a room that had a bed rigged with restraints. Other items such as women’s clothing, blood soaked blankets, videos, and stolen equipment were also found. Police also searched a sophistically built bunker that contained a library of videos, torturing instruments, and a holding cell. An incinerator was also located on the premises. Police then leveled the bunker in an attempt to find human remains on the property. With all this evidence and information investigators were left with one suspect who had taken his own life, and another who was at large. A nation wide man hunt was issued on Charles Ng. The last of Charles Ng’s whereabouts were that of him picking up his last pay check, packing up important items such as ID’s and pass ports and abandoning his apartment.

Far from California hiding in Calgary Canada, Charles Ng manages to elude authorities for thirty four days although his affinity for shoplifting lead to his capture just as it had for Leonard Lake. On July 6, 1985, two security guards approached Ng, who had just shoplifted grocery items, when the two guards challenged him, Ng produced a handgun. A scuffle