1 00:00:02,733 --> 00:00:05,136 Charles Chi-Tat Ng, it is the judgment and sentence 2 00:00:05,136 --> 00:00:07,917 of this court of which the jury found you guilty on 3 00:00:07,917 --> 00:00:10,555 February 24, 1999. 4 00:00:10,555 --> 00:00:15,304 And it's just like I told the judge, may God forgive me. 5 00:00:15,304 --> 00:00:17,321 I want him dead. 6 00:00:17,321 --> 00:00:19,391 Charles Ng has shown nothing but contempt for 7 00:00:19,391 --> 00:00:22,293 life, for law, for anything and everything good. 8 00:00:22,293 --> 00:00:24,798 He has killed many people and for no reason other 9 00:00:24,798 --> 00:00:27,117 than for his amusement. 10 00:00:27,117 --> 00:00:29,673 They were dismembered, burned, and then I feel 11 00:00:29,673 --> 00:00:31,576 that they were crushed in some manner. 12 00:00:31,576 --> 00:00:34,141 And the jury having found all 11 murders to be of 13 00:00:34,141 --> 00:00:36,326 the first degree. 14 00:00:36,326 --> 00:00:40,313 This is a cartoon that shows a Asian individual, 15 00:00:40,313 --> 00:00:43,008 and he has a child by the legs. 16 00:00:43,008 --> 00:00:46,855 And it appears that what he's doing is he's cooking this child. 17 00:00:46,855 --> 00:00:49,791 What kind of person does that to a child? 18 00:00:49,791 --> 00:00:51,925 To a baby? 19 00:00:51,925 --> 00:00:54,447 And the jury having returned a verdict that 20 00:00:54,447 --> 00:00:57,429 the penalty shall be death. 21 00:00:57,429 --> 00:01:00,779 I mean, if I had to deliver a message to Charles Ng, 22 00:01:00,779 --> 00:01:03,203 it would be, you know, you better repent now, 23 00:01:03,203 --> 00:01:05,024 because when the angel of death comes, 24 00:01:05,024 --> 00:01:07,233 the time for mercy is over. 25 00:01:07,233 --> 00:01:13,351 ...... case is, Mr. Ng. 26 00:01:27,914 --> 00:01:31,066 In 1984, Charles Ng, a Hong-Kong British subject, 27 00:01:31,066 --> 00:01:34,087 and Leonard Lake, a native Californian, committed a 28 00:01:34,087 --> 00:01:37,074 series of horrific crimes that devastated the lives 29 00:01:37,074 --> 00:01:39,533 of everyone they touched. 30 00:01:39,533 --> 00:01:40,628 Can't stop. Can't stop. 31 00:01:40,628 --> 00:01:41,358 Won't stop. Won't stop. 32 00:01:41,358 --> 00:01:43,029 Their shared obsessions of militarism and lurid 33 00:01:43,029 --> 00:01:48,602 sexual fantasy led to kidnap, torture, and murder. 34 00:01:48,602 --> 00:01:51,495 And the evidence they left behind stands as testimony 35 00:01:51,495 --> 00:01:55,099 to the mayhem they created. 36 00:01:55,099 --> 00:01:58,807 Lake recorded his state of mind in his journal. 37 00:01:58,807 --> 00:02:02,720 Ng charted the murders in a series of cartoons. 38 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:05,093 And they videoed the torture of the women they 39 00:02:05,093 --> 00:02:07,631 held as sex slaves. 40 00:02:07,631 --> 00:02:10,625 Ng talked to us in prison during his trial. 41 00:02:10,625 --> 00:02:13,484 These are horrendous stuff that they accuse me of doing. 42 00:02:13,484 --> 00:02:17,651 You know, I can't even hurt a puppy. 43 00:02:17,651 --> 00:02:19,533 And Lake talked about their fantasies in his 44 00:02:19,533 --> 00:02:23,070 home-made philosophy tape. 45 00:02:23,070 --> 00:02:27,919 What I want is an off-the-shelf sex partner. 46 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:29,820 The combined sadistic energies of these two men 47 00:02:29,820 --> 00:02:32,829 became a lethal cocktail, and their story shows how 48 00:02:32,829 --> 00:02:38,986 devastating such deviance can become when it goes undetected. 49 00:02:42,973 --> 00:02:45,959 When Leonard Lake was arrested in 1985, 50 00:02:45,959 --> 00:02:47,242 he committed suicide. 51 00:02:47,242 --> 00:02:52,657 And it has taken 15 years to bring Charles Ng to justice. 52 00:02:52,657 --> 00:02:55,947 And whilst Ng protests his innocence, and this woman, 53 00:02:55,947 --> 00:03:00,413 Lake's ex-wife, has immunity on 19 counts of murder, 54 00:03:00,413 --> 00:03:01,748 this is simple story of the horrors 55 00:03:01,748 --> 00:03:04,355 created by this trio and their devastating impact 56 00:03:04,355 --> 00:03:08,212 on the lives of so many more than their 25 victims. 57 00:03:14,288 --> 00:03:17,383 Charles Chi-Tat Ng, you are remanded to the care, custody... 58 00:03:17,383 --> 00:03:21,229 Charles Ng has spent those 15 years in solitary confinement. 59 00:03:21,229 --> 00:03:24,251 And the man that knows Ng better than most is his lawyer, 60 00:03:24,251 --> 00:03:27,568 public defender Bill Kelley. 61 00:03:27,568 --> 00:03:29,858 In speaking about Charles Ng's personality, if you... 62 00:03:29,858 --> 00:03:33,031 appear annoyed or irritated he initially... 63 00:03:33,031 --> 00:03:35,644 let's say you're arguing with him about something, 64 00:03:35,644 --> 00:03:36,254 he starts to assert himself. 65 00:03:36,254 --> 00:03:39,106 Once he asserts himself, you assert yourself. 66 00:03:39,106 --> 00:03:42,486 Typically he just withdraws, and he becomes 67 00:03:42,486 --> 00:03:45,782 very meek and kind of goes into a shell. 68 00:03:46,658 --> 00:03:49,902 I would say he's without confidence, 69 00:03:49,902 --> 00:03:53,243 almost child-like in a lot of ways. 70 00:03:53,243 --> 00:03:56,326 Born on Christmas Eve, 1960, in Hong Kong, 71 00:03:56,326 --> 00:03:58,642 Charles Ng was a constant disappointment to his 72 00:03:58,642 --> 00:04:01,453 demanding father. 73 00:04:01,453 --> 00:04:05,182 As a child, he fought hard against his family's expectations. 74 00:04:05,182 --> 00:04:09,571 This led to severe and repeated beatings. 75 00:04:09,571 --> 00:04:12,026 Patrick Callahan, a criminal psychologist and 76 00:04:12,026 --> 00:04:14,904 an authority on this case, has spent many hours in 77 00:04:14,904 --> 00:04:17,375 conversation with Ng. 78 00:04:17,375 --> 00:04:20,670 Kenneth Ng, Charles' father, was seriously 79 00:04:20,670 --> 00:04:24,831 physically abusive of, uh, Charles. 80 00:04:24,831 --> 00:04:29,243 Interesting to note is that while he was being 81 00:04:29,243 --> 00:04:32,888 physically abusive, he was saying it was to make him strong. 82 00:04:32,888 --> 00:04:34,340 Him, Charles, strong. 83 00:04:34,340 --> 00:04:36,982 And he was also saying while he was being beaten 84 00:04:36,982 --> 00:04:40,677 and tethered to a window, "I love you. 85 00:04:40,677 --> 00:04:42,416 I'm doing this to make you strong. 86 00:04:42,416 --> 00:04:44,515 It's for your own good." 87 00:04:46,380 --> 00:04:48,877 But this only made Ng withdraw further into a 88 00:04:48,877 --> 00:04:52,541 fantasy world of violence and martial arts. 89 00:04:52,541 --> 00:04:55,637 He began to set fire to cars and to his school. 90 00:04:58,525 --> 00:05:00,829 Charles Ng had become a disgrace to his proud, 91 00:05:00,829 --> 00:05:02,731 middle-class family. 92 00:05:02,731 --> 00:05:07,889 So in 1977, he was sent to a private school in England. 93 00:05:07,889 --> 00:05:11,052 But Ng could not bond with this new environment. 94 00:05:11,052 --> 00:05:13,678 He became more violent, stole from fellow pupils, 95 00:05:13,678 --> 00:05:17,544 and harassed his teacher with sexually explicit letters. 96 00:05:21,447 --> 00:05:24,944 He was then sent to San Francisco to live with relatives. 97 00:05:24,944 --> 00:05:28,762 And in October 1979, using a fake birth certificate, 98 00:05:28,762 --> 00:05:31,445 Ng joined the U.S. Marines. 99 00:05:31,445 --> 00:05:32,436 Can't stop. Can't stop. 100 00:05:32,436 --> 00:05:34,935 Won't stop. Won't stop. 101 00:05:34,935 --> 00:05:36,903 Now, the Marine Corps, of course, is not an individual, 102 00:05:36,903 --> 00:05:38,606 but he saw the organization as something 103 00:05:38,606 --> 00:05:40,960 that he could belong to and attach himself to and 104 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:44,862 be part of - something he never really felt with his father. 105 00:05:44,862 --> 00:05:46,117 Can't stop. Can't stop. 106 00:05:46,117 --> 00:05:46,915 Won't stop. Won't stop. 107 00:05:46,915 --> 00:05:48,087 Ng had also found an environment that 108 00:05:48,087 --> 00:05:50,596 encouraged his love of violence. 109 00:05:50,596 --> 00:05:52,776 But within two years, Ng had been arrested for 110 00:05:52,776 --> 00:05:54,361 stealing weapons. 111 00:05:54,361 --> 00:05:56,786 He escaped, went on the run, and sought out an 112 00:05:56,786 --> 00:05:59,608 ex-Marine he had contacted through a right-wing 113 00:05:59,608 --> 00:06:04,109 survivalist magazine. 114 00:06:04,109 --> 00:06:07,272 That man was Leonard Lake. 115 00:06:07,272 --> 00:06:09,337 He was to become the father figure Ng had been 116 00:06:09,337 --> 00:06:14,792 searching for and would fuel his violent sexual fantasies. 117 00:06:22,712 --> 00:06:26,753 Good evening. 118 00:06:26,753 --> 00:06:29,845 It's a Sunday in October. 119 00:06:29,845 --> 00:06:32,160 Twenty-second, twenty-third, 120 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:33,339 something like that. 121 00:06:33,339 --> 00:06:38,416 Very close to my 38th birthday. 122 00:06:38,416 --> 00:06:42,642 And I'm starting this tape without script or without 123 00:06:42,642 --> 00:06:49,294 any real organization of what I want to say, 124 00:06:49,294 --> 00:06:54,645 but I do feel a need to explain. 125 00:06:56,707 --> 00:06:59,738 At 17, Lake was an angry loner, 126 00:06:59,738 --> 00:07:03,321 showing signs of retarded sexual development. 127 00:07:03,321 --> 00:07:05,016 When he read a classic novel called 128 00:07:05,016 --> 00:07:07,980 "The Collector," it proved the catalyst for the deviant 129 00:07:07,980 --> 00:07:12,355 fantasies that would shape his adult life. 130 00:07:12,355 --> 00:07:14,275 The Collector is a chilling story of an 131 00:07:14,275 --> 00:07:17,697 obsessive young man isolated from the world. 132 00:07:17,697 --> 00:07:20,683 He fixates on a young woman, Miranda, 133 00:07:20,683 --> 00:07:23,966 and imprisons her in the hope she will grow to love him. 134 00:07:23,966 --> 00:07:26,016 Lake became obsessed with this tale and over the 135 00:07:26,016 --> 00:07:28,708 next 20 years distorted it into a plan to imprison 136 00:07:28,708 --> 00:07:31,114 women as sex slaves. 137 00:07:31,114 --> 00:07:33,283 He called this plan "Project Miranda" after 138 00:07:33,283 --> 00:07:36,000 the imprisoned woman in The Collector and called 139 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,946 his victims M-Ladies. 140 00:07:38,946 --> 00:07:41,503 He even laid out a set of rules by which he would 141 00:07:41,503 --> 00:07:44,171 force his Miranda to live. 142 00:07:44,171 --> 00:07:45,894 Just to quote, number three is, 143 00:07:45,894 --> 00:07:50,577 "I must never show my disrespect, either verbally or silent. 144 00:07:50,577 --> 00:07:54,935 I must never cross my arms or legs in front of my body, 145 00:07:54,935 --> 00:07:57,661 or clench my fist and, unless eating, 146 00:07:57,661 --> 00:08:00,776 must always keep my lips parted." 147 00:08:00,776 --> 00:08:03,668 So you can see from that, that Leonard not only 148 00:08:03,668 --> 00:08:05,839 wanted physical domination, 149 00:08:05,839 --> 00:08:09,230 but he wanted psychological domination. 150 00:08:09,230 --> 00:08:12,481 He wanted them to be totally open to him so 151 00:08:12,481 --> 00:08:15,307 that they lost their individuality, 152 00:08:15,307 --> 00:08:20,554 lost their personhood and totally became his victim. 153 00:08:23,154 --> 00:08:28,872 I believe that I can, if I can construct a holding cell, 154 00:08:28,872 --> 00:08:35,618 I can create a facility that is so stark, 155 00:08:35,618 --> 00:08:39,606 and so empty that, fairly quickly, by a combination 156 00:08:39,606 --> 00:08:45,625 of, uh, painful punishments when I'm displeased, 157 00:08:45,625 --> 00:08:52,035 I can quickly condition a young woman to 158 00:08:52,035 --> 00:08:54,734 cooperate with me fully. 159 00:08:56,172 --> 00:09:01,057 It may not work; however, I want to try. 160 00:09:01,057 --> 00:09:03,310 What had led Lake to such a warped attitude towards 161 00:09:03,310 --> 00:09:08,294 women was a repeated and compounding series of rejections, 162 00:09:08,294 --> 00:09:10,001 first as a child when his adored 163 00:09:10,001 --> 00:09:13,152 mother abandoned him, then by his beloved Marines 164 00:09:13,152 --> 00:09:15,917 when he was discharged with severe psychological 165 00:09:15,917 --> 00:09:20,227 problems after two tours of Vietnam. 166 00:09:20,227 --> 00:09:23,652 And the last straw was his first wife divorcing him, 167 00:09:23,652 --> 00:09:26,802 as he later confided to his sister. 168 00:09:26,802 --> 00:09:29,703 In looking back on all of the events, 169 00:09:29,703 --> 00:09:32,085 I think it certainly was a significant one in terms 170 00:09:32,085 --> 00:09:37,979 of his developing or re-enforcement, 171 00:09:37,979 --> 00:09:42,047 I should say, re-enforcement of his hatred of women. 172 00:09:44,748 --> 00:09:45,627 Huh, let's see. 173 00:09:45,627 --> 00:09:48,545 Despite this hatred, Lake was to find a woman who 174 00:09:48,545 --> 00:09:51,758 shared his extreme sexual appetite. 175 00:09:51,758 --> 00:09:55,228 In 1980, he met Cricket Balazs, and a year later 176 00:09:55,228 --> 00:09:57,422 they were married. 177 00:09:57,422 --> 00:10:01,782 ..... into my sweet little lap. 178 00:10:01,782 --> 00:10:04,579 Her strong sexual hold on Lake would give Cricket a 179 00:10:04,579 --> 00:10:09,138 controlling influence over him until his death. 180 00:10:09,138 --> 00:10:11,943 He felt so rejected by women that someone like Cricket, 181 00:10:11,943 --> 00:10:17,603 who was not particularly beautiful or intelligent, 182 00:10:17,603 --> 00:10:19,600 for him to be involved with someone like that, 183 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:23,316 I think, reflects his own self-esteem problems. 184 00:10:23,316 --> 00:10:25,458 That, to me, was clearly a dynamic. 185 00:10:25,458 --> 00:10:28,015 Even though he claimed to be smarter and cleverer 186 00:10:28,015 --> 00:10:34,637 than her, he had no power in the relationship. 187 00:10:34,637 --> 00:10:40,362 But the relationship Lake could control was about to begin. 188 00:10:42,279 --> 00:10:44,978 Charles Ng was on the run after his arms theft from 189 00:10:44,978 --> 00:10:46,508 the Marines. 190 00:10:46,508 --> 00:10:50,902 He fled to Leonard Lake, his survivalist pen pal. 191 00:10:50,902 --> 00:10:54,043 Ng remembers the first time he met this man. 192 00:10:54,358 --> 00:10:56,553 At the time, I needed somewhere to stay, so this 193 00:10:56,553 --> 00:10:58,835 is why I was led to him. 194 00:10:58,835 --> 00:11:01,552 He's older than me, of course, like ten years or more, 195 00:11:01,552 --> 00:11:04,995 and, you know, I just took to him much like a, 196 00:11:04,995 --> 00:11:10,037 a brotherly fatherly figure. 197 00:11:10,037 --> 00:11:12,726 As a threesome, they got along very well, 198 00:11:12,726 --> 00:11:15,130 and they spent a lot of time together. 199 00:11:15,130 --> 00:11:19,787 They lived very cooperatively and collaboratively. 200 00:11:19,787 --> 00:11:21,808 They shared care of the dog. 201 00:11:21,808 --> 00:11:25,349 I mean they lived like a family. 202 00:11:25,349 --> 00:11:28,490 In Charles Ng, Lake had found the perfect father 203 00:11:28,490 --> 00:11:31,539 to help him realize his Project Miranda. 204 00:11:31,539 --> 00:11:33,615 And Ng's initiation was his exposure to the 205 00:11:33,615 --> 00:11:37,517 extreme sexual games played by Lake and Cricket. 206 00:11:44,397 --> 00:11:46,815 I mean that, that they, they got this kind of bondage, 207 00:11:46,815 --> 00:11:49,423 like whips and handcuffs, and uh, 208 00:11:49,423 --> 00:11:52,697 and stuff like that in the house. 209 00:11:52,697 --> 00:11:54,648 So, I mean, like, I overheard it, 210 00:11:54,648 --> 00:11:57,841 sometimes when I was in the living room or kitchen, cooking, 211 00:11:57,841 --> 00:12:00,435 when they were doing these things in the bedroom. 212 00:12:00,435 --> 00:12:03,612 When he observed that, there was an abreaction or 213 00:12:03,612 --> 00:12:07,561 there was a connection between the wedding of 214 00:12:07,561 --> 00:12:11,390 pain and love that he felt in his relationship with 215 00:12:11,390 --> 00:12:13,953 his father and his mother. 216 00:12:13,953 --> 00:12:17,529 And, and that, again, bonded him more closely to 217 00:12:17,529 --> 00:12:20,876 Lake and to Cricket. 218 00:12:20,876 --> 00:12:22,830 Ng's life with his surrogate family was 219 00:12:22,830 --> 00:12:25,835 abruptly shattered when he and Lake were arrested by 220 00:12:25,835 --> 00:12:28,890 the FBI for weapons theft. 221 00:12:28,890 --> 00:12:31,875 Ng went to prison, while Lake jumped bail and began 222 00:12:31,875 --> 00:12:34,560 life as a fugitive. 223 00:12:34,560 --> 00:12:37,187 And as he wrote in his journal, Lake completely 224 00:12:37,187 --> 00:12:41,251 severed his links with society. 225 00:12:41,251 --> 00:12:42,163 Amazing. 226 00:12:42,163 --> 00:12:44,718 Our land of the free is not prepared to deal 227 00:12:44,718 --> 00:12:47,924 effectively with a truly free man. 228 00:12:47,924 --> 00:12:49,857 What can they do to one who carries cyanide in his 229 00:12:49,857 --> 00:12:52,681 pocket when death holds no fears? 230 00:12:57,619 --> 00:13:01,011 From the time that Lenny became a fugitive, 231 00:13:01,011 --> 00:13:05,925 he had told us that he'd been experimenting to find the 232 00:13:05,925 --> 00:13:10,976 right dose of cyanide that would, um, kill a man, 233 00:13:10,976 --> 00:13:14,896 an adult male and that he was to keep this cyanide 234 00:13:14,896 --> 00:13:18,983 capsule with him at all times - um, a fresh one so 235 00:13:18,983 --> 00:13:22,229 that in the event that he were ever captured, that 236 00:13:22,229 --> 00:13:27,558 he was, that he would rather die than be imprisoned. 237 00:13:27,558 --> 00:13:30,737 In 1983, Lake persuaded Cricket to buy a house in 238 00:13:30,737 --> 00:13:33,468 the remote hills of Calaveras County, three 239 00:13:33,468 --> 00:13:37,447 hours from San Francisco. 240 00:13:37,447 --> 00:13:39,724 The quiet hamlet of Wilseyville was the 241 00:13:39,724 --> 00:13:43,565 perfect place for Project Miranda. 242 00:13:47,833 --> 00:13:51,702 Wilseyville is, is typical of a small town up here in 243 00:13:51,702 --> 00:13:54,360 the foothills. 244 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:56,759 I think most people are drawn up here for its 245 00:13:56,759 --> 00:14:03,038 beauty and its quiet and its openness. 246 00:14:03,038 --> 00:14:07,756 I think Leonard Lake was drawn here for the isolation. 247 00:14:07,756 --> 00:14:10,621 It was a ideal place for him. 248 00:14:10,621 --> 00:14:11,759 Nobody bothered him. 249 00:14:11,759 --> 00:14:12,928 Nobody recognized him. 250 00:14:12,928 --> 00:14:17,509 Nobody would ask him any questions. 251 00:14:17,509 --> 00:14:20,345 Lake began his obsessive search for the perfect 252 00:14:20,345 --> 00:14:24,533 M-Lady, the woman he would hold captive in his bunker. 253 00:14:24,533 --> 00:14:29,438 I like very slim women, very pretty, of course, petite, 254 00:14:29,438 --> 00:14:32,009 small-breasted, long hair. 255 00:14:32,009 --> 00:14:34,714 I certainly enjoy sex, I certainly enjoy the 256 00:14:34,714 --> 00:14:43,027 dominance of climbing on a woman and using her body. 257 00:14:43,027 --> 00:14:45,246 Lake needed a new identity, which meant cold 258 00:14:45,246 --> 00:14:49,937 bloodedly murdering his best friend Charles Gunnar. 259 00:14:49,937 --> 00:14:51,725 And he needed money to build the bunker close to 260 00:14:51,725 --> 00:14:57,147 his house, so he lured his brother Donny up to Wilseyville. 261 00:14:57,147 --> 00:14:59,014 Lenny came to pick up Donny to take him to this 262 00:14:59,014 --> 00:15:00,962 supposed house-sitting job. 263 00:15:00,962 --> 00:15:04,677 He shot him in the head while he was asleep. 264 00:15:04,677 --> 00:15:07,927 He put like, point blank, he shot him in the head. 265 00:15:07,927 --> 00:15:10,000 To pull of project Miranda, Lake would 266 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:14,452 require a constant supply of money and new identities. 267 00:15:14,452 --> 00:15:19,212 Gunnar and Lake's brother, Donny, were only the beginning. 268 00:15:19,212 --> 00:15:23,064 Then, in June 1984, Ng was released from prison. 269 00:15:23,064 --> 00:15:27,337 He headed straight for his new-found family in Wilseyville. 270 00:15:27,337 --> 00:15:29,549 Finally, Leonard Lake, Charles Ng, and Cricket 271 00:15:29,549 --> 00:15:32,404 Balazs were together again. 272 00:15:32,404 --> 00:15:37,093 Now, operation Miranda could truly begin. 273 00:15:37,093 --> 00:15:40,205 Within the next year, a total of 25 people would 274 00:15:40,205 --> 00:15:42,341 disappear from San Francisco and the 275 00:15:42,341 --> 00:15:45,614 Wilseyville area, never to be seen again. 276 00:16:01,730 --> 00:16:06,990 The bunker was ready, and Project Miranda had indeed begun. 277 00:16:06,990 --> 00:16:11,255 Lake's chilling fantasy was finally underway. 278 00:16:11,255 --> 00:16:17,236 It will be interesting to see how far this tape and 279 00:16:17,236 --> 00:16:18,929 I actually go. 280 00:16:27,293 --> 00:16:33,178 Leonard Lake - a name not seen or much used these days. 281 00:16:33,178 --> 00:16:36,829 My next year as a fugitive, still with death 282 00:16:36,829 --> 00:16:41,787 in my pocket and fantasy my major goal. 283 00:16:48,159 --> 00:16:49,754 The bunker was built. 284 00:16:49,754 --> 00:16:52,077 Project Miranda was go. 285 00:16:52,077 --> 00:16:56,308 And the next year would see at least 25 violent deaths. 286 00:17:04,474 --> 00:17:06,547 The murders that were perpetrated by Leonard 287 00:17:06,547 --> 00:17:11,046 Lake and Charles Ng are very complex. 288 00:17:11,046 --> 00:17:14,251 They include individual murders. 289 00:17:14,251 --> 00:17:18,024 They include families where a whole family is 290 00:17:18,024 --> 00:17:22,268 murdered, and they include the murder of children. 291 00:17:22,268 --> 00:17:25,332 Sean Dubs, and his parents Harvey and Deborah, were 292 00:17:25,332 --> 00:17:27,972 abducted from their home in San Francisco when Lake 293 00:17:27,972 --> 00:17:30,992 and Ng came to buy their video camera. 294 00:17:34,332 --> 00:17:36,157 And back in Wilseyville, Brenda O'Connor, 295 00:17:36,157 --> 00:17:38,895 Lonnie Bond, and their baby were abducted from the house 296 00:17:38,895 --> 00:17:41,633 next door to Lake's. 297 00:17:44,089 --> 00:17:46,081 The fate of Sean Dubs and Lonnie Bond, Jr. 298 00:17:46,081 --> 00:17:50,684 is unknown, but Ng's cartoons suggest a horrifying end. 299 00:17:57,886 --> 00:18:02,540 The children were perhaps tortured to further gain 300 00:18:02,540 --> 00:18:06,148 the compliance of the women. 301 00:18:06,148 --> 00:18:08,763 Brenda O'Connor, Kathy Allen, and possibly 302 00:18:08,763 --> 00:18:12,232 Deborah Dubs were imprisoned as M-Ladies, 303 00:18:12,232 --> 00:18:14,946 tortured and then killed. 304 00:18:17,258 --> 00:18:20,578 The men were killed quite quickly because they were 305 00:18:20,578 --> 00:18:24,159 a physical threat to Lake and Ng. 306 00:18:24,159 --> 00:18:26,856 And again, the fact that they couldn't leave any 307 00:18:26,856 --> 00:18:31,076 witnesses led to the death of many of these people. 308 00:18:39,293 --> 00:18:42,703 But when Lake and Ng abducted Paul Cosner, 309 00:18:42,703 --> 00:18:44,936 they could not have reckoned on the desperate persistence 310 00:18:44,936 --> 00:18:46,999 with which his sister, Sharon Sellitto, 311 00:18:46,999 --> 00:18:49,357 would search for Paul. 312 00:18:49,357 --> 00:18:51,792 My connection with the Ng case is that, uh, 313 00:18:51,792 --> 00:18:57,304 my brother Paul Cosner was one of their victims. 314 00:18:57,304 --> 00:19:04,445 He put an ad in the Chronicle in 1984 to sell a car, 315 00:19:04,445 --> 00:19:08,171 a Honda Prelude, and, uh, Leonard Lake 316 00:19:08,171 --> 00:19:10,508 answered that ad and decided my brother looked 317 00:19:10,508 --> 00:19:16,325 enough like him to use his ID. 318 00:19:16,325 --> 00:19:18,144 Sharon reported Paul's disappearance to the 319 00:19:18,144 --> 00:19:20,245 police but was told they wouldn't look for a 320 00:19:20,245 --> 00:19:23,688 missing person over six years of age, 321 00:19:23,688 --> 00:19:27,015 but they would look for a stolen car. 322 00:19:27,015 --> 00:19:29,694 My brother's missing, nobody cares at all or 323 00:19:29,694 --> 00:19:33,568 will even do anything, but a $5,000 stinking car is 324 00:19:33,568 --> 00:19:36,867 gone and you're gonna send somebody over right away. 325 00:19:36,867 --> 00:19:39,522 So Sharon undertook her own search, fly-posting 326 00:19:39,522 --> 00:19:42,461 the city with pictures of Paul. 327 00:19:42,461 --> 00:19:44,596 Now I didn't sleep, I didn't eat. 328 00:19:44,596 --> 00:19:47,736 I kept thinking if I could think of everything to do. 329 00:19:54,557 --> 00:19:58,875 But it's like if I forgot one thing, that it 330 00:19:58,875 --> 00:20:02,636 wouldn't work. 331 00:20:02,636 --> 00:20:05,132 Sharon's fight to find her brother was not completely 332 00:20:05,132 --> 00:20:06,837 in vain. 333 00:20:06,837 --> 00:20:08,841 By reporting his car missing every month for 334 00:20:08,841 --> 00:20:12,187 seven months, she kept the vehicle on the hot sheet, 335 00:20:12,187 --> 00:20:15,637 and on June 2, 1985 this was instrumental in the 336 00:20:15,637 --> 00:20:18,808 capture of the men that abducted her brother. 337 00:20:22,745 --> 00:20:25,088 Because on that day, Lake and Ng went to a hardware 338 00:20:25,088 --> 00:20:29,708 store in San Francisco and attempted to steal a vice. 339 00:20:29,708 --> 00:20:32,679 When confronted, Ng fled the scene, leaving Lake to 340 00:20:32,679 --> 00:20:34,834 deal with the police. 341 00:20:34,834 --> 00:20:36,550 On checking the Honda Prelude Lake was driving, 342 00:20:36,550 --> 00:20:39,391 the police found a gun with an illegal silencer. 343 00:20:43,161 --> 00:20:45,015 At the police station, Lake was cautioned and 344 00:20:45,015 --> 00:20:47,358 asked for his identity card. 345 00:20:49,189 --> 00:20:52,435 The car was traced to Paul Cosner and the ID card to 346 00:20:52,435 --> 00:20:55,536 another missing person, Scott Stapley. 347 00:20:56,393 --> 00:20:58,934 Determined not to be taken alive, Lake swallowed two 348 00:20:58,934 --> 00:21:03,422 cyanide capsules he kept sewn in the lapel of his jacket. 349 00:21:03,422 --> 00:21:05,573 Before he poisoned himself, Lake wrote a 350 00:21:05,573 --> 00:21:09,423 suicide note to Cricket, his ex-wife. 351 00:21:09,423 --> 00:21:12,000 Dearest Cricket, I love you. 352 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:13,607 I forgive you. 353 00:21:13,607 --> 00:21:15,812 Freedom is better than all else. 354 00:21:15,812 --> 00:21:18,447 Love, Leonard. 355 00:21:18,447 --> 00:21:20,086 Before he lost consciousness, 356 00:21:20,086 --> 00:21:24,450 Lake gave the police Ng's name. 357 00:21:24,450 --> 00:21:25,759 Mr. Ng is very clear. 358 00:21:25,759 --> 00:21:30,279 He believes that, uh, he was given up by Leonard 359 00:21:30,279 --> 00:21:34,568 Lake in order to give time for Cricket to get away, 360 00:21:34,568 --> 00:21:38,685 and for her also to, uh, dispose of whatever 361 00:21:38,685 --> 00:21:43,025 evidence there may be up at Wilseyville. 362 00:21:43,025 --> 00:21:46,195 But Ng was not completely betrayed, Cricket took him 363 00:21:46,195 --> 00:21:49,033 downtown to collect his clothes and guns. 364 00:21:49,033 --> 00:21:52,068 Then she drove him to San Francisco Airport, 365 00:21:52,068 --> 00:21:55,454 and while Lake was unconscious in hospital, Ng escaped. 366 00:21:58,616 --> 00:22:00,485 Cricket had called and told me that Lenny had 367 00:22:00,485 --> 00:22:02,920 swallowed his cyanide capsule. 368 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:05,130 He was on life support. 369 00:22:05,130 --> 00:22:09,690 So about midnight that night, my mother and my 370 00:22:09,690 --> 00:22:15,700 younger sister and I went to Kaiser/Cosner, 371 00:22:15,700 --> 00:22:17,487 and there were detectives waiting for us 372 00:22:17,487 --> 00:22:20,568 in the waiting room of the Intensive Care Unit who 373 00:22:20,568 --> 00:22:24,071 wanted to ask us questions about Lenny, and, of course, 374 00:22:24,071 --> 00:22:28,462 at this point, we had no idea of anything 375 00:22:28,462 --> 00:22:31,292 that was about to unfold. 376 00:22:31,292 --> 00:22:34,456 Within the four days it took Leonard Lake to die, 377 00:22:34,456 --> 00:22:36,901 this insignificant shoplifting incident grew 378 00:22:36,901 --> 00:22:41,337 into a horrifying case of mass murder. 379 00:22:41,337 --> 00:22:43,706 Police had searched Paul Cosner's car and found 380 00:22:43,706 --> 00:22:46,291 bullet holes as well as an electricity bill in the 381 00:22:46,291 --> 00:22:48,905 name of Cricket Balazs that linked her to the 382 00:22:48,905 --> 00:22:51,639 Wilseyville property. 383 00:22:51,639 --> 00:22:56,332 After being questioned by the police, Cricket took her chance. 384 00:22:56,332 --> 00:22:58,082 It was June 3rd. 385 00:22:58,082 --> 00:23:00,233 It was the day after my brother swallowed the 386 00:23:00,233 --> 00:23:05,504 cyanide capsule that Cricket came to my mother's house. 387 00:23:05,504 --> 00:23:06,724 She was very nervous. 388 00:23:06,724 --> 00:23:09,080 She was very agitated. 389 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:11,391 She actually asked me to go up with her to the 390 00:23:11,391 --> 00:23:15,560 Wilseyville house to what she said get some personal 391 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,819 belongings out of the house that she did not 392 00:23:18,819 --> 00:23:21,760 want the police to see. 393 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:24,133 Lake's sister refused to go with Cricket, but 394 00:23:24,133 --> 00:23:28,356 Lake's mother agreed. 395 00:23:28,356 --> 00:23:31,424 And my mother told me later that she filled 396 00:23:31,424 --> 00:23:36,925 several cardboard boxes of things, including videotapes. 397 00:23:44,133 --> 00:23:48,504 The next day, police went with Cricket up to Lake's house, 398 00:23:48,504 --> 00:23:50,136 but there was no way they could ever have 399 00:23:50,136 --> 00:23:52,181 imagined the magnitude of the crimes they would 400 00:23:52,181 --> 00:23:54,160 uncover there. 401 00:23:54,160 --> 00:24:00,189 The case just started, just mushrooming up from there, 402 00:24:00,189 --> 00:24:01,141 and when the Inspector from San 403 00:24:01,141 --> 00:24:04,744 Francisco found that video equipment to the Dubs family, 404 00:24:04,744 --> 00:24:09,365 I think that's when things really started to roll. 405 00:24:09,365 --> 00:24:11,766 The police found bullet holes and blood stains in 406 00:24:11,766 --> 00:24:14,398 the house. 407 00:24:14,398 --> 00:24:16,778 This is the bed with the sides had the four holes 408 00:24:16,778 --> 00:24:19,384 or the two holes for each hand, that looked like 409 00:24:19,384 --> 00:24:22,169 were used for restraint. 410 00:24:22,169 --> 00:24:24,255 And next to the bed was the video camera stolen 411 00:24:24,255 --> 00:24:29,712 from the Dubs family, the camera Lake had used to 412 00:24:29,712 --> 00:24:32,143 film the building of his bunker and the execution 413 00:24:32,143 --> 00:24:34,246 of his crimes. 414 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:47,486 So, here it is, a cut on the earth about 21 feet across. 415 00:24:47,486 --> 00:24:49,632 The backhoe worked for 24 hours. 416 00:24:49,632 --> 00:24:53,003 Myself and two young men with our little picks and 417 00:24:53,003 --> 00:24:55,626 shovels and wheelbarrows worked for another three 418 00:24:55,626 --> 00:24:58,712 or four days. 419 00:24:58,712 --> 00:25:01,582 Cricket became more nervous with every find 420 00:25:01,582 --> 00:25:03,690 and refused to let the police search the 421 00:25:03,690 --> 00:25:06,909 padlocked bunker close to the house. 422 00:25:08,845 --> 00:25:11,588 Later on that day, we, uh, we the brought the search 423 00:25:11,588 --> 00:25:14,276 warrant to the residence and took a look around the 424 00:25:14,276 --> 00:25:20,252 grounds, and at that point in time there was a, uh, a tool shed. 425 00:25:22,809 --> 00:25:26,570 It had all the regular tools, just a typical workshop. 426 00:25:26,570 --> 00:25:30,146 And it was from there, detectives, after looking at it, 427 00:25:30,146 --> 00:25:32,135 noticed that the wall went farther back 428 00:25:32,135 --> 00:25:33,704 into the hillside. 429 00:25:33,704 --> 00:25:35,771 And then as they dug around a little more, 430 00:25:35,771 --> 00:25:37,586 they found that there was quite a bit of the building that 431 00:25:37,586 --> 00:25:39,600 went back into the dirt. 432 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:42,093 So, that made them think, well, how do you get in. 433 00:25:42,093 --> 00:25:47,482 And they started looking and they found a secret passageway. 434 00:25:47,482 --> 00:25:49,352 What we're looking at is what has been as described 435 00:25:49,352 --> 00:25:53,161 as the inner cell area of this bunker. 436 00:25:53,161 --> 00:25:55,679 As you can see, the door was hidden with a two false, 437 00:25:55,679 --> 00:25:57,462 three false shelves. 438 00:25:57,462 --> 00:25:59,576 The inner cell of the bunker was actually two 439 00:25:59,576 --> 00:26:01,937 different compartments. 440 00:26:01,937 --> 00:26:05,347 In the first, they found a copy of The Collector. Attached 441 00:26:05,347 --> 00:26:07,218 to the wall were photographs of 21 442 00:26:07,218 --> 00:26:11,165 semi-clothed young women. 443 00:26:11,165 --> 00:26:13,760 A two-way mirror provided a spy hole into the second 444 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:19,029 compartment, which was, in fact, a tiny airless cell. 445 00:26:24,593 --> 00:26:27,056 Next to the mirror was a night sight, allowing Lake 446 00:26:27,056 --> 00:26:30,977 to see into the darkness. 447 00:26:30,977 --> 00:26:34,509 So actually in the cell, if you go in there, 448 00:26:34,509 --> 00:26:37,256 and close the door, and turn the lights on, it's very 449 00:26:37,256 --> 00:26:39,105 much like being in a mineshaft. 450 00:26:39,105 --> 00:26:41,730 It's just pitch black, and you can't hear. 451 00:26:53,863 --> 00:26:58,095 The police assumed that people had been held captive here, 452 00:26:58,095 --> 00:26:59,739 but who were they? 453 00:26:59,739 --> 00:27:02,703 And why were they held? 454 00:27:04,861 --> 00:27:07,013 Lake had buried evidence in front of the bunker 455 00:27:07,013 --> 00:27:11,520 that would enable the police to unravel this mystery. 456 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:13,615 The discovered Lake's journal, detailing the 457 00:27:13,615 --> 00:27:17,500 last 18 months of his life, and his philosophy tape, 458 00:27:17,500 --> 00:27:21,737 expounding his plans for Project Miranda. 459 00:27:21,737 --> 00:27:23,753 But most chilling was a video labeled 460 00:27:23,753 --> 00:27:27,665 "The M-Ladies Tape," filmed in Lake's house, and showing 461 00:27:27,665 --> 00:27:32,113 Lake and Ng torturing innocent women. 462 00:27:32,113 --> 00:27:34,530 If you don't go along with us, we'll probably take 463 00:27:34,530 --> 00:27:38,433 you into bed, tie you down, rape you, shoot you, 464 00:27:38,433 --> 00:27:41,784 and bury you. 465 00:27:41,784 --> 00:27:44,048 What appears interesting is, at least of the two 466 00:27:44,048 --> 00:27:47,452 M-Ladies that we know, that they were not as easy 467 00:27:47,452 --> 00:27:52,598 to control as Leonard had thought, and thus, I, uh, 468 00:27:52,598 --> 00:27:58,320 I think their deaths were premature. 469 00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:01,036 At first, police had no idea who these two women 470 00:28:01,036 --> 00:28:05,284 were or whether they were alive or dead, until they 471 00:28:05,284 --> 00:28:08,394 found a trench that was 50 yards long and contained 472 00:28:08,394 --> 00:28:10,548 the driving licenses of Kathy Allen and Brenda 473 00:28:10,548 --> 00:28:15,597 O'Connor, the two women on the M-Ladies tape. 474 00:28:15,597 --> 00:28:17,594 Amongst hundreds of other items of personal 475 00:28:17,594 --> 00:28:21,551 belongings, the police also found Paul Cosner's ID, 476 00:28:21,551 --> 00:28:24,673 and evidence that Brenda's best friend had 477 00:28:24,673 --> 00:28:27,219 also perished. 478 00:28:32,948 --> 00:28:35,637 So it was right in here that they found articles 479 00:28:35,637 --> 00:28:37,406 of clothing belonging to some of our victims, 480 00:28:37,406 --> 00:28:40,220 one of them being Scott Stapley. 481 00:28:40,220 --> 00:28:42,240 He had a shirt that had his name Scott written 482 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:43,971 above the pocket. 483 00:28:43,971 --> 00:28:46,225 The property was literally strewn with human bone 484 00:28:46,225 --> 00:28:50,684 that had been burnt or crushed. 485 00:28:50,684 --> 00:28:53,986 And this is a plot, or plot five, and in this 486 00:28:53,986 --> 00:28:56,772 area it appeared that they would bring the ashes down 487 00:28:56,772 --> 00:29:01,889 and just throw 'em out. 488 00:29:01,889 --> 00:29:03,813 It took police eight weeks to sift through these 489 00:29:03,813 --> 00:29:05,999 grizzly remains. 490 00:29:09,711 --> 00:29:13,332 We found some teeth, we found some baby teeth, 491 00:29:13,332 --> 00:29:17,529 so we knew there was, at least one child that had 492 00:29:17,529 --> 00:29:19,958 been murdered as well. 493 00:29:29,217 --> 00:29:34,164 We wound up with probably about 45 pounds of this 494 00:29:34,164 --> 00:29:40,632 bone that could constitute as many as six or eight humans. 495 00:29:40,632 --> 00:29:43,794 So, we knew that we had a large number of people 496 00:29:43,794 --> 00:29:46,120 that had been killed. 497 00:29:48,029 --> 00:29:51,039 At this point, only six identifiable bodies had 498 00:29:51,039 --> 00:29:52,549 been found. 499 00:29:52,549 --> 00:29:55,089 From the bones and other evidence, they estimated 500 00:29:55,089 --> 00:29:59,307 at least another 17 victims. 501 00:29:59,307 --> 00:30:02,451 They dug a big section like this out... 502 00:30:02,451 --> 00:30:05,912 Three weeks later, the police found more bodies, 503 00:30:05,912 --> 00:30:08,769 of two men, released into the woods, and then hunted 504 00:30:08,769 --> 00:30:13,149 down for sport and shot as they tried to escape. 505 00:30:15,309 --> 00:30:18,176 One of the bodies had handcuffs, had ligatures. 506 00:30:18,176 --> 00:30:21,443 Both of these victims were shot. 507 00:30:23,550 --> 00:30:26,707 And it was right down in this area that there were 508 00:30:26,707 --> 00:30:30,460 tuffs of fabric and material on the ground 509 00:30:30,460 --> 00:30:34,074 that had been dug up by predators, and that's 510 00:30:34,074 --> 00:30:38,065 where the bodies of Lonnie Bond and Scott Stapley were found. 511 00:30:39,728 --> 00:30:42,762 The pistol was shoved down his throat, and it was 512 00:30:42,762 --> 00:30:44,686 rammed around, breaking all of his teeth out, 513 00:30:44,686 --> 00:30:46,638 and then he was shot. 514 00:30:46,638 --> 00:30:49,785 It just makes us shudder to think of the torture 515 00:30:49,785 --> 00:30:52,702 and what he must have been going through. 516 00:30:54,443 --> 00:30:56,243 Why did this have to happen to these people and 517 00:30:56,243 --> 00:31:02,857 two men causing such tragedy in the lives of so 518 00:31:02,857 --> 00:31:07,094 many people, and not just the family lives of the 519 00:31:07,094 --> 00:31:09,159 victims but other people who were affected during 520 00:31:09,159 --> 00:31:11,586 the investigation? 521 00:31:11,586 --> 00:31:12,306 It's been hot and tedious.... 522 00:31:12,306 --> 00:31:14,268 For the victim's families, their fight for justice 523 00:31:14,268 --> 00:31:16,673 was just beginning. 524 00:31:16,673 --> 00:31:19,818 Many had no loved ones to bury. 525 00:31:19,818 --> 00:31:22,792 The police had no suspects to question. 526 00:31:22,792 --> 00:31:25,194 And the families' pain was being made all too public 527 00:31:25,194 --> 00:31:26,995 by the media. 528 00:31:26,995 --> 00:31:29,400 And my answer machine was blinking, and I turn it 529 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:32,555 on, and they said, uh, Mr. and Mrs. Stapley, 530 00:31:32,555 --> 00:31:35,100 this is so-and-so from such-and-such television 531 00:31:35,100 --> 00:31:37,819 station in San Francisco. 532 00:31:37,819 --> 00:31:40,109 We would like to talk to you about your son Robin 533 00:31:40,109 --> 00:31:42,250 and the murders in Calaveras County. 534 00:31:42,250 --> 00:31:44,474 Our telephone number is blah-bla-bla-blah. 535 00:31:44,474 --> 00:31:46,123 Please call us. 536 00:31:46,123 --> 00:31:47,936 But today we have pictures, pictures that 537 00:31:47,936 --> 00:31:49,442 will probably leave many.... 538 00:31:49,442 --> 00:31:54,442 We were watching the news one night and all of a sudden, 539 00:31:54,442 --> 00:31:57,311 on the TV, there's my daughter sitting in the 540 00:31:57,311 --> 00:32:02,736 chair, in shackles, and him cutting her clothes off, 541 00:32:02,736 --> 00:32:05,406 and she was begging for the baby. 542 00:32:06,554 --> 00:32:09,108 These are some of the bone fragments that have been found. 543 00:32:09,108 --> 00:32:10,761 Pieces of human beings. 544 00:32:10,761 --> 00:32:12,268 Investigators say there are countless... 545 00:32:12,268 --> 00:32:15,868 And they just kept talking. 546 00:32:15,868 --> 00:32:18,878 They showed their hands on the TV at night and they 547 00:32:18,878 --> 00:32:23,759 would have marble-sized chunks of bone, 548 00:32:24,091 --> 00:32:26,042 and you didn't know if it was Paul, you know. 549 00:32:29,457 --> 00:32:35,098 But in nobody's wildest imagination did we expect 550 00:32:35,098 --> 00:32:38,212 it to be this bad and this horrible. 551 00:32:40,860 --> 00:32:42,959 The shocking discoveries at Wilseyville had left 552 00:32:42,959 --> 00:32:45,383 the police with many questions, 553 00:32:45,383 --> 00:32:49,891 and the victims' relatives reeling, desperate for justice. 554 00:32:49,891 --> 00:32:52,584 But Lake was dead, and Cricket refused to give 555 00:32:52,584 --> 00:32:55,135 any information without immunity. 556 00:32:55,135 --> 00:32:58,462 That left Charles Ng, and he had vanished. 557 00:33:01,847 --> 00:33:06,210 An international manhunt was underway. 558 00:33:06,210 --> 00:33:09,816 Then on July 6, 1985, Ng attempted to shoplift from 559 00:33:09,816 --> 00:33:14,484 the Hudson Bay Department Store Calgary in Canada. 560 00:33:14,484 --> 00:33:16,132 He was arrested. 561 00:33:16,132 --> 00:33:19,461 Within hours, FBI agents were in Calgary to verify 562 00:33:19,461 --> 00:33:24,272 that this man was Charles Ng and to take him back to California. 563 00:33:24,272 --> 00:33:26,048 But the Canadian Government refused to 564 00:33:26,048 --> 00:33:28,292 expedite Ng to a State where he could face the 565 00:33:28,292 --> 00:33:30,214 death penalty. 566 00:33:31,422 --> 00:33:34,018 It took six years of campaigning by Sharon Sellitto 567 00:33:34,018 --> 00:33:36,299 and other victims' relatives as well 568 00:33:36,299 --> 00:33:38,695 as political wrangling between governments before 569 00:33:38,695 --> 00:33:42,003 Ng faced an extradition hearing. 570 00:33:42,003 --> 00:33:43,200 He doesn't have any rights. 571 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:46,057 He made a decision, and it was the wrong one, 572 00:33:46,057 --> 00:33:49,915 and he deserves to suffer the consequences. 573 00:33:49,915 --> 00:33:52,491 Once the expedition was granted, Ng was on a plane 574 00:33:52,491 --> 00:33:56,518 back to California within the hour. 575 00:33:56,518 --> 00:33:59,980 And I knew that they had this Ng taskforce all the time, 576 00:33:59,980 --> 00:34:02,825 this whole six years that he'd been in Canada. 577 00:34:02,825 --> 00:34:05,973 They were just gonna kind of have to pick him up and 578 00:34:05,973 --> 00:34:10,568 dust him off and the process would begin. 579 00:34:10,568 --> 00:34:13,881 And, um, that's not what happened. 580 00:34:16,305 --> 00:34:19,420 The next seven years saw a succession of delays due 581 00:34:19,420 --> 00:34:21,672 to mismanagement of the case and Ng turning 582 00:34:21,672 --> 00:34:24,669 jailhouse lawyer. 583 00:34:24,669 --> 00:34:28,195 Ng isn't even an American citizen, and he's managed 584 00:34:28,195 --> 00:34:32,388 to use our legal system better and longer than any 585 00:34:32,388 --> 00:34:35,850 criminal in the history of the United States that was 586 00:34:35,850 --> 00:34:37,973 born here. 587 00:34:37,973 --> 00:34:45,154 He, um, changed attorneys like he changed his socks. 588 00:34:45,154 --> 00:34:47,617 Five teams of defense lawyers, seven judges, 589 00:34:47,617 --> 00:34:50,925 and three trial start dates came and went. 590 00:34:50,925 --> 00:34:54,526 Finally in 1994, Ng was given the lawyer that 591 00:34:54,526 --> 00:34:56,768 would defend him at trial. 592 00:34:56,768 --> 00:35:01,134 I was appointed Charles Ng's lawyer in November of 1994. 593 00:35:01,134 --> 00:35:02,829 Immediately, I went up to 594 00:35:02,829 --> 00:35:04,499 Calaveras County just to get a sense 595 00:35:04,499 --> 00:35:08,836 of how large the file was, and I was, of course, dumbstruck. 596 00:35:08,836 --> 00:35:12,332 Six tons of paper and machinery and bookshelves, 597 00:35:12,332 --> 00:35:13,351 and all that. 598 00:35:13,351 --> 00:35:14,248 Probably four tons paper. 599 00:35:14,248 --> 00:35:15,747 That's what we estimated. 600 00:35:15,747 --> 00:35:18,236 Ng had been charged with the murder of 12 of the 25 601 00:35:18,236 --> 00:35:20,640 Wilseyville victims. 602 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:24,522 Kelley needed three years to prepare this huge case. 603 00:35:25,972 --> 00:35:28,657 Then we realized that we had waited 14 years for a 604 00:35:28,657 --> 00:35:33,036 trial that was a farce. 605 00:35:33,036 --> 00:35:42,175 They had spent 20 million dollars, um, putting this together, 606 00:35:42,175 --> 00:35:44,578 um, for what? 607 00:35:44,578 --> 00:35:48,379 It was unbelievable. 608 00:35:48,379 --> 00:35:51,144 It is ludicrous for this defendant to come to court 609 00:35:51,144 --> 00:35:53,090 and ask for any release. 610 00:35:53,090 --> 00:35:56,250 What we're looking at now is a motion for new trial... 611 00:35:56,250 --> 00:35:59,859 Ng did everything he could to disrupt the trial. 612 00:35:59,859 --> 00:36:02,263 He presented dozens of motions to the court, 613 00:36:02,263 --> 00:36:05,837 including complaints of travel sickness and bad food. 614 00:36:05,837 --> 00:36:10,933 I'm sorry, Mr. Ng appears to be sort of dozing off here. 615 00:36:10,933 --> 00:36:15,450 Mr. Ng are you able to listen to what's going on? 616 00:36:15,450 --> 00:36:17,543 No, I'm not able to concentrate, sir. 617 00:36:17,543 --> 00:36:18,901 Why? 618 00:36:18,901 --> 00:36:22,208 I'm real tired. 619 00:36:22,208 --> 00:36:23,725 How much sleep did you get last night? 620 00:36:23,725 --> 00:36:24,905 I stayed up all night. 621 00:36:24,905 --> 00:36:26,652 Why? 622 00:36:26,652 --> 00:36:30,224 I changed the motion of, these motions, sir. 623 00:36:30,224 --> 00:36:33,533 You were working on the motions that you filed today? 624 00:36:33,533 --> 00:36:35,786 Yes. 625 00:36:35,786 --> 00:36:37,736 Not much to pack. 626 00:36:37,736 --> 00:36:39,988 The last straw came when Ng telephoned a juror in 627 00:36:39,988 --> 00:36:43,227 an effort to cause a mistrial. 628 00:36:43,227 --> 00:36:46,385 After I found out that it was, in fact, Charles Ng 629 00:36:46,385 --> 00:36:50,681 that had called me and had been able to reach out 630 00:36:50,681 --> 00:36:55,552 from his cell and get into my house. 631 00:36:55,552 --> 00:36:59,755 And it's scary. 632 00:36:59,755 --> 00:37:02,007 He doesn't belong here. 633 00:37:02,007 --> 00:37:05,167 I couldn't just leave it at court anymore. 634 00:37:05,167 --> 00:37:09,927 It was at home with me now, and I resent that. 635 00:37:11,486 --> 00:37:14,849 Leonard Lake clearly had a great deal of influence 636 00:37:14,849 --> 00:37:16,373 over Mr. Ng... 637 00:37:16,373 --> 00:37:18,591 The victims' relatives endured eight months of 638 00:37:18,591 --> 00:37:21,226 horrific evidence and a defense case that 639 00:37:21,226 --> 00:37:24,052 presented Lake as the manipulator and Ng merely 640 00:37:24,052 --> 00:37:25,700 an accomplice. 641 00:37:25,700 --> 00:37:29,756 The evidence fails to show that he was an actual killer. 642 00:37:29,756 --> 00:37:31,644 The one person who knew the truth was not 643 00:37:31,644 --> 00:37:34,470 questioned in the trial by either side for fear she 644 00:37:34,470 --> 00:37:37,198 would damage their case. 645 00:37:37,198 --> 00:37:39,731 But despite damning evidence, Cricket Balazs 646 00:37:39,731 --> 00:37:44,726 had been given immunity on 19 counts of murder. 647 00:37:48,037 --> 00:37:49,089 She knew what was going on. 648 00:37:49,089 --> 00:37:50,963 I think she procured. 649 00:37:50,963 --> 00:37:53,949 Girl, I think she lured people up there for them, 650 00:37:53,949 --> 00:37:57,695 and I think, um, she was a willing participant, also. 651 00:37:57,695 --> 00:37:59,195 Um... let's see. 652 00:37:59,195 --> 00:38:02,651 We've talked about underage performers, and... 653 00:38:02,651 --> 00:38:06,707 There's one particular conversation where Cricket 654 00:38:06,707 --> 00:38:10,609 is actually seen looking at photographic albums of young girls. 655 00:38:10,609 --> 00:38:14,037 ...But I've seen some awfully cute-looking girls 656 00:38:14,037 --> 00:38:21,261 - 14, 15 year olds that I .... watching them 657 00:38:21,261 --> 00:38:23,539 do something interesting. 658 00:38:23,539 --> 00:38:26,362 And they mention, uh, making some of the girls 659 00:38:26,362 --> 00:38:28,324 at the school disappear at that time. 660 00:38:28,324 --> 00:38:31,610 Cricket was a teacher's aide at a school. 661 00:38:31,610 --> 00:38:33,748 I think it was a high school. 662 00:38:33,748 --> 00:38:37,473 They're actually talking about making people disappear. 663 00:38:37,473 --> 00:38:38,832 But the immunity agreement stood. 664 00:38:38,832 --> 00:38:39,878 I mean, she, you know, they couldn't prove that 665 00:38:39,878 --> 00:38:45,483 she lied, and so there it was, and so off she went. 666 00:38:45,483 --> 00:38:47,720 So the prosecution could get Cricket Balazs to 667 00:38:47,720 --> 00:38:49,653 court, but they could not risk questioning her on 668 00:38:49,653 --> 00:38:51,905 the stand. 669 00:38:51,905 --> 00:38:53,867 But they did have two pieces of evidence that 670 00:38:53,867 --> 00:38:56,434 were damning proof of Ng's true roll in the 671 00:38:56,434 --> 00:38:59,516 Wilseyville murders. 672 00:38:59,516 --> 00:39:02,668 Now, unfortunately, Ng did a number of drawings, some 673 00:39:02,668 --> 00:39:07,054 of which specifically were connected to the victims 674 00:39:07,054 --> 00:39:08,695 in the trial. 675 00:39:08,695 --> 00:39:11,847 As pieces of evidence, uh, they were not good from my 676 00:39:11,847 --> 00:39:13,635 perspective. 677 00:39:13,635 --> 00:39:18,430 What you have here is two individuals, and it 678 00:39:18,430 --> 00:39:21,123 appears that what they are doing is they are dropping 679 00:39:21,123 --> 00:39:24,885 this person into a fire. 680 00:39:24,885 --> 00:39:28,439 We just don't want to believe that these two men 681 00:39:28,439 --> 00:39:32,632 were capable of taking living human beings and 682 00:39:32,632 --> 00:39:35,499 placing them into a fire, because we know from the 683 00:39:35,499 --> 00:39:38,253 fourth picture that they were awake because they 684 00:39:38,253 --> 00:39:44,098 were able to speak when they were placed in the fire. 685 00:39:48,456 --> 00:39:51,314 Few of the victims' bodies were ever found. 686 00:39:51,314 --> 00:39:53,988 Just the crushed bones from the many burn sites 687 00:39:53,988 --> 00:39:59,313 scattered around the property. 688 00:39:59,313 --> 00:40:01,730 However the evidence that finally proved Ng's guilt 689 00:40:01,730 --> 00:40:04,725 to the jury was the M-Ladies tape. 690 00:40:04,725 --> 00:40:06,576 Kathy Allen and then Brenda O'Connor were 691 00:40:06,576 --> 00:40:09,634 kept prisoner in the bunker cell. 692 00:40:09,634 --> 00:40:13,240 The videotape shows them brought to this room in Lake's house. 693 00:40:13,240 --> 00:40:15,643 Their clothes were cut off at knifepoint. 694 00:40:15,643 --> 00:40:18,048 They were threatened with rape, beatings, and the 695 00:40:18,048 --> 00:40:20,992 death of their babies and themselves. 696 00:40:20,992 --> 00:40:22,902 These tapes cannot be taken lock, stock, 697 00:40:22,902 --> 00:40:24,461 and barrel the way it is. 698 00:40:24,461 --> 00:40:26,573 This is like the three scenes of them. 699 00:40:26,573 --> 00:40:29,020 You know, the first scene is Leonard Lake with Kathy Allen with me. 700 00:40:29,020 --> 00:40:32,177 The second scene was a massage scene? 701 00:40:32,177 --> 00:40:33,826 The third scene was Leonard Lake talking to, 702 00:40:33,826 --> 00:40:37,592 uh, Kathy Allen when I'm not on the property at all. 703 00:40:37,592 --> 00:40:42,215 The fourth scene is the Brenda O'Connor scene with Leonard Lake, me. 704 00:40:42,215 --> 00:40:47,189 That's basically the totality of the tapes. 705 00:40:47,189 --> 00:40:52,581 The tape that my daughter was on, it was a tape of torture. 706 00:40:52,581 --> 00:40:57,095 Mental torture and him cutting her clothes off 707 00:40:57,095 --> 00:41:02,971 and everything, had a truly big effect on the jury. 708 00:41:02,971 --> 00:41:06,491 The one juror still has nightmares, still hears my 709 00:41:06,491 --> 00:41:08,436 daughter's voice. 710 00:41:08,436 --> 00:41:11,861 And Brenda just wanted to know where her baby was, 711 00:41:11,861 --> 00:41:16,112 and they all sleep like a rock. 712 00:41:16,112 --> 00:41:17,751 And laughing at her. 713 00:41:17,751 --> 00:41:19,101 And making fun of her. 714 00:41:19,101 --> 00:41:21,958 And then when they had her strip down to take her to 715 00:41:21,958 --> 00:41:25,034 the shower, she got faint. 716 00:41:25,034 --> 00:41:27,437 And Leonard Lake is over there, fondling her and 717 00:41:27,437 --> 00:41:30,434 pretending to be nice to her and, oh, here, let me 718 00:41:30,434 --> 00:41:32,527 help you, and it just made me sick. 719 00:41:32,527 --> 00:41:36,065 It still makes me sick. 720 00:41:36,065 --> 00:41:37,829 Just, the tape only lasts, I mean, the segment that I 721 00:41:37,829 --> 00:41:41,051 was involved in only lasts, at the most, 20 minutes. 722 00:41:41,051 --> 00:41:44,507 And the prosecution tries to tell the jury that this 723 00:41:44,507 --> 00:41:49,045 20 minutes, this is the real Charles Ng. 724 00:41:49,045 --> 00:41:51,899 But there's no doubt that, that Charles Ng enjoyed 725 00:41:51,899 --> 00:41:53,998 what he did. 726 00:41:53,998 --> 00:41:56,860 And in his drawings, the cartoons that he produced, 727 00:41:56,860 --> 00:42:01,629 he does state in one of them, "No kill, no thrill," 728 00:42:01,629 --> 00:42:06,452 which would suggest that, for him, the enjoyment, 729 00:42:06,452 --> 00:42:09,272 what he got out of the behavior that is 730 00:42:09,272 --> 00:42:16,807 exhibited on M-Ladies was the thrill of control. 731 00:42:16,807 --> 00:42:19,482 The trial they had waited 14 years for lasted eight 732 00:42:19,482 --> 00:42:23,231 months, and in February 1999, the jury gave their 733 00:42:23,231 --> 00:42:26,390 verdicts on 12 counts of murder. 734 00:42:26,390 --> 00:42:29,086 For Sharon Sellitto, those verdicts proved a 735 00:42:29,086 --> 00:42:34,046 devastating end to her long fight for justice. 736 00:42:34,046 --> 00:42:37,078 Before they ever even started, my mother was 737 00:42:37,078 --> 00:42:41,352 sitting there with her hands in her lap, 738 00:42:41,352 --> 00:42:46,113 turned up, and the tears were just running down her face 739 00:42:46,113 --> 00:42:54,989 and filling up her hands, and the court clerk got up 740 00:42:54,989 --> 00:42:59,630 and read the verdicts. 741 00:42:59,630 --> 00:43:01,619 We, the jury, in the above entitled case, 742 00:43:01,619 --> 00:43:05,430 find the defendant, Charles Chi-Tat Ng, guilty... 743 00:43:09,230 --> 00:43:11,511 They go, you know, "Count one." 744 00:43:11,511 --> 00:43:13,410 and they go, "Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, 745 00:43:13,410 --> 00:43:15,360 guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty." 746 00:43:15,360 --> 00:43:16,969 and they'd say "Count two." 747 00:43:16,969 --> 00:43:20,152 and go "Guilty..." 748 00:43:20,152 --> 00:43:23,128 It was 11 murder one's. 749 00:43:23,128 --> 00:43:29,483 And a mistrial on Paul, and I couldn't take it. 750 00:43:29,483 --> 00:43:32,485 It was like 124 damn guilties and they couldn't 751 00:43:32,485 --> 00:43:37,006 do one stinking guilty for Paul? 752 00:43:37,006 --> 00:43:39,445 My name is David Douglass Bond, I'm the brother of 753 00:43:39,445 --> 00:43:42,674 Lonnie Wayne Bond, and the uncle of Lonnie Wayne, 754 00:43:42,674 --> 00:43:48,132 Jr. and, uh, brother-in-law of Brenda O'Connor. 755 00:43:48,132 --> 00:43:54,305 In '85, Mr. Ng took their lives by murder, rape, and pillage. 756 00:43:54,305 --> 00:43:57,167 Part of the punishment is listening to what you, to 757 00:43:57,167 --> 00:44:00,629 the havoc that you have caused, the pain that 758 00:44:00,629 --> 00:44:03,640 you've caused to the families, and that they 759 00:44:03,640 --> 00:44:05,866 are your victims, too. 760 00:44:05,866 --> 00:44:08,093 The baby was beautiful, and he loved his grandpa. 761 00:44:08,093 --> 00:44:10,044 He followed him all over. 762 00:44:10,044 --> 00:44:14,081 May God forgive me, but I want Charles Ng dead. 763 00:44:14,081 --> 00:44:16,516 Everybody in that courtroom, every family 764 00:44:16,516 --> 00:44:20,554 member was the victim of Charles Ng and Leonard Lake. 765 00:44:20,554 --> 00:44:24,178 I don't have any fancy speech to give you. 766 00:44:24,178 --> 00:44:26,784 I just wanted to come up here and stand before you 767 00:44:26,784 --> 00:44:30,364 and tell you that my sister was loved and is 768 00:44:30,364 --> 00:44:34,679 missed very, very much. 769 00:44:34,679 --> 00:44:38,375 There are times, many times, Dwight and I cling to, 770 00:44:38,375 --> 00:44:41,696 and hold each other, and silently scream for 771 00:44:41,696 --> 00:44:44,486 the unendurable loss of our youngest son. 772 00:44:44,486 --> 00:44:47,076 We sometimes cry for hours and hours with longing to 773 00:44:47,076 --> 00:44:50,280 see our dear son, Scott, again. 774 00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:52,955 No one should ever have to lose a child, especially 775 00:44:52,955 --> 00:44:55,755 in such a sadistic manner. 776 00:44:55,755 --> 00:45:00,983 Human beings deserve dignity in death. 777 00:45:00,983 --> 00:45:04,936 Deborah, Harvey and Sean Dubs, Kathleen Allen, 778 00:45:04,936 --> 00:45:09,617 Brenda O' Connor, Lonnie and Lonnie Bond Jr., 779 00:45:09,617 --> 00:45:13,452 Scott Stapley, Clifford Peranteu, Jeff Gerald, 780 00:45:13,452 --> 00:45:16,404 Michael Carroll, and my brother deserve to live. 781 00:45:16,404 --> 00:45:20,422 And Charles Ng, you deserve to die. 782 00:45:26,477 --> 00:45:29,058 Charles Chi Tat Ng, it is the judgment and sentence 783 00:45:29,058 --> 00:45:32,715 of this court that you shall be punished by death. 784 00:45:32,715 --> 00:45:35,863 This penalty shall be inflicted within the walls 785 00:45:35,863 --> 00:45:38,893 of the California State Prison in San Quentin, 786 00:45:38,893 --> 00:45:40,116 California. 787 00:45:40,116 --> 00:45:45,646 You may show up proud and fuck me, Judge. 788 00:45:45,646 --> 00:45:51,895 Let alone the case is, Mr. Ng.... 789 00:46:02,137 --> 00:46:05,748 Charles Ng is now on death row in San Quentin Prison. 790 00:46:05,748 --> 00:46:10,666 His execution is unlikely to happen within the next 15 years. 791 00:46:10,666 --> 00:46:15,387 Leonard Lake is dead and has never been punished. 792 00:46:15,387 --> 00:46:19,840 And Cricket Balazs is enjoying a new life in San Francisco. 793 00:46:25,387 --> 00:46:28,084 Most of the victims' families have no remains 794 00:46:28,084 --> 00:46:31,391 to bury and so have never been able to lay their 795 00:46:31,391 --> 00:46:35,003 loved ones to rest. 796 00:46:35,003 --> 00:46:39,387 Remarkably, some can draw hope from this terrible ordeal. 797 00:46:39,387 --> 00:46:41,354 There have been good things happen to us all 798 00:46:41,354 --> 00:46:42,550 the way through. 799 00:46:42,550 --> 00:46:44,242 You know, people are good. 800 00:46:44,242 --> 00:46:47,563 There's a saying that no matter how anything evil happens, 801 00:46:47,563 --> 00:46:50,347 good will come of it. 802 00:46:50,347 --> 00:46:54,282 And this has been just about as evil as anything can be, 803 00:46:54,282 --> 00:46:56,224 and everything we've had is just as good 804 00:46:56,224 --> 00:46:59,312 as anything could be.