A Long Way to Death Row

In 1985 Leonard Lake and Charles Chi-tat Ng were suspected of killing over a dozen people. All this only came to light after both of them were caught for shoplifting in South San Francisco and Lake, rather than face being imprisoned, committed suicide. Charles Ng fled to Canada to avoid getting arrested and became a fugitive. After this happened, Ng was instantly labeled as the son from Hell, a sadistic monster, a killing machine and a cold-blooded killer who microwaved a baby. A six-year legal battle between Canada and the United States ended in September 1991 with Ng’s extradition to California to face trial on 12 murder charges. Incarcerated in Canada, Ng educated himself about American laws so that he was able to manipulate the legal system to delay his trial, which finally began in October, 1998. Millions of taxpayer dollars were spent bringing Ng to justice. In July, 1999 Charles Chi-Tat Ng was convicted of murdering eleven people (six men, three women, and two babies) in one of California’s most gruesome, terrifying, torture killing sprees. Conducting a series of interviews inside the walls of California State Prison at Folsom while Charles Ng awaited trial, and later at San Quentin Prison Valerie Lee asked the questions that everyone wanted to ask and heard the answers that Ng gave or evaded.