The full story
It began as a simple shoplift. A police arrived to an enraged store owner ranting about how an Asian male had stolen some vise from the store and when the Asian male was confronted, he took off throwing the vise in the back of a bronze Honda. When the police had searched the vehicle, he found a .22-caliber revolver equipped with a silencer in trunk. A man then confronted the police officer saying that there had been a mistake and he was going to pay for the stolen vise. When the officer asked the man for his ID, he noticed that the license the man presented to him did not look like him. The name on the license reported his name as Robin Scott Stapley. The car was impounded and the man was taken to the police station. At the police station, the man had told them that the man that had stolen the vise was named Charles Ng. The man then collapsed in a seizure-like stage. The man was later pronounced dead. During autopsy they had found traces of cyanide in the man's system. They had also discover the man's identity. Leonard Lake, age 39, had taken his own life. Why would he have done this?
The car that was impounded from Lake was registered to Paul Cosner. The car was then searched; they found numerous IDs, credit cards, receipts, and a electric bill for a address in Wilseyville, California. The name on the bill was to a woman named Claralyn Balazs, Leonard Lake's ex-wife. She was no longer living their, but Leonard had been staying on the property and occasionally Charles Ng would stay as well.
When the police had gone to the house they noticed a small brick shed on the side of the house. Claralyn did not want them to search it, but they were aloud to look around in the house. One of the detectives had noticed straps on the bed and chairs nailed to the ground. The detective also noticed a video camera set up in the room. The video equipment was registered to the Dubs family.
After searching the house up and down numerous pieces of evidence were found. One of the items found was Lake's journal, where he wrote about his desire to relive the events that had happened in the book The Collector. The book The Collector is about a man who traps a woman in hope of making her love him. The detectives also found a few video tapes sitting down and decided to watch them. The video tapes showed rape and torture from the hands of Leonard Lake and Charles Ng. They searched the shed next. The shed contained a small room with one shelf with toiletries, a small bed, a list of rules on the wall, and a two way mirror. They put the pieces together: Lake was reliving the events that took place in the book.
The detectives began to search the ground for any traces of people. They then uncovered as man 10 pounds of bone fragments, and two full skeletons wrapped in sleeping bags. The remains added up to anywhere between 11- 25 people dead.
The car that was impounded from Lake was registered to Paul Cosner. The car was then searched; they found numerous IDs, credit cards, receipts, and a electric bill for a address in Wilseyville, California. The name on the bill was to a woman named Claralyn Balazs, Leonard Lake's ex-wife. She was no longer living their, but Leonard had been staying on the property and occasionally Charles Ng would stay as well.
When the police had gone to the house they noticed a small brick shed on the side of the house. Claralyn did not want them to search it, but they were aloud to look around in the house. One of the detectives had noticed straps on the bed and chairs nailed to the ground. The detective also noticed a video camera set up in the room. The video equipment was registered to the Dubs family.
After searching the house up and down numerous pieces of evidence were found. One of the items found was Lake's journal, where he wrote about his desire to relive the events that had happened in the book The Collector. The book The Collector is about a man who traps a woman in hope of making her love him. The detectives also found a few video tapes sitting down and decided to watch them. The video tapes showed rape and torture from the hands of Leonard Lake and Charles Ng. They searched the shed next. The shed contained a small room with one shelf with toiletries, a small bed, a list of rules on the wall, and a two way mirror. They put the pieces together: Lake was reliving the events that took place in the book.
The detectives began to search the ground for any traces of people. They then uncovered as man 10 pounds of bone fragments, and two full skeletons wrapped in sleeping bags. The remains added up to anywhere between 11- 25 people dead.
Conclusion
Charles Ng was eventually found and taken into custody. Unfortunately, he was taken into custody in a Canadian jail where they do not believe in the death penalty. It took 6 years to get Ng back to California. During that time Ng was studied the U.S. legal system. He uses his new knowledge to delay the trial whenever he had the chance. Because of this, it took 7 years to come to a conclusion for Charles Ng. He is still alive today but faces deaths row. Lake killed himself with a cyanide tablet the day he was brought into custody.
How were we affected by them?
"People are becoming paranoid. They are questioning who their neighbors are. They're locking their doors and shutting their blinds." -anonymous detective
Canada had realized from the Chalres Ng case that if they keep their "No death penalty" law than people that had killed would flee to Canada to avoid the death penalty. Canada now will send people back to their countries to receive charges.
Canada had realized from the Chalres Ng case that if they keep their "No death penalty" law than people that had killed would flee to Canada to avoid the death penalty. Canada now will send people back to their countries to receive charges.