Paul Cosner and Robin Stapley
The FBI, meanwhile had determined that Charles Ng had taken a flight from San Francisco to Chicago but they were unable to ascertain where he had gone from there. After a check of his background, they found that he came from Hong Kong, had sisters in Toronto and Calgary, an uncle in Yorkshire, England and former Marine friends in Hawaii. They were aware that, with sufficient funds and several days' lead, Ng could be in any of four locations. To assist in the search, they contacted Interpol and Scotland Yard and distributed Ng's description worldwide.
On the fourth day of the search, Doctor Stephens arrived at the site and informed Ballard that the bones found near the driveway, were definitely human. Shortly after he arrived, another bone was found which appeared to have been cut neatly on both ends by a saw or similar cutting tool. As the search progressed, numerous items were unearthed from various locations. In the trench that ran from the bunker to the entry road, police found a plastic bag containing a letter addressed to Charles Ng and a receipt in the name of Harvey Dubs. Next they unearthed a shirt with the name "Scott" embroidered on it. Literally hundreds of items, which had to be painstakingly photographed and held for analysis, were removed from the site.
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Paul Cosner and Robin Stapley |
It wasn't until the fifth day that the first bodies were found. The skeletal remains of two people seemed to be complete but the bones had been sawn into sections and badly burned. Ironically, at 8.00pm on the same day the skeletons were found, doctors at Kaiser Permanente Hospital switched off Leonard Lake's life support - he died within seconds. |
Later, a sealed five gallon bucket was uncovered which contained a cheque book in the name of Robin Scott Stapley, jewellery, credit cards, driver's licences, wallets and two videotapes without labels and a third marked "M. Ladies Kathy/Brenda."
 Kathleen Allen |
The first two videos were later viewed, the first showing Lake and Balasz at a Thanksgiving dinner. On the second, Lake had been filmed discussing his greatest fantasy - kidnapping a woman and enslaving her. The third video was the most disturbing, it showed a young woman, identified only as Kathy, changed to a chair and later forced to perform a striptease while being taunted by two men, Lake and Ng. In another part of the video, Ng could be seen clearly cavorting on a bed with Kathy while Lake took still photographs. |
The young woman was later identified as eighteen-year-old Kathy Allen, a clerk at a supermarket in Milpitas. Allen was apparently lured to the site by Lake who told her that her boyfriend had been shot. Police later revealed that Allen's boyfriend, a known drug dealer named Michael Sean Carroll, had been Ng's cellmate in Leavenworth.
 Brenda O'Connor, Lonnie Bond and Lonnie Jr. |
The tape also included footage of another young woman named Brenda, which showed her begging for information regarding her baby. In answer, Lake tells her "Your baby is sound asleep, like a rock." Eventually, when the constant barrage of taunts and threats breaks her resolve, Brenda agrees to cooperate. Later in the tape she can be heard taking a shower with both men. |
The second victim shown on the tape was nineteen-year-old Brenda O'Connor, Lake's next-door neighbour. Police believe that her common-law husband Lonnie Bond and their baby, Lonnie Jr. were murdered by Lake and Ng prior to the tape being made.
As the search progressed, the searchers uncovered a partial skull, another plastic bucket containing personal items and a complete, albeit burned body. Within minutes four more bodies, including that of a child, were uncovered. Two were female, the other a black male. A short time later another plastic container and a long twelve-inch diameter metal tube were unearthed. Inside the container, police found 1,863 silver dollars, more wallets and credit cards. The tube contained a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. In another search of a mound of freshly dug earth some distance from the cabin, two more bodies were uncovered; both had been killed by a single, small calibre bullet to the head. The bunker was later completely demolished in the search for more bodies.
As the search wound down, the bodies of seven men, three women, two baby boys and forty-five pounds of bone fragments had been recovered, along with numerous amounts of property belonging to the deceased.
 The Dubs family |
In all, police found evidence suggesting that up to twenty-five people, who had previously been reported missing, may have been murdered in or around the Wilseyville compound but the fact that most of the bodies had been cut up, burnt and scattered around the site made identification extremely difficult. Eventually, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Charles Chitat Ng for twelve murders. |
The victims would eventually be identified as Kathleen Allen, her boyfriend Michael Carroll, Robin Scott Stapley, Randy Johnson, Charles "The Fat Man" Gunnar (Lakes best man), Donald Lake (Leonard's brother), Paul Cosner, (the owner of the Honda), Brenda O'Connor, Lonnie Bond Snr., Lonnie Bond Jr., (Lakes next door neighbours) and Harvey Dubs, Deborah Dubs and Sean Dubs (the Dubs family had been abducted and killed after Ng and Lake went to their house in relation to audio equipment that Harvey Dubs had advertised for sale).
    Carroll, Johnson, Gunnar and Lake |
While Sheriff Ballard and his team were working twelve hours a day to unearth the grisly secrets of the Wilseyville compound, the FBI were gathering additional information on one of the people believed to be responsible for the carnage, Charles Chitat Ng.
 Charles Ng |
They learned that Ng had been born in Hong Kong on December 24, 1961. The son of a wealthy businessman, he was given every opportunity life could offer but Charlie developed a rebellious streak at a young age and was expelled from several schools. Anxious for his son to change his ways, his father sent him to a boarding school in Yorkshire England where he would be under the protection of his uncle, who was a teacher at the school. |
After a short time at the new school, Charles was caught stealing from other students and a local department store and was, once again, expelled.
