Families of Wah Mee Massacre victims may speak up on parole

Relatives of the victims of the 1983 Wah Mee Massacre are expected to testify before the state parole board today in an effort to keep one of three men responsible for the city's worst mass slaying from being released from prison within a few years.

Their testimony will be weighed by the state's Indeterminate Sentence Review Board, or parole board, as part of Wai-Chiu "Tony" Ng's second attempt to begin serving the last of his 14 assault and robbery counts. If the board agrees to let Ng begin serving the sentence on his final count — for first-degree robbery — the clock will start winding down toward his possible release.

Ng could be released from prison as early as 2014, or he could spend up to life in prison depending on what the board decides, said Betsy Hollingsworth, a sentencing board member.

Three years ago, the victims' families broke years of silence when they testified against Ng's release as the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board first considered letting Ng begin serving his final count. The board ruled that Ng hadn't been rehabilitated and denied paroling him to the last criminal count.

"Even if we do decide to parole him, he will simply be serving on that last count," said Hollingsworth, who will be present for today's hearing. "This is not a question of him getting out at this point."

Ng was convicted of 13 counts of first-degree robbery and one count of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to a minimum of five years in prison for most of each of the robbery counts.

While Ng's two co-defendants were convicted of murder and are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole, a trial jury acquitted Ng of murder — making him eligible for parole.

Because Ng was sentenced under the state's old sentencing guidelines, he was ordered to serve some of the sentences concurrently and some consecutively. As Ng completed sentences for each count, he began serving time for the next.

The hearing at the Beacon Hill Library will offer victims' families and community members a chance to speak to the board about Ng, Hollingsworth said. Ng is expected to speak to the board when they travel to the McNeil Island Corrections Center, where Ng is incarcerated, on Jan. 13, Hollingworth said.

Ng's lawyer, Michael Kahrs, did not return a call for comment Thursday.

King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said Ng should have to serve nearly 40 more years behind bars.

"He has gotten enough breaks already, and he needs to go spend the amount of time he would get if he was convicted today," said Satterberg, referring to the sentence Ng would likely receive under present state sentencing laws.

If convicted of the same crimes today, Ng would face a standard sentencing range of 80 to 84 years in prison, Satterberg said.

The Wah Mee massacre remains the deadliest homicide spree in Seattle history.

On Feb. 18, 1983, three men entered the exclusive gambling and social club in Seattle's Chinatown International District and bound, robbed and shot 14 people. Only one person survived.

Ng fled to Canada after the massacre, and became the focus of an international manhunt and was featured on the FBI's most-wanted list. He was found in Calgary, Alberta.

The other two defendants, Kwan Fai "Willie" Mak and Benjamin Ng (no relation to Tony Ng), were convicted of multiple counts of murder and are serving life sentences without possibility of parole.

When the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board last heard from relatives of the victims in 2006 they were presented with tearful accounts from children and siblings who remain heartbroken and in agony after more than two decades.

"It is a very fresh wound for the family members who lost a loved one and also for the whole community," Satterberg said. "The whole Chinatown International District Community hasn't moved past this."

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com