Ng Smirks as Canadian Judge Rules on Evidence

EDMONTON, Canada —  Accused mass murderer Charles Ng smirked Tuesday as a Canadian judge ruled that there is enough evidence to extradite the ex-Marine to California, where he could face the death penalty.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Marguerite Trussler said Ng, a 27-year-old drifter wanted in connection with 12 sex-torture slayings in Northern California, could be sent back to the United States on 19 of the 25 charges against him.

Lesser charges, including accessory after murder and conspiracy to kidnap, are not extraditable offenses.

As Trussler recounted the crimes, Ng sat smirking, his hands chained to his waist.

Ng is wanted in California to stand trial on 12 counts of murder, two of conspiracy to murder, six counts of kidnaping and lesser charges.

He and another man, Leonard Lake, were accused in several slayings at Lake’s remote cabin in Calaveras County, about 120 miles east of San Francisco. Lake killed himself while in police custody after being arrested for shoplifting in San Francisco in June, 1985, and Ng became the focus of an international manhunt.

Police found the remains of at least 12 people at Lake’s 2 1/2-acre mountain retreat, along with 45 pounds of charred bones, weapons, bloody tools and videotapes of sexual torture. Authorities say women were forced to be sex slaves and then murdered.

Trussler told Ng he had 15 days to appeal her ruling, but his lawyer, Don MacLeod, successfully asked for an additional eight days. Ng will be held at the Edmonton Maximum Security Institution during that time.

Trussler will send her report to Canada’s yet-to-be-named justice minister, who must decide whether to extradite Ng, allow him to remain in Canada or try to send him back to the United States with assurances that he would not receive the death penalty if convicted.

Death Penalty Exemption

Article 6 of the Canada-U.S. Extradition Treaty, signed in 1971, allows Canada to refuse to extradite a person unless the requesting state promises not to impose or carry out the death penalty.

In May, California Gov. George Deukmejian wrote to Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney asking him to return Ng and cautioning that Canada could become “a haven for death-penalty fugitives.”

In Sacramento, Deukmejian told a press conference he was pleased to learn that Ng is closer to extradition and urged Canadian authorities “to move as expeditiously as possible to dispose of expected legal challenges” by the accused mass murderer’s defense counsel.

Deukmejian said Ng has the right to contest the judge’s ruling in a habeas corpus proceeding, and the right to appeal to Canada’s higher courts.

“My satisfaction is tempered by the fact that it will be months, if not years, before Charles Ng is returned to face justice in California,” the governor said. “There are few crimes in modern times that are as heinous as the atrocities attributed to Charles Ng.”

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Deukmejian also noted that Californians twice have voted in favor of capital punishment for convicted murderers. “It is the law in this state,” he said, “and certainly we would be expecting to follow that law.”

Deukmejian said it was hypothetical and premature to speculate whether Canada would use its option to prevent Ng’s extradition on grounds that he faces the death penalty.