The Complete Story of Charles Ng: The Wilseyville Killings
Introduction
Between 1984 and 1985, Charles Ng and Leonard Lake abducted people in Northern California and took some of them to a remote property near Wilseyville, California. There, prosecutors said, the men robbed, sexually assaulted, tortured, and murdered victims. Investigators later found human remains, victims’ belongings, weapons, videotapes, and a concealed bunker on the property.
The case came to light after Lake and Ng were stopped during a shoplifting incident in June 1985. Lake was arrested and died by suicide in custody before he could be tried. Ng fled to Canada, where he was arrested weeks later. After years of extradition proceedings, he was returned to California and convicted in 1999 of 11 murders. He was sentenced to death. In 2022, the California Supreme Court affirmed the judgment.
Ng’s trial established his responsibility for 11 murders: six men, three women, and two infant boys. Other missing people and unidentified remains have been discussed in connection with the case, but they should not be added to the confirmed victim count without reliable evidence. In 2025, investigators identified one set of remains recovered in Wilseyville as Reginald “Reggie” Frisby; authorities said the circumstances of his death were still being examined.
Early Life and Background
Born in Hong Kong
Charles Chitat Ng was born in Hong Kong in 1960. He moved to the United States as a young man and joined the U.S. Marine Corps. His military service ended in a dishonorable discharge after he was convicted of stealing weapons from the military. Ng later served time in a military prison and escaped custody before being apprehended again.
Accounts of Ng’s childhood and relationship with his father became part of his defense at trial. His attorneys argued that he had been physically abused and was vulnerable to Lake’s influence. Those claims were presented as part of the defense’s explanation for Ng’s behavior; they do not excuse the crimes established by the jury.
Meeting Leonard Lake
Ng met Lake in the early 1980s. Lake was older, had a property in Wilseyville, and was interested in survivalism, weapons, and building a bunker. Ng later testified that he looked up to Lake and trusted him. The prosecution presented evidence that Ng lived and worked with Lake and participated in the crimes; the defense argued that Lake was the dominant partner and sole killer in some cases.
Their relationship became central to the trial. Prosecutors portrayed them as partners who planned abductions and shared responsibility for the killings. Ng’s defense tried to separate his role from Lake’s, arguing that Ng had been manipulated and did not know the full purpose of Lake’s plans. Jurors evaluated those competing accounts against physical evidence, witness testimony, videotapes, and statements Ng made while in custody.
The Wilseyville Property and Bunker
A Remote Site
Lake’s property near Wilseyville was remote, wooded, and difficult to search. A bunker on the property contained three rooms, including two hidden spaces behind a concealed doorway. One hidden room was furnished; another was a small, locked enclosure with a narrow bed, a bucket, toilet paper, and a lamp. The door could be opened only from the outside.
Investigators found the bunker after Lake’s arrest led them to the property. Its hidden rooms, along with restraints, weapons, videotapes, and victims’ possessions, became important evidence in the prosecution. The bunker supported the account that at least some victims had been confined there, though the precise history of every room and every item had to be established through the trial record.
Evidence of Captivity and Concealment
Investigators searched the property for five weeks and found thousands of bone and tooth fragments. Forensic anthropologists concluded that the recovered fragments represented at least four adults, one child, and one infant. Many fragments showed signs of burning. Police also found personal property linked to missing people, including items from the Dubs family and other victims.
The evidence showed that the property had been used to conceal crimes and destroy or hide remains. It did not immediately identify every person represented by the fragments. Some identities remained unresolved for decades, and investigators continued using forensic methods to identify victims after Ng’s conviction.
The Victims
The Dubs Family
Harvey Dubs, his wife Deborah, and their 16-month-old son Sean disappeared from their San Francisco apartment in July 1984. Harvey had advertised video equipment for sale and told a coworker that he was meeting a prospective buyer. A neighbor later saw a man matching Ng’s description leaving the apartment with bags.
The disappearance initially had no clear connection to the other missing-person cases. Investigators found a VCR from the Dubs home at Lake’s Wilseyville property after Lake’s arrest. Evidence presented at trial linked Ng to the family’s apartment and to the removal of their possessions. Ng was convicted of murdering Harvey, Deborah, and Sean.
Paul Cosner
Paul Cosner disappeared in November 1984 after telling his girlfriend that he was going to deliver a car he planned to sell. The gold Honda Prelude he owned was later used by Lake and Ng. Police discovered the vehicle during the shoplifting investigation that led to Lake’s arrest.
Cosner’s disappearance helped connect the suspects to missing people, but the jury did not convict Ng of his murder. Jurors could not reach a verdict on that count. The distinction is important: investigators connected Cosner’s car to the case, but Ng’s conviction did not include a murder finding for Cosner.
Clifford Peranteau
Clifford Peranteau worked with Ng at a moving company. He disappeared in January 1985 after Ng had approached him about a job connected to Lake’s property. After Peranteau vanished, his employer received a letter that appeared to be from him, saying he had left for a new job. Investigators later determined that the letter had been typed on a machine found at Wilseyville, and evidence indicated that Lake had forged it.
Police found Peranteau’s belongings at locations connected to Lake and Ng. A former inmate later testified that Ng had described Peranteau’s killing and his efforts to conceal it. Ng was convicted of Peranteau’s murder.
Jeffrey Gerald
Jeffrey Gerald, another employee at the moving company, disappeared in February 1985 after telling his roommate he was going to help someone move for pay. Ng had contacted Gerald before the disappearance. Investigators later found Gerald’s guitar at the Wilseyville property and his Social Security card buried there.
Testimony at trial linked Ng to Gerald’s disappearance and death. Ng was convicted of Gerald’s murder. The case reflected a recurring pattern in which a promised job or moving opportunity brought a victim into contact with the men.
Michael Carroll and Kathleen Allen
Michael Carroll and Kathleen Allen disappeared in April 1985. Allen worked at a Safeway in Milpitas and was told that Carroll had been injured and that someone would take her to him. She left work with a man in a car associated with Lake and Ng. She later contacted a friend and sounded frightened, saying that the man with her was strange and wanted to take photographs.
A videotape recovered from the Wilseyville property showed Allen restrained and threatened. The men demanded information about Carroll’s finances and attempted to make her help conceal his disappearance. Evidence at trial connected Ng to the captivity and deaths of both Allen and Carroll. Ng was convicted of both murders.
Lonnie Bond, Brenda O’Connor, and Their Infant Son
Lonnie Bond Sr., his fiancée Brenda O’Connor, and their infant son, Lonnie Bond Jr., lived in a house next to Lake’s Wilseyville property. Their friend Robin Scott Stapley also visited them. The family and Stapley disappeared in April 1985.
Lake later told Stapley’s girlfriend that he had found the family dead and had burned their bodies. Investigators found Bond Sr. and Stapley buried near the property. Videotapes showed O’Connor held captive and pleading for information about her family. Ng was convicted of murdering Bond Sr., Bond Jr., O’Connor, and Stapley.
Other Missing People and Unidentified Remains
The investigation uncovered remains that were difficult to identify and evidence suggesting that additional victims might be connected to the property. Ng was initially charged with more murders than the 11 for which he was convicted. Some disappearances were linked to the men through vehicles, possessions, witness testimony, or forensic evidence, while other suspected cases remained unresolved.
In January 2025, the Calaveras County Cold Case Task Force announced that remains recovered in 1985 had been identified as Reginald “Reggie” Frisby. Authorities said Frisby had not previously been considered a possible victim in the case and that the circumstances of his death were still being investigated. His identification adds a name to the record, but it does not by itself establish that Ng was responsible for his death.
Investigation and Arrest
The Lumber-Store Incident
On June 2, 1985, Ng was seen leaving a lumber store in South San Francisco with a vise he had not paid for. A reserve police officer followed him to a vehicle. Lake approached the officer and tried to explain the situation, while Ng walked away.
Police searched the vehicle and found the stolen vise, a firearm, and a silencer. The car was associated with a missing person, Paul Cosner. Lake gave police a false identity and was arrested on weapons charges. While in custody, he swallowed cyanide. He died in hospital several days later, before investigators had found the full extent of the crimes.
The Wilseyville Search
Investigators traced the vehicle and other items to Lake’s property near Wilseyville. A search uncovered property belonging to missing people, the concealed bunker, weapons, videotapes, and human remains. The investigation involved four law-enforcement agencies and continued for five weeks.
Police also searched Ng’s San Francisco apartment and found belongings associated with victims, ammunition, and photographs of the bunker under construction. By then, Ng had fled. Investigators issued a nationwide and international search for him.
Flight to Canada and Extradition
Ng fled to Canada after Lake’s arrest. On July 6, 1985, he was arrested in Calgary after a shoplifting incident in which a store security guard was shot and wounded. He served a Canadian sentence while California sought his extradition on murder charges.
Ng fought extradition for six years, arguing that he should not be returned to California without assurances that he would not face execution. Canadian courts ultimately permitted his extradition, and he was returned to California in September 1991. The years of legal proceedings delayed the start of his murder trial.
Trial and Conviction
A Lengthy Prosecution
Ng’s trial began in Orange County in September 1998 after the case was moved from Calaveras County because of pretrial publicity. The prosecution presented evidence from the Wilseyville property, witness identifications, victims’ possessions, videotapes, and testimony about Ng’s statements to a fellow inmate.
The trial was one of California’s longest and most expensive murder prosecutions at the time. It followed years of extradition litigation, pretrial motions, disputes over Ng’s competency and representation, and a change of venue. The jury returned its verdicts in February 1999.
The Defense
Ng’s defense argued that Lake had been the dominant figure and that Ng was under his influence. Ng testified that he believed Lake’s bunker was intended as a survival shelter and said he did not know Lake planned to keep women captive there. The defense also tried to assign responsibility for some killings to Lake alone.
The prosecution countered with evidence of Ng’s participation in the crimes, including his presence in victims’ homes, possession of their property, involvement in their captivity, and statements about the killings. Jurors had to assess Ng’s account against this evidence and the testimony of witnesses who described his role.
The Verdict and Death Sentence
On February 24, 1999, the jury convicted Ng of 11 counts of first-degree murder: the killings of Harvey, Deborah, and Sean Dubs; Clifford Peranteau; Jeffrey Gerald; Michael Carroll; Kathleen Allen; Lonnie Bond Sr.; Lonnie Bond Jr.; Robin Scott Stapley; and Brenda O’Connor. The jury found a multiple-murder special circumstance and later returned a death verdict.
The jury did not reach a verdict on the charge involving Paul Cosner. Ng’s conviction therefore covers 11 murders, not every disappearance associated with Lake and Ng. The California Supreme Court reviewed the case and affirmed the conviction and death sentence in 2022.
Psychological Profile and Role
Ng’s Relationship with Lake
At trial, the defense described Ng as dependent on Lake and subject to his influence. Witnesses testified that Lake could be domineering and verbally abusive toward Ng. The prosecution, however, argued that Ng was not simply an unwilling follower: evidence showed him participating in abductions and captivity, using victims’ property, and helping conceal the crimes.
The jury’s verdict rejected the defense’s effort to absolve Ng of the 11 murders. The verdict does not mean the two men had identical roles in every incident; it means jurors found Ng guilty of the specific murder counts presented and supported at trial.
Planning and Concealment
The evidence showed the use of false job offers, stolen vehicles, forged letters, victims’ financial information, and isolated locations. These actions helped the men gain access to victims and delay discovery when people disappeared. The bunker and the destruction or burial of remains were part of a broader effort to conceal the crimes.
These are behavioral observations based on the court record, not a psychiatric diagnosis. Popular accounts sometimes use clinical labels or assert a precise division of psychological roles between Lake and Ng, but the evidence supports a more careful description: they committed a series of planned crimes together, and the jury found Ng responsible for 11 murders.
Current Status and Appeals
Ng remains on California’s death row. In 2022, the California Supreme Court unanimously rejected his automatic appeal and upheld both his convictions and death sentence. The court concluded that the trial was fair and that his extradition from Canada was lawful.
California has a gubernatorial moratorium on executions, so the sentence has not been carried out. The moratorium does not erase the judgment; it suspends executions under the governor’s policy while it remains in effect. Ng may continue to pursue further legal review through available appeals.
Legacy and Unresolved Questions
Identifying the Victims
One of the most difficult tasks in the case has been identifying all the remains recovered at Wilseyville. The remains were burned, fragmented, or buried in ways that complicated forensic identification. Advances in DNA analysis have since helped investigators revisit evidence that could not be resolved in the 1980s and 1990s.
The identification of Reginald Frisby in 2025 demonstrates the value of continued cold-case work. Investigators have not publicly established that every unidentified person found at the property was murdered by Ng, and each identification or suspected connection requires its own evidence.
Remembering the Victims
The bunker, videotapes, and criminal partnership have often dominated coverage of the case. Yet the central loss was the lives of 11 people whose murders were proved at Ng’s trial, along with the families and communities left without answers. Some of the victims were targeted through ordinary contacts—a proposed sale, a job, a ride, or a promise of help—before being taken to a remote location.
Accurate reporting should keep the victims’ identities and the limits of the evidence in view. Ng was convicted of 11 murders; Lake died before trial; the Cosner count ended without a verdict; and other possible victims remain subjects of investigation rather than confirmed additions to the conviction total.
Conclusion
Charles Ng was convicted of participating in 11 murders committed with Leonard Lake in Northern California. The crimes were exposed after a shoplifting investigation led police from a stolen vehicle to Lake’s Wilseyville property, where investigators found a concealed bunker, victims’ belongings, videotapes, and human remains.
Ng’s trial centered on how much responsibility he bore and whether Lake had controlled or manipulated him. Jurors found Ng guilty of 11 first-degree murders, and the California Supreme Court upheld the judgment and death sentence in 2022. The case remains partly unresolved because not all remains have been identified and investigators continue to assess possible connections.
The clearest account separates the verdict from allegations that were never proved in court. Ng was convicted of 11 murders; Lake was never tried; and the broader victim count remains uncertain. Continued forensic work may identify additional victims, but each new finding must be evaluated on its own evidence.
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