“Operation Miranda” | The Story of Leonard Lake & Charles Ng
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John Callas spent 28 years as a reserve officer with the San Francisco Police Department. He knows a shoplifter when he sees one. On June 2, 1985, John entered a hardware store in southern San Francisco. Immediately, he spotted a skittish Chinese man holding a large vice clamp. The clamp was cumbersome, not the kind of thing one could easily steal. Nonetheless, the kleptomaniac tried walking out the door without paying.

John followed him and tried to stop the Chinese man as he opened the trunk of his gold Honda. The Chinese man dropped the vice and ran. When John looked in the trunk, he spotted a silenced .22 caliber pistol. "What the hell is going on?" he thought to himself. Just then, a bearded man calling himself Scott Stapley approached John and explained the misunderstanding. He offered to pay for the vice, but John was more concerned about the gun.

John detained Mr. Stapley until more SFPD officers could arrive. Officer Daniel Wright ran the Honda's license plate. It was registered to 27-year-old Lonnie Bond, a San Francisco man who'd been missing since mid-April. As for the gun, it was registered to Robin Scott Stapley, the bearded man standing before them. But that was impossible. Robin Stapley had gone missing around the same time as Lonnie Bond,

He was also a 26-year-old, clean-shaven man. The man standing before them looked more like a disheveled Matt Hooper from Jaws. Finally, the Honda's VIN came back as a match for 39-year-old Paul Costner, who'd been missing since November of 1984. The man standing before them, claiming to be Scott Stapley, was instantly tied to three missing people in the San Francisco area. Unfortunately, the police wouldn't get much out of him.

As he sat in the interrogation room, he ate a cyanide pill sewn into his clothing. He never regained consciousness and died days later. Was this guy some sort of Russian spy? Was his Chinese friend reporting back to the CCP? Or was there something more homegrown going on? The dead man was formally identified as 39-year-old Leonard Lake, a fugitive wanted on weapons charges since 1982.

The Chinese man was 25-year-old Charles Ng, a Hong Kong-born kleptomaniac who had been dishonorably discharged from the US Marine Corps. Together, they were a sadistic, serial-killing duo that murdered upwards of 25 people in the early 1980s.

They liked abducting families, killing the husbands and children, and then keeping the women as their personal sex slaves. They were survivalists who believed that nuclear war was imminent. They built and lived out of a bunker in Willsieville, California, a secluded community in the mountains east of Sacramento.

but their bunker quickly turned into a torture chamber. Leonard wanted an obedient woman to survive the end times with. We'd tell you his demands, but perhaps it's better if Leonard explains them himself. - What I want is an off-the-shelf sex partner. I want to be able to use a woman whenever and however I want. And when I'm tired or bored or not interested, I simply want to put her away, lock her up in a little room,

Slaves, there's no way around it. Primarily a sexual slave, but nonetheless a physical slave as well. I believe that I can, if I can construct

a holding cell, a place where I can put such a woman. A facility that is so stark and so empty, so cold, so quiet, so totally removed from the world, that I can quickly condition a young woman to cooperate with me fully.

This was one of several video diaries recovered from Leonard and Charles' Willsieville property. Using stolen video equipment, they recorded everything from monologues to snuff films. The worst footage was lost after Leonard's ex-wife, Claralyn Balazs, nicknamed "Cricket", destroyed them before police arrived. They believe she was involved in Leonard and Charles' crimes. Yet she never spent a day in jail.

She was granted immunity after helping police search the property and prosecute Charles Ng. As of 2025, it's believed she's remarried and living somewhere in the US. How could she have sat idly by, blissfully unaware that Leonard and Charles were abducting women, torturing them, raping them, and keeping them as sex slaves? How did these two unlikely friends become the most sadistic serial killing duo in 1980s America?

Part 1: Worlds Apart Leonard Lake and Charles Ng grew up on opposite ends of the earth. Leonard was born in San Francisco in October of 1945. He was the oldest among his siblings, which included two younger sisters below him. His parents divorced when Leonard was six. He and the girls went to live with their maternal grandmother, who may have helped push Leonard towards his depraved lifestyle.

According to reports, Leonard was a bright kid with a crippling porn addiction. He'd take naked photographs of his sisters and eventually began abusing them. His grandmother allegedly encouraged the behavior. Some sources claim Leonard liked to kill mice and dissolve them in acid. He'd use the same technique later in life to dispose of human remains. Leonard joined the US Marine Corps after high school.

He served two tours of duty in Vietnam as a radar tech, but never saw any live combat. During the war, Leonard developed Schizoid Personality Disorder and was treated twice at psychiatric hospitals. The Marines issued him a medical discharge after he suffered a delusional breakdown.

Back home, Leonard threw himself into the San Francisco hippie movement. He got married and joined a commune, but his wife left him after she discovered he was making and appearing in amateur porn. As a hippie, she may have been okay with it if the movies didn't involve bondage and sadomasochism. Leonard spent the next eight years living on a 5,600-acre settlement near the Russian River in Northern California.

In 1977, he met his future wife, Cricket, at a Renaissance fair. Unlike his first wife, Cricket was gung-ho about Leonard's porn obsession. She appeared in many of his movies and wasn't afraid to try anything. Across the Pacific Ocean, Charles Ng's father was tying him up and beating him with a stick. They were a wealthy family from Hong Kong, China. Unlike Leonard, Charles was the youngest of three children.

He often caught the brunt of his father's wrath. The elder Ng thought he was putting Charles on the straight and narrow. He thought it was normal. He couldn't have been more wrong. As a teenager, Charles developed a penchant for shoplifting. At 15, he was expelled from school and sent to live at a boarding school in North Yorkshire, England. Partway through the semester, Charles was caught stealing from other students and shipped back to Hong Kong.

Charles came to the US on a student visa in 1978. He studied biology in California, but dropped out after his first semester. Some reports claim that Charles was involved in a hit-and-run accident and joined the Marine Corps to avoid prosecution. Other sources say he was fascinated with American war movies and was recruited in San Francisco, despite not being a citizen or a permanent resident. The army tried to do what Charles' father couldn't.

put the young Chinese man on the straight and narrow. They failed just as miserably. Charles rejected discipline. He described himself as a "ninja warrior" and bragged about his ability to kill anybody in hand-to-hand combat. His fellow Marines nicknamed him "Bruce Lee" and avoided him at all costs. While stationed in Hawaii in October of 1979, Charles' need to steal got the better of him.

He and a few accomplices attempted to swipe $11,000 worth of weapons from the armory. They made off with three automatic rifles, seven revolvers, a night vision scope, and several grenade launchers. Thankfully, Charles didn't make it far. During questioning and a psychiatric evaluation, he boasted about assassinating somebody in California. He also claimed to have laced the salt shakers in the mess hall with cyanide.

Allegedly, Charles told the doctor that he had fired a grenade launcher at his staff sergeant, attempting to kill him. "Damn the luck," Charles said. "The grenade was a dud." Facing court martial and a hefty jail time, Charles fled the base and made it back to California. That's when he spotted an ad in a survivalist magazine posted by Leonard Lake. Charles answered the ad, and the two became a match made in hell. They lived together in a mobile home near the hippie commune.

When they weren't prepping for doomsday or watching pornography, Leonard and Charles were stockpiling automatic weapons. Meanwhile, Cricket worked as a school teacher, but was allegedly fired after teaching the kids how to make explosives. In 1982, federal agents raided their home and arrested Leonard and Charles on illegal firearms charges. Leonard posted his $6,000 bail and skipped town.

It's around this time that many believe Leonard killed his first victim. His brother, Donald Blake, was struck by a train when he was younger. He survived, but the accident left him mentally disabled. Leonard hated him for it, as Donald's disability earned him more attention from their mother and grandparents. According to Cricket, Leonard referred to Donald as a leech who didn't deserve to live. Sources say they got along like Dracula and sunlight.

That's why it seemed strange when, in December of 1982, Leonard asked Donald to accompany him on a house-sitting gig. Leonard returned on New Year's Day in 1983, but Donald was gone. When their mother asked what happened, Leonard said that Donald had ditched him to live with drug dealers in Reno, Nevada. Meanwhile, Leonard stole Donald's identity and began cashing his disability checks.

He and Cricket used the money to move to a remote area in Willsieville, California, where her parents owned a small cabin. Meanwhile, Charles was turned over to the military police after his 1982 arrest. He pleaded guilty to theft and desertion and was sent to the disciplinary barracks at Fort Leavenworth. He was paroled and dishonorably discharged in 1984.

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and an average sales boost of 8.9%. Ready to transform your retail experience? Head to shopify.com slash crimehub, all lowercase, and learn how to create the best retail experiences without complexity. Shopify.com slash crimehub. Part two, Operation Miranda. Leonard Lake's favorite book was The Collector by John Foles. It's about a lonely butterfly collector's obsession with a young London art student named Miranda.

He kidnaps Miranda to add her to his collection of pretty and preserved objects, hoping that she'll eventually learn to love him. But, unlike Leonard, the main character in The Collector never sexually abuses Miranda. Still, the idea fascinated Leonard. He wanted his own personal sex slave, somebody he could keep on the shelf and take down whenever he got bored. But such a plan would cost money, lots of money.

Leonard needed supplies to build his bunker and a means to transport them. Donald's disability checks only got him so far. So, Leonard betrayed someone else he was allegedly close to. Charlie Gunner was the best man at Leonard and Cricket's 1981 wedding. In May of 1983, Leonard invited his 34-year-old friend on a road trip to Las Vegas. Charlie was down on his luck. He'd just gotten divorced and could use a weekend of relaxation.

Unfortunately, this made him a prime target. Leonard returned alone, driving Charlie's van. When others asked where Charlie was, Leonard said he'd run off with another woman. Leonard stole Charlie's identity and began cashing his government checks as well. From then on, Leonard introduced himself as Charlie Gunner to most new people. The only ones who knew him as Leonard Lake were likely Cricket and Charles Ng.

Charles Ng linked up with Leonard upon leaving Leavenworth in 1984. They lived together with Cricket in Willsieville, converting the property into a doomsday bunker and torture chamber. In his diary, Leonard wrote about collecting sex slaves to serve his needs when the nukes finally dropped. He called the idea "Operation Miranda," referring to the collector.

women were objects to Leonard. They were lesser than him and should be subservient. He wrote, "God meant women for cooking, cleaning, and sex. And when they are not in use, they should be locked up." One of his often repeated mottos was, "If you love something, let it go. If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it." Assuming Charles Ng's assassination story isn't true, his first victims were two gay men from San Francisco.

Donald Giulietti was an openly gay radio DJ who'd recently put an ad in the classifieds offering oral sex. On July 11th, 1984, Donald was awaiting a visitor in an apartment he shared with his friend and possible lover, Richard Carrazza. Charles knocked and drew a pistol as soon as Donald answered.

He shot Donald in the head and immediately turned the gun on Richard, shooting him in the chest. Charles fled the scene, believing that both men were dead. According to Cricket, he came home that night boasting about killing two homosexuals. But Richard wasn't dead. He had enough life left to reach the phone and call the police. He's the only known survivor of Leonard Lake and Charles Ng's murder spree and played a crucial role in convicting Charles years later.

It's unclear why Charles killed Giulietti and attempted to kill Richard. Perhaps it was some kind of initiation into Leonard's fantasy world. If it was, then Charles passed the test. Now that they were both willing to kill, it was time to put Operation Miranda into full effect. Harvey Dubs, his wife Debra, and their 16-month-old son Sean lived in a modest San Francisco apartment during the summer of '84.

Harvey ran a videotaping side gig out of their home, meaning he had plenty of cameras and recording equipment on hand. But with a newborn baby and likely more on the way, Harvey decided to sell his equipment and focus more on his day job. In late July, he placed an ad in the paper to sell his gear. On the 25th, he left work early, around 5 p.m., to meet someone who responded to the ad.

At around 5:30 that night, Deborah spoke on the phone with a friend, telling them someone was coming to purchase Harvey's cameras. Then, someone knocked and Deborah hung up. 15 minutes later, a neighbor saw an Asian man carrying what looked like a heavy suitcase down Harvey and Deborah's front steps. The Dubs family was never seen again.

While it's unclear what exactly happened to them, police believe Leonard and Charles killed Harvey and baby Sean almost immediately. They then used Harvey's video equipment to record snuff films of Deborah. According to evidence from unreleased tapes, Deborah was sexually abused so violently that it would be impossible for her to survive. Newspaper ads were Leonard and Charles' hunting ground. They posed as buyers to access people's homes and cars.

For example, Paul Costner put an ad in the paper in October of 1984 trying to sell his Honda Prelude. On November 2nd, he left to meet a potential buyer and was never seen again. Remember, Leonard was caught driving Paul's car when police arrested him in 1985. When he wasn't busy killing and kidnapping people, Charles worked part-time for the Dennis Moving Company in San Francisco.

His co-worker, 23-year-old Cliff Perronto, may have been Charles' only friend besides Leonard Lake. As the story goes, Charles and Cliff were at a bar to watch Super Bowl XIX between the San Francisco 49ers and the Miami Dolphins. Cliff must have taken the Niners because he cashed a $400 winning bet that night. That'd be like winning about $1,200 today. The bartender said Charles and Cliff left to celebrate the windfall.

Cliff was never seen again. A few days later, a letter arrived at Dennis moving, claiming to be from Cliff. It read: "Dennis, sorry to leave you on such short notice, but a new job, place to live, and a honey all came together at once. Please send my check for the last three days I worked and my W2 to my new address below. Thanks, Cliff."

The address listed was for a P.O. box in McCollumy Hill, a small town about 20 miles outside of Willsieville. Cliff wasn't the only friend Charles openly betrayed. By day, Jeffrey Gerald was a 25-year-old coworker of Ng's. By night, he was an aspiring musician trying to make it in California. On February 24th, 1985, Jeffrey told his roommate that Charles was paying him $100 to help him move.

While waiting for Charles at the bus station, Jeffrey called his girlfriend in New Jersey and told her about the gig. They planned for her to visit so they could spend the money. Sadly, she never saw Jeffrey again. When his roommate came home, he found all of Jeffrey's things in one place. It was as if Jeffrey had vanished like a ghost. By now, Charles had already killed two co-workers. Killing three might raise unwanted suspicion.

Instead, he turned his attention to his old Fort Leavenworth cellmate, 22-year-old Michael Carroll. Michael had his own demons. According to police, he was a lifelong criminal who derived sadistic pleasure from watching people die. He and Charles linked up in California after they were paroled from Fort Leavenworth. Some sources claim Michael and Charles were involved in several shady deals together.

Others claim Michael would dress in women's clothing to lure homosexuals for Charles to kill. By the spring of 1985, Michael was living with his foster brother in Milpitas, California, a small city north of San Jose. He was dating Kathleen Allen, a pretty high school senior who worked part-time at a local supermarket.

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On April 14th, 1985, Kathleen received a distressing call at work. The caller said that Mike had been shot near Lake Tahoe, and he needed her help. A car was on the way and would be at the supermarket around 7 o'clock.

Phone records show the call came from the Willsieville property around 1:00 PM that afternoon. Between 7:00 and 7:30, Kathleen was seen getting into a gold Honda Prelude, AKA Paul Costner's stolen car, and driving off with a white male. That white male was Leonard Lake. Later that night, Kathleen called her friend, James Bayo, from a hotel in Milpitas. According to James, Kathleen sounded like she was in a hurry.

She said she couldn't talk much because someone else was in the room. She described them as weird and said they wanted to take pictures of her. James asked her to call him again when they reached Lake Tahoe. He hung up and never heard from her again. Court records indicate that Kathleen was alive on April 15th, at least long enough to call her manager and ask for four weeks off. She said her boyfriend had found work near Lake Tahoe and she wanted to stay with him.

That call also came from the Willsieville property. There was no new job. There was no Lake Tahoe. For Kathleen, she likely suffered a fate worse than death.

She's among the few victims to appear on the surviving "Lake Tapes." If you go along with this, cooperate with this, we'll be as nice as we can to you within the limits of keeping you prisoner. If you don't go along with this, we'll probably take you into the bed, tie you down, rape you, shoot you, and bury you. It's all right, lady. Time's up. Make your choice. While you're here, we'll keep you busy. You'll wash for us, you'll clean for us.

At one point, it appears as though Kathleen attempted to escape or call for help. Leonard made sure she knew what would happen if she tried again. If it ever arises again, if there's any circumstance whatsoever that leads me to think that

You're even attempting to make noise. It's immaterial as to whether I hear you or anyone else hears you. You will be whipped very severely. And tell me you understand. I understand. I'm having a little war within myself between what I want to do and what we might call the decent thing to do. And for the moment, the decent thing to do is to rest. Kathleen didn't survive much longer after this video was recorded.

Another one of their female victims was 25-year-old Cheryl Okoro. According to police, she vanished after telling a neighbor that she was going to work on a pot farm in Northern Cali. Cheryl was no stranger to abuse and hardship. She had a traumatic childhood and, at 16, gave birth to the first of her four children. She struggled to make ends meet and began working as a prostitute for extra cash.

Nobody saw her again after she vanished in November of 1984. She had just given birth to her infant daughter, who was given up for adoption on the spot. Leonard and Charles killed their final victims in the spring of 1985. 27-year-old Lonnie Bond and his girlfriend, Brenda O'Connor, had been renting the A-frame-style home next to the Willsieville property since January. They lived there with their infant son, Lonnie Jr.,

Leonard complained about them constantly. He called the property manager and said Lonnie was firing guns and kept forgetting to close the gate leading to both their driveways. One fact that's often overlooked about these last murders is that Lonnie Bond and his friend, Robin Stapley, were cooking methamphetamine in the A-frame cabin. Stapley was also a known drug dealer in San Diego. This doesn't mean they deserved to die.

but it explains why there was significant tension between the neighbors. Drugs invite police activity. And the last thing Leonard Lake wanted was a cop snooping near his bunker. According to California Supreme Court documents, Robin Stapley's girlfriend last saw him on April 19th, 1985. He was last seen in San Diego after retrieving belongings from a storage locker for his friends, Lonnie Bond and Brenda O'Connor.

Stapley had been staying with Lonnie and Brenda at their residence in Willsieville, California. Shortly after, Charles Ng was involved in a traffic accident while driving Stapley's truck, raising questions about the circumstances leading to the incident. The following day, Leonard Lake and Charles Ng visited Stapley's girlfriend in San Diego, claiming that Lonnie Bond, Brenda O'Connor, their infant son, and Stapley had died in a gas explosion at their Willsieville home.

They stated that they had conducted a funeral and buried the bodies, then cleaned the cabin. Lake and Ng collected Stapley's personal belongings from the girlfriend, including his bicycle and clothing, under the pretense of bringing them back to Willsieville to make it appear that Stapley had moved there permanently. The girlfriend went along with it, perhaps believing she'd get in trouble with the police if she didn't.

She handed over Robin's bike, clothes, and personal effects. Then, she never saw Leonard or Charles again. Not until they were arrested months later. Back in Willsieville, the men were dead, and Brenda was held prisoner. Footage retrieved from Leonard's bunker shows the horror they put her through. Warning, what you're about to hear won't be easy to listen to. - You mean, let us know? - Probably not. - Why are you doing this? - Because we hate you.

Your baby is gonna be taken away. Excuse me. I'm gonna be taken away. There's a family down in Fresno that doesn't have a baby. You're not taking my baby. They got one now. That's my baby. Her baby is sound asleep like a rock. We don't like you, but I'd like you to put it in writing.

It's unclear when Brenda O'Connor died.

It's also unclear if Leonard was telling the truth when he said Lonnie Jr. had been given to a family in Fresno. If he was, and the baby is still alive, then Lonnie Jr. would be 40 years old. He may have no idea who his birth parents are or that he was stolen as an infant. Leonard may have also been lying. It's equally likely that he and Charles killed Lonnie Jr. and buried him with the rest of the bodies.

The Willsieville duo may have kept getting away with murder had it not been for Charles' kleptomania. The stealing vice was their undoing. Paul Costner's car led police back to one of the worst crime scenes in California history.

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Leonard Lake was dead, Charles Ng was on the run, and police in San Francisco had multiple pieces of stolen property on their hands, all belonging to three missing men. Documents and credit cards belonging to Robin Stapley were found beside the stolen Honda's glove box. Police then located an electric bill addressed to Clara Lynn Balazs on the floorboard. The address on the bill was a P.O. box in Willsieville.

Although they knew the area, they didn't know the exact house. Thankfully, Cricket lived in San Bruno, a few miles from the hardware store where Leonard was arrested. By then, they were divorced but still on good terms. When the police knocked on her door, she said the bill was for a cabin her parents owned. She agreed to take them there, perhaps hoping that Leonard had done well enough to cover his footprints.

Police arrived in Willsieville the following day to meet Cricket at an agreed upon location. Cricket, however, was late. When she finally arrived, she told police she'd swung by the cabin before meeting them. They advised her that if she had removed any evidence, she could be found guilty of obstructing justice and tampering. Cricket insisted that she only took some nude photographs and pornographic videos that Leonard had of her.

In hindsight, police believe Cricket destroyed as many Operation Miranda tapes as possible. The ones we have are those Leonard kept hidden or buried that Cricket didn't know about. Inside Leonard's cabin, police found video and audio equipment belonging to Harvey Dubs. They also found a bloodstained mattress and several pieces of lingerie with dark red spots.

There were bullet holes in the walls and floors and a 250-watt floodlight on the ceiling of the master bedroom. For reference, your average bedroom light bulb is between 50 and 60 watts. Police had everything they needed to obtain a search warrant for the Willsieville cabin. However, when they returned the next day, Cricket was standoffish and refused to let them search the concrete bunker.

She also seemed nervous about an industrial incinerator located on the property. Thankfully, the police didn't need her consent. They had enough information on Charles and Leonard to secure another search warrant for the bunker and all other fixtures. The search began on June 4th, 1985. A locksmith arrived to open the bunker while police searched the area around it.

They found traces of lye and clothing, leading them to believe a gravesite was nearby. Inside the bunker, police found a main room measuring 20 by 12 feet. They described it as a workshop area and located several power tools coated in what looked like blood. Police soon discovered a hidden room behind a plywood tool rack. Inside, they found a double bed, a side table with books, and a reading lamp.

On the wall, they noticed a wooden plaque with the phrase "Operation Miranda" carved into it. The room contained military gear like boots and uniforms, along with an array of automatic weapons and shotguns. One wall was lined with 21 pictures of women, all in various stages of undress, all looking just as miserable as the last. Thankfully, those 21 women were identified and found alive and well.

It seemed as though Leonard had coerced dozens of girls back to his bunker. Only a select few were chosen as slaves. In the cabin bedroom, police found Leonard Lake's diary hidden under the mattress springs. It described in great detail how he and Charles would kidnap, rape, torture, and murder women in their bunker. Leonard had a master plan to build a series of bunkers across the US in the event of nuclear war.

He'd fill each bunker with sex slaves and use them to repopulate the world. On day three of the search, police called in heavy digging equipment. By then, Leonard Lake was brain-dead in the hospital, and doctors were ready to take him off life support. It was a nightmare scenario for police. They had plenty of evidence, but one of their primary suspects was basically dead, and the other had likely fled to Canada.

The FBI, however, had a lead on Charles. They knew he was from Hong Kong and had family in England, Hawaii, and Calgary. Flight records tracked him from San Francisco to Chicago, meaning he was likely heading north to Canada. On day four of the search, lab techs confirmed that some bones found near the driveway were human. Police then found another bone that appeared to be sawed on both ends.

As they dug, investigators found hundreds of personal items belonging to different missing persons. Then, the bodies and bones turned up. Police found what looked like two complete skeletons. Only the bones had been sawed and badly burned. Ironically, as police dug up Leonard's graveyard, doctors switched off his life support. Among the bodies was a sealed five-gallon bucket.

Inside were more personal items and a videotape labeled "M. Ladies Kathy and Brenda." In the end, police found the bodies of seven men, three women, two babies, and roughly 45 pounds of miscellaneous bone fragments. To them, it appeared as though 25 people had been killed and buried on the property. Some reports claim that Brenda O'Connor and Lonnie Bond Jr. were among the dead. Others claim their bodies have never been found.

Part 4: International Manhunt The FBI knew his general location, yet Charles Ng avoided capture for over a month. Then, on July 6th, 1985, two security guards at a department store in Alberta, Canada, stopped Charles after he attempted to steal several items. Charles panicked and drew a gun. He shot one guard in the hand but was eventually overpowered and arrested.

He was charged with attempted murder, robbery, and firearm possession, opening up to extradition. Here's where things get dicey. In 1976, Canada signed an extradition treaty with the United States. But because Canada doesn't observe the death penalty, they can refuse extradition if the prisoner is charged with capital crimes that carry execution as a punishment. This loophole put Charles in limbo.

He sat in a Canadian jail, hoping to never set foot in America again. He was eventually tried and found guilty of his crimes in Canada. For the next six years, the US Justice Department engaged in a grueling extradition battle with Canadian authorities. Finally, in 1991, Canada agreed to extradite Charles to California, kicking off one of the longest and most expensive trials in US history.

Even more expensive than the OJ Simpson case. Charles had spent his time in jail studying American law. His legal team used every theory possible to delay his trial. But Charles ran out of legal ammo in October of 1998. After 13 years of delays, he was found guilty on 11 counts of first-degree murder. The only charge the jury deadlocked on was the murder of Paul Costner.

Regardless, Charles was sentenced to death despite desperate pleas from his father. Kenneth Ng explained how hard he was on Charles growing up. He talked about beating him and sending him to boarding school, thinking it would put his son on the right path. He told a heartbreaking story, but it wasn't enough to sway the judge. In 1999, Charles joined a long list of California death row inmates.

However, the last person executed in California was a killer named Clarence Allen in 2006. In 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom placed a moratorium on the death penalty. As of 2025, Charles Ng remains on death row in California. Due to her cooperation during Charles' trial, Cricket was granted legal immunity from prosecution.

It's unclear where she's living today or how culpable she was in her ex-husband's crimes. Most people believe she destroyed many of the incriminating tapes Leonard and Charles made. The only footage we have that she appears in shows her cooperating as a scene partner in homemade pornography. Lonnie Bond Jr. is also considered missing as of 2025. Today, he'd be a 40-year-old man with strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

The cabin in Willsieville is also still standing. Two investigators returned to the scene as recently as 2022 during an Oxygen documentary on the case. The cabin itself was furnished and well-kept, as if a new family was living there. We wonder if they know the horrors that took place under their roof. On second thought, perhaps it's better if they don't.