Ng Convicted on 3 Charges in Canadian Case

A judge today convicted Charles Ng, a former U.S. Marine suspected in as many as 25 sex-torture slayings in Northern California, of firearms, robbery and assault charges stemming from his arrest in Canada in July.

Ng was acquitted of the attempted murder of a department store security guard, but Judge Allan Sulatycky found him guilty of armed robbery, aggravated assault and unlawful use of a firearm during his arrest July 6 in a Hudson’s Bay department store in Calgary.

The armed robbery charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. The assault and weapons charges each carry maximum 14-year sentences.

Sulatycky ruled Ng did not intend to kill the guard, who was shot in the hand by Ng as authorities arrested the suspect for shoplifting.

Focus of Manhunt

Ng would have faced a maximum sentence of life in prison on the attempted murder charge.

Ng, who was born in Hong Kong, became the focus of an international manhunt last June after his friend, Leonard Lake, committed suicide in a San Francisco police station by swallowing a cyanide pill.

Police later found the remains of at least 11 people at Lake’s 2 1/2-acre mountain retreat in Calaveras County, about 150 miles east of San Francisco.

Authorities also uncovered evidence that they said showed that Ng and Lake sexually tortured some of their victims.