Local News in Brief : No Bail in DEA Slayings
A man accused of helping his friend shoot and kill two federal drug agents was denied bail Wednesday by a magistrate who said the defendant knew before the slayings that the agents were going to be shot.
Michael Chia, 20, a Taiwanese national, is charged with aiding and abetting William Wang in the murders of Drug Enforcement Administration agents Paul Seema and George Montoya and the assault on a third agent, Jose Martinez.
The three agents were robbed of $80,000 Feb. 5 in Pasadena and were shot in a gun battle after the robbery.
Wang, 18, is charged with premeditated murder and assault. He and another man, Wen Heui Kow, 27, allegedly robbed the undercover agents of their cash and then opened fire on them. The agents, posing as drug dealers, had brought the money to buy two pounds of heroin from the young men.
Wang, Kow and another man, Michael Chow, 19, fled to San Marino, where Kow and Chow were killed by backup agents.
Although officials cannot confirm that Chia was at the scene of the killings, the FBI says he acted as Wang’s bodyguard and knew of the plot to rob and kill the agents.
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