The Wah Mee massacre was a mass shooting that took place on February 18, 1983. The Mah Wee Club was an illegal gambling room located in the heart of Chinatown at King St. and Maynard Street Alley.
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| Entrance at Maynard Street Alley |
Willie Mak, Tony Ng, and Benjamin Ng gunned down 14 people in the club. Thirteen of their victims lost their lives, but one survived to testify against them at trial. It remains the deadliest mass murder in Washington's history. The Wah Mee club dated back to the early 1920s. Winners could go home with tens of thousands of dollars after one single night of gambling. Crooked cops supplemented their income by tolerating illegal gambling in Chinatown. Police allowed the Chinese only members of the Club to preserve an integral part of their history; gambling and paying off cops.
By January of 1983, 22 -year-old Willie Mak had racked up several thousand dollars in gambling debts with other clubs where he worked. In an effort to clear his debts, Mak singled out the Wah Mee Club as the target for a heist and killing. Mak enlisted the help of his old high school classmate, Benjamin Ng. Ng's extensive criminal record dated back to his years as a juvenile. Mak also enlisted the help of Tony Ng (No relation to Benjamin) a 24-year-old recent immigrant. Shortly before midnight on February 18th, the three men entered the Wah Mee Club.
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| Blueprint of Wah Mee Club |
They hog-tied and robbed 14 victims before opening fire. There would be only one survivor, 62 year-old Wai Chin. He managed to stumble to the street and scream for help. Within hours of the murders, Willie Mak and Benjamin Ng were arrested. Tony Ng fled to Canada, hiding out for nearly two years in Alberta's Chinatown. He was eventually extradited back to the States, where he stood trial on several counts of murder and robbery.
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| The Aftermath |
Willie Mak initially received the death penalty, but his sentence was later reduced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Benjamin Ng also received a life sentence. Tony Ng didn't face the death penalty due to a clause in his extradition from Canada to the United States. During his trial, Tony Ng's attorney argued that his client didn't open fire at the Club and that Mak had forced him to participate in the crime. The jury considered duress a factor in their decision. They found him guilty of only robbery and assault. Ng continues to appeal his case, arguing that if jurors acquitted him of murder because of the "duress factor," they should have acquitted him of robbery and assault too." On May 3, 1993, Wai Chin, the survivor of the attack, died of natural causes. RIP
