Charles Ng, originally named Ng Chi-tat, was born into a wealthy family in British Hong Kong. The youngest of three children and the only son, he had a difficult childhood marked by strict and harsh discipline from his father.

During his teenage years, Charles was known as a loner and faced many challenges in school. He was expelled from several schools and was caught shoplifting at the age of 15. His father, determined to set him straight, sent him to Bentham Grammar School, a boarding school in North Yorkshire, England. However, Charles's troubles followed him; he was expelled again for stealing from other students and was sent back to Hong Kong.

In 1978, seeking a fresh start, Ng moved to the United States on a student visa to study biology at the College of Notre Dame in Belmont, California. But after just one semester, he dropped out. His life took another turn when he was involved in a hit and run accident. To avoid legal consequences, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps under false pretenses, claiming he was born in Bloomington, Indiana.

Charles’s time in the Marines was short-lived. In less than a year, he was arrested for stealing automatic weapons from the armory at the Kaneohe Bay base. Facing severe punishment, he escaped from custody in 1980 and fled to northern California. There, he met Leonard Lake, a man who would become his notorious partner in crime.

In 1982, Charles and Lake were living together in a mobile home in Ukiah, California, when federal authorities raided their home. They discovered a large collection of illegal weapons and explosives. Lake managed to post bail and went into hiding, while Ng was captured and returned to the Marines. He eventually pleaded guilty to theft and desertion charges and, after striking a plea deal, was paroled and dishonorably discharged in 1984, having served eighteen months at the military stockade at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

After Charles Ng was released from Leavenworth, he reunited with Leonard Lake at a secluded cabin in Wilseyville, California. Lake had turned part of the property into what he described as a "dungeon," a grim setting for the horrors that would follow. Prior to Ng’s arrival, Lake had already committed dreadful acts, including the murder of his own brother, Donald, and his best man, Charles Gunnar.

Together, Lake and Ng embarked on a terrifying spree, kidnapping men, women, and children. Tragically, they murdered the men and infants almost immediately, while the women endured a horrific period of enslavement, abuse, and torture before they met their fatal end.

In 1984, the criminal duo's actions escalated when an Asian American man, later identified as Ng, violently invaded the apartment of Don Giulietti, a San Francisco DJ, fatally shooting him and injuring his roommate, Richard Carrazza—who survived and later identified Ng as the attacker.

Their crime spree continued until a fateful day in 1985 when Ng's urge to steal led to their downfall. On June 2nd, at a hardware store in South San Francisco, an employee caught Ng trying to steal a vise. Ng fled, leaving behind clues in a car that connected them to multiple missing persons. Lake tried to cover up, but upon his arrest, his true identity—and Ng's—were revealed. In custody, Lake committed suicide by ingesting a cyanide capsule, leaving Ng to face the consequences alone.

The investigation quickly deepened. At Lake's property, authorities uncovered chilling evidence of the duo's crimes, including videos that captured the brutal reality of their actions. Women were filmed being terrorized and mistreated, their pleas for mercy ignored as Lake and Ng coldly documented their ordeals.

As the net closed in on him, Ng fled to Canada but was eventually arrested in Calgary after a confrontation with a security guard. Extradited back to the United States, he faced a lengthy legal battle and trial, during which he tried to distance himself from the crimes, claiming he was merely following Lake's lead.

Despite his claims, the evidence was overwhelming. Ng was found guilty of multiple counts of murder and sentenced to death, a decision upheld through various appeals. His trials and appeals have cost the state millions, making it one of the most expensive in California's history. To this day, Charles Ng remains on death row.