The

Aftermath
On February 24, 1983 Benjamin Ng and Willie Mak were charged with 13 counts of aggravated first-degree murder. Wai-Chiu (Tony) Ng became the third suspect, charged in absentia on March 30, 1983 with 13 counts of aggravated first-degree murder. In August 1983 - Benjamin Ng was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. In October 1983, Willie Mak was convicted of murder and sentenced to die.

On June 15, 1984 - Tony Ng became the 387th Ten Most Wanted Fugitive to be listed by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was arrested October 4, 1984 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Tony Ng was acquitted in April 1985 of murder, but convicted of 13 counts of first-degree robbery and a single count of assault with a deadly weapon. Each robbery charge brought a minimum sentence of five years, to be served consecutively. Under the state's old sentencing guidelines, as Ng completed sentences for each count, he began serving time for the next. In 2006 - Ng is now serving time for the next-to-last count and the state's Indeterminate Sentence Review Board is considering granting Ng parole, which would allow him to begin serving time for the final count. He could then be eligible for release from prison in 2010.

On February 15, 2002, a King County Superior Court judge scheduled a sentencing hearing for September 2002. On April 29, 2002 a King County Superior Court judge (Judge Laura Inveen) ruled that Mak will not face the death penalty because the 1983 jury wasn't asked to determine how much of a role he had in the crime (i.e. A recent state Supreme Court ruling of December 2000 about aggravated-murder accomplices meant that he cannot be executed because the jurors weren’t asked whether two factors made the case a capital crime – killing in the course of a robbery and killing to conceal the robbers’ identities – along with deciding if Mak was a “major participant” in the murders.). On September 6, 2006, a parole board met to determine whether Tony Ng should receive parole on his 12th robbery term. If given parole, he would begin serving his 13th term, and be eligible for parole and potentially freed in 2010.

In many of these Chinatown clubs -- the New Chinatown, Congo Club, Blue Rose, the 411 Club, the Ubangi, and the Wah Mee – patrons enjoyed booze, jazz, dancing, Opium dens, prostitutes, casinos, and the daily lottery. And the Tokiwa Hotel, located at Maynard Avenue South and South King Street, was a residential nexus for starving jazz musicians who played the Chinatown clubs.

In its early years, during the late-1920s, the Wah Mee Club was called the Blue Heaven. As its name implied, it was a place for dancing, drinking, gambling, and partying. The Wah Mee Club's roster of members had always been a "who's who" of the Asian community. The late John Okada, a Japanese American writer who wrote the classic novel No-No Boy, frequented the Club. His novel brilliantly explores the difficulties of a young Asian American trying to find his place in the United States. Okada based his novel's key gambling club on the Wah Mee -- a place he frequented during the 1940s. In No-No Boy, the Wah Mee is renamed "Club Oriental" and Okada's description of the Club is based on the Wah Mee. Okada died of a heart attack in 1971. Another Wah Mee notable, a pillar in Seattle's Chinese community, was domineering entrepreneur Ruby Chow. Ruby Chow was both praised and reviled. Chow opened the first Chinese restaurant outside of the Chinese community -- an area largely labeled African American. Her restaurant was popular with white customers, most of whom were opera fans and knew that Chow was married to Ping Chow, a celebrated opera singer and head cook at her restaurant.