Judge Rules Pang Can Be Tried On Murder Charges Ruling Interprets Letter To Mean Brazil Won’t Object To Murder Trial In Deaths Of Four Firefighters

Wed., Nov. 13, 1996

Associated Press

Martin Pang can be tried for murder as well as arson in the deaths of four firefighters at his parents’ frozen-food warehouse last year, a King County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday.

Judge Larry Jordan found that representatives of the Brazilian government had indicated there would be no objection if Pang were tried for murder. Pang was extradited from Brazil.

“Of course we disagree with that,” said Pang’s lawyer, John Henry Browne. “I’m sure that Brazil will not be happy with this.”

Browne is hoping for a protest from the Brazilian government. He also is considering filing an appeal in state or federal court.

Pang is accused of setting the fire that destroyed his parents’ warehouse in the city’s International District on Jan. 5, 1995. Four firefighters perished when a floor collapsed.

Pang fled to Brazil, where he was arrested within a few weeks.

After nearly a year of negotiations, U.S. officials secured Pang’s return to Washington state in February.

But the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled that under the extradition treaty Pang could not be tried for murder because Brazil does not recognize Washington’s concept of felony murder.

In Brazil and many other countries, murder charges can be filed in deadly fires only if the blaze was intended to kill someone. Prosecutors have said an insurance payoff was the motive for the fire.

Still, King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng charged Pang with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson.

In April, Jordan ruled that Pang couldn’t be tried for murder without a waiver of Brazilian extradition restrictions, but the judge stopped short of dismissing the murder counts.

The U.S. Justice Department asked Brazil to clarify the terms of Pang’s extradition, so Nelson A. Jobim, Brazil’s minister of justice, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno on Sept. 26.

Both prosecution and defense contended the seemingly ambiguous letter bolstered their respective positions. Jordan ruled for the prosecutor’s office.

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