Thang Pleads Innocent To Murder

Fri., Feb. 13, 1998

From Staff And Wire Reports

An escapee from a juvenile home pleaded innocent Thursday to beating an 85-year-old Spokane woman to death.

Vy Thang, 18, of Aberdeen, remained in the Spokane County Jail on $500,000 bond. A trial on a charge of first-degree murder was set for early April.

Thang was among a group of inmates from Maple Lane School, near Centralia, who escaped during an Aug. 2 outing to a Seattle Seahawks football game in the Kingdome.

He was charged with the Sept. 2 slaying of Mildred Klaus in her home.

He was already in jail on an unrelated burglary charge when he was charged with murder last week. The case took so long because police were awaiting the results of DNA tests.

Thang had been serving time for beating and robbing a 69-year-old woman in his hometown of Aberdeen. He was sentenced to six years for that case and was expected to be released when he turned 21.

After the escape, the state canceled all off-site activities - with the exception of work crews - for Maple Lane and five other state-run detention centers.

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