Firefighter’S Widow Wins Arson Judgment

Thu., Nov. 25, 1999

From Staff

A King County Superior Court judge has ordered Martin Pang to pay $5.4 million to the widow of a Seattle firefighter - one of four who died in the blaze Pang set at his family’s frozen-foods warehouse.

Karen Shoemaker, widow of Lt. Gregory Shoemaker, won the judgment recently in a civil lawsuit filed against Pang, who is serving a 35-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to four counts of firstdegree manslaughter.

Pang has no assets to collect, said Shoemaker’s lawyer, Paul Luvera, though the judgment would allow Karen Shoemaker to collect any future assets he may acquire.

Shoemaker filed the lawsuit on behalf of herself and her two daughters to prevent Pang from profiting from his crime, Luvera said.

Shoemaker, the only survivor to sue Pang over the 1995 fire, recently reached a $3.5 million settlement with the city of Seattle in a lawsuit alleging Fire Department negligence in the blaze.

King County prosecutors say Pang set the fire to collect insurance money.

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