By Staff NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY Martin Pang did not show up for a Nov. 14 court hearing to hear his request to change his name to “Mark Sun Lee.” We reported earlier this month that the convicted arsonist wanted to change his name for “cultural, religious, and protective reasons.” By missing the hearing, Pang avoided […]
Community reaction to Martin Pang’s name change petition
By Ruth Bayang NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY PROSSER, Wash. — A convicted arsonist who was recently released from prison after causing the death of four Seattle firefighters is trying to change his legal name. The Tri-City Herald reports that a petition for Martin Shaw Pang to change his name to Mark Sun Lee will be heard […]
Martin Pang, a free man again — Part 2 of 2
By Becky Chan Northwest Asian Weekly Martin Pang struck a match and set it to a bottom corner of the old, dried plywood wall. He watched it burn until the fire was just two feet high, not lingering to see his parents’ warehouse become an inferno, nor to see it collapse, trapping four firefighters to […]
Decades after deaths of firefighters, arsonist Pang to walk free again — Part 1 of 2
By Becky Chan Northwest Asian Weekly Martin Pang may walk as a free man Sept. 27 after serving 20 years in prison. He is finishing a sentence at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla for burning down his parents’ warehouse in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District in 1995, allegedly to collect insurance money. Four firefighters died […]
EDITORIAL: Justice served? No. Martin Pang should not be released from prison early
On this week’s front page, we ran a story about the release of Martin Pang, an arsonist who set fire to his parents’ Chinatown building on Jan. 5, 1995 to collect insurance money. That blaze led to the deaths of four Seattle firefighters when they broke through a false floor and fell to the basement. […]
Martin Pang to be released from prison
SEATTLE (AP) — Officials say a man who set a Seattle warehouse fire that killed four firefighters in 1995 is set to be released from prison in late September. Martin Pang, 62, was convicted of setting a fire in his parents’ Chinatown International District warehouse on Jan. 5, 1995. Department of Corrections officials say he’ll […]
The fire still burns — Seattle honors the firefighters who died in the Pang Factory fire
By Peggy Chapman Northwest Asian Weekly Approximately 150 people attended the ceremony honoring the death of the four firemen who risked their <!–more–>lives in the Pang Factory fire in Seattle’s Chinatown 20 years ago. In Occidental Park, where the memorial was held, four statues are erected commemorating these firefighters. Their statues are a notable feature […]
Police: Convicted arsonist Martin Pang trying to defraud firefighters, witnesses
By Manuel Valdes The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — The man who set a Seattle warehouse fire that killed four firefighters in 1995 had been planning to steal the identities of people involved in his case to collect money after his release from prison, Seattle police said June 25.