Pang Seeks to Reopen Guilty Plea in Seattle 4 FF LODD Fire

There has been a new development in the Pang warehouse fire case that occurred in Seattle back in 1995. The fire claimed the lives of four Seattle firefighters and spurred numerous criminal and civil cases.

The owner of the building’s son, Martin Pang, became a suspect in the fire and fled the country to Brazil, creating an international incident. Because Pang faced the death sentence if he returned, Brazil refused to extradite him. Pang eventually returned pleading guilty to setting the fire and four counts of manslaughter. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

After serving 15 years of his sentence, Pang is now seeking to reopen the case claiming that police and prosecutors failed to disclose potentially exculpatory evidence. His attorney, Jeff Ellis, filed a motion in King County Superior Court yesterday seeking to require the prosecutor’s office to turn over the entire file in the case, citing evidence tending to show that investigators knew Pang was actually in California when the fire started.

Here is a copy of the motion. 113190302-Martin-Pang-motion-to-compel-discovery

Among the other cases that arose from the fire:

• The families of the four deceased firefighters, Lt. Walter Kilgore, Lt. Gregory Shoemaker and firefighters Randall Terlicker and James Brown, filed separate suits against the building’s owners, Martin Pang personally, and the fire department. They received between $450,000 and $5.6 million each.
• Washington State Department of Labor & Industries fined the fire department $41,000 for various safety lapses
• A Whistleblower suit by former Safety Chief Rodney Jones that he was being punished for speaking out about safety concerns in the department

More on the story.