Wah Mee Massacre

Wah Mee massacre
The Louisa Hotel on June 11, 2015.
Location	665 South King Street Seattle, Washington, United States
Date	February 19, 1983 12:30am (PST)
Attack type	Mass murder, armed robbery, gang attack
Weapons	Firearms
Deaths	13
Non-fatal injuries	1
Perpetrators	Kwan Fai "Willie" Mak, Wai-Chiu "Tony" Ng, B. Ng

The Wah Mee massacre (traditional Chinese: 華美大屠殺; simplified Chinese: 华美大屠杀; pinyin: Huáměi dàtúshā; Jyutping: Wa4mei5 daai6tou4saat3) was a gang-related multiple homicide that occurred on February 18, 1983, in which Kwan Fai "Willie" Mak, Wai-Chiu "Tony" Ng, and Benjamin Ng gunned down fourteen people in the Wah Mee gambling club at the Louisa Hotel in Chinatown-International District, Seattle. Thirteen of their victims lost their lives, but one survived to testify against the three in the high-profile trial. It remains the deadliest mass murder in Washington state history.

The Wah Mee club operated illegally in a basement space of the Louisa Hotel on Maynard Alley South, just south of South King Street. It was founded in the 1920s and its original name was Blue Heaven. At its height patrons of many ethnic backgrounds visited for the gambling, dancing, and other forms of entertainment.

The club's regulars included many wealthy restaurant owners, several of whom were among the victims. Security at the club was based in part on a system of passing through multiple successive doors, which had been used in similar Chinatown gambling dens for generations, and had usually been quite effective. Mak and his accomplices defeated the system only because they were known and trusted by the people at the club. Their presumed intent was to leave no witnesses, since club patrons could have readily identified them — as the one survivor, Wai Y. Chin, did. Mak had been planning the robbery for weeks, and he enlisted Benjamin Ng, and later Tony Ng.

In the aftermath, the doors to the club were padlocked shut until a fire destroyed much of the Louisa Hotel in 2013. The building continued to house businesses and a low number of residents until the fire.

On February 24, 1983, Benjamin Ng and Willie Mak were charged with thirteen counts of aggravated first-degree murder. Benjamin Ng was represented by Seattle defense lawyer John Henry Browne. Mak was represented by the associated counsel for the accused, lawyer Jim Robinson. The State was represented by William Downing and Robert Lasnik. Tony Ng became the third suspect, charged in absentia on March 30, 1983 with thirteen counts of aggravated first-degree murder.