The air in Wilseyville, California, usually smells like pine and damp earth. But in the summer of 1985, it smelled like a nightmare. Most people think they know the story of Leonard Lake and Charles Ng. You've probably heard the basics: the bunker, the "M-99" videos, the survivalist manifesto. It’s the kind of case that sticks in your craw because of how utterly senseless it feels. Honestly, though, the deeper you dig into the case files, the more you realize that the sensationalized "Sex Slave Killers" headline barely scratches the surface of the weirdness—and the incompetence—that defined this duo.
The Shop Vac and the Cyanide
It all ended because of a $75 shop vise. Seriously.
On June 2, 1985, Charles Ng walked into a South San Francisco lumber yard and tried to steal a tool. He was caught, he bolted, and he left Leonard Lake holding the bag. When the cops showed up, they found Lake sitting in a 1980 Honda Prelude. It wasn't his car. Inside, they found a .22 caliber pistol with a silencer.
Lake was a survivalist. He was a guy who spent years preparing for an apocalypse that only existed in his head. He had this whole philosophy called "Operation Miranda," named after a character in John Fowles' novel The Collector. He wanted to build a post-nuclear world where he was the king and women were his property. Kinda pathetic, right? But while he was being questioned at the station, he asked for a glass of water. He took a couple of cyanide pills he’d sewn into his shirt collar. He was dead four days later.
✨ Don't miss: Oldest President of the United States: Why the Record Keeps Breaking
He took his secrets to the grave, but he left behind a trail of breadcrumbs that led straight to a remote cabin in Calaveras County.
The Wilseyville Bunker
When investigators finally got to the property on Blue Mountain Road, they didn't just find a cabin. They found a cinder-block bunker. It was basically a custom-built torture chamber. Behind a hidden door, there was a cell with a foam pad on the floor and a plastic bucket for a toilet.
The most disturbing part? The "treasure map."
Lake had buried five-gallon buckets all over the property. Inside weren't gold coins or survival gear. They were filled with the IDs of his victims, handwritten journals detailing his "philosophy," and those infamous videotapes. The tapes are what really cooked Charles Ng. They showed the two of them mocking and terrorizing women like Brenda O'Connor and Kathleen Allen. You can see Ng in the footage, cold and detached, using a knife to cut away a woman’s clothing while she begs for her life. It’s not just "true crime" fodder; it's some of the most harrowing evidence ever presented in a California courtroom.
The Victims We’re Still Finding
For a long time, the official count was 11. But honestly, the bone fragments tell a different story.
Police found over 45 pounds of charred human bone and teeth scattered across the property. Because the duo burned many of the bodies, identification was impossible for decades. However, things are changing. Just last year, in January 2025, forensic genetic genealogy finally identified a 12th victim: Reginald "Reggie" Frisby.
Frisby had been missing since 1984. He was just a guy from San Francisco who vanished into thin air. His remains were found in 1985, but they sat in a crypt in San Andreas for forty years because nobody knew who he was.
The victims weren't just "strangers" either. That's a common misconception. Lake killed people he knew. He killed his own brother, Donald Lake. He killed his best man, Charles Gunnar. He killed entire families—the Dubs family, including their baby, Sean.
Why Charles Ng is Still Alive in 2026
If you’re wondering why Charles Ng is still sitting in a cell at the California Medical Facility, you’re not alone. His case is a masterclass in how to game the legal system.
After Lake died, Ng fled to Calgary, Canada. He got caught shoplifting there too (the guy couldn't help himself) and ended up shooting a security guard in the hand. It took six years just to get him back to the U.S. because Canada didn't want to extradite someone to a place with the death penalty.
Once he got back to California? Total circus.
- He fired his lawyers constantly.
- He filed dozens of motions.
- He complained about the food, the temperature, the lighting.
- The trial cost over $11 million.
Even though the California Supreme Court upheld his death sentence as recently as 2022, the state has a moratorium on executions. So, at 65 years old, Ng is basically just waiting out the clock. He spends his time drawing—sometimes the same kind of disturbing sketches that were found in his cell decades ago.
What We Get Wrong About the "Partnership"
People love to talk about Ng being "under the thumb" of Lake. His defense team pushed that hard. They said Lake was the mastermind and Ng was just a follower with a rough childhood.
But the evidence says otherwise. The journals and the videos show a partnership of equals in cruelty. Ng wasn't some brainwashed kid; he was a former Marine who had been dishonorably discharged for stealing weapons. He brought a level of tactical knowledge and coldness that Lake, who was mostly a delusional rambler, lacked. They fed off each other. It was a "perfect storm" of two deeply broken people finding each other at exactly the wrong time.
Actionable Insights for True Crime Researchers
If you're looking into this case or similar cold cases, here's how to look at the data:
- Follow the DNA: The identification of Reggie Frisby proves that "unidentified" doesn't mean "unidentifiable." Organizations like the Calaveras Cold Case Task Force are still working on the remaining bone fragments.
- Check the Aliases: Lake lived as "Charles Gunnar" and "Alan Drey" for years. If you're researching missing persons from the 1980s in Northern California, checking for identity theft is a key step.
- The "Collector" Archetype: This case is the primary real-world example of "The Collector" psychology. If you're studying criminal profiling, Lake's journals provide a rare, albeit disgusting, look into the "logic" of a survivalist-type serial killer.
The Wilseyville story isn't over. With every new DNA match, another family gets a sliver of peace. It's a reminder that even forty years later, the truth has a way of surfacing from the dirt.
For those interested in the forensic side of the case, you should look into the Calaveras Cold Case Task Force. They are the ones currently using Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) to process the 1,000+ bone fragments still left from the Wilseyville site. Checking their public updates is the best way to stay informed on new victim identifications.