nwasianweekly.com
Dec. 9, 2006

Shirley Wang

No clemency for murderer

Twenty years ago, Shirley Wang’s life was upended when a pair of teenage boys killed her husband in his Steilacoom business.

It was a brutal murder — the kind that haunts you for years, even if you didn’t know the victim or his family. Attorneys involved back then say they still remember the details of the killing because it was so vicious and incomprehensible.

On Jan. 10, 1987, 13-year-old Barry Massey and his friend, 15-year-old Michael Edward Harris, entered Steilacoom Marina and shot its owner, Paul Wang, in the chest, then in the head execution-style. They stole “a few hundred dollars at most,” according to a Seattle Times’ report, plus candy and some inexpensive fishing poles. When they returned later, they used a fishing knife to stab Wang seven times in the head and torso.

Shirley Wang shudders when reminded of those gruesome details, but she knows she has to endure the agony once again. Two decades after these killers destroyed her life and the lives of her two children, she must deal with the possibility of seeing one of them go free.

Massey has petitioned the state Clemency and Pardons Board to free him, partly on the grounds that he was very young at the time of the murder. He also claims that he is rehabilitated.

Shirley Wang is mustering all the courage she has for this fight, and we’re on her side.

This woman’s future, and any sense of normalcy, was stripped from her the moment her husband was murdered. Overnight, she went from being a housewife in Bellevue to the sole breadwinner for her children, who were 11 and 8 at the time of the crime. Making things even tougher for Shirley was the fact that she didn’t speak English well, which made the legal proceedings all the more difficult and confusing.

While mourning the sudden loss of her husband, she had to provide support for her children, emotional as well as financial. Shirley had no choice but to learn the marina business. To survive, she also quickly learned English.

Today, the business is doing well, especially since Shirley added a seafood import-and-export component to it. When asked if she enjoys the business, she replied matter-of-factly, “I have no choice. I have to do this” to support my family.

If she could have her husband back — and if she could give her children their father back — she would.

But she can’t. For two simple reasons: Massey and Harris.

Both were sentenced to life without parole, but both have since asked to be freed. Harris was denied clemency by then-Gov. Gary Locke years ago. There’s no reason why Massey should go free either.

An innocent life was taken away for no reason. The crime was despicable and continues to torment a family. Decades later, Paul Wang’s children still can’t think about their father without remembering the violent way he died. It’s as if a dark cloud follows them everywhere they go.

Age shouldn’t be a factor here; due to the violent nature of the crime, the juvenile courts refused to hear Massey and Harris’ case and the two teens were tried as adults. If Massey is freed early, what kind of message does it send, especially to the millions of youths in America who abide by the law, who value education, who contribute to society by doing community service? The message would be this: Go ahead and screw up; you’ll get another chance.

For whatever reason, this clemency case hasn’t received the same amount of attention as Wah Mee massacre assailant Tony Ng’s ongoing parole case. More than 20 people came out in September to oppose Ng’s parole. The Wang family was basically by themselves when they testified in Olympia in late October.

Perhaps lack of community support was a factor in the clemency board’s recommendation, which was to free Massey in five years. The final decision rests in the hands of Gov. Christine Gregoire. She can go along with the board’s recommendation or not; it’s up to her.

Wang and her children hope Gregoire chooses to keep Massey in prison until his death.

Twenty years in prison does not begin to make up for memories ruined, futures shattered and the irreparable emotional damage caused by the loss of a beloved father and husband.

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