Honolulu Star-Bulletin
HAWAII:
Convicted
murderer commits suicide
Richard
Lee Tuck Chong was found dead Tuesday in his cellblock at the
federal penitentiary in Lompoc, Calif.
Assistant
federal public defender Michael Weight, who represented Chong in a
federal murder case, said he was notified by the penitentiary's
chaplain of Chong's death.
It
is believed Chong, 50, took his life Tuesday night, Weight said.
"This
was a calculated decision on his part," he said.
Weight
declined to provide further details of Chong's death.
Chong,
known as "China," was the 1st person to face the death
penalty in Hawaii since the 1950s, but at the end of June, Chong was
sentenced to life in prison for the murder of William Noa Jr. over a
$100 drug debt.
Chong
had a history of violence that included sexually assaulting and
robbing a 48-year-old woman, holding an ice pick to an inmate's
throat while sodomizing him and robbing 2 woman at a Manoa home.
Chong
was transferred from the Oahu Community Correctional Center to the
San Bernardino Penitentiary in August before he was sent to the
penitentiary at Lompoc.
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