Rowland Heights: November 2007 Archives

Below is the web update that will appear on SGVN in a few minutes. There's not much more to report. Manling is still dressed int he Yellow and blue garb which indicates she is in protective custody and may be a danger to herself. Upon entering the courtroom she briefly acknowledged her family then turned away. Throughout William's voice was barely audible when answering questions from Judge Robert Martinez.

She was handcuffed to a courtroom chair for the duration of the hearing and  led away as soon as it finished. Williams did not look back at her family or the family of her deceased husband upon leaving.

[BODY]POMONA — Prosecutors shared evidence Thursday with attorneys for a woman accused of killing her husband and two children and agreed to hold a preliminary hearing in the case on Jan. 28.
The evidence exchange took place minutes before a brief hearing in the Pomona Court for Man-ling Williams, 28, of Rowland Heights.
“There’s a significant amount of discovery,” defense attorney Tom Althaus told Superior Court Judge Robert Martinez.
When asked by Martinez what materials might be contained in the package, Althaus was interrupted by prosecutor Paik Kouch who gave the judge a generic list of its contents.
“There’s a tremendous amount of material,” Kouch said. “There’s a list of additional witness, field reports from investigators and C.S.I. people as well as supplemental reports.”
Neither Kouch nor Althaus revealed the specific contents of the discovery materials.
Williams is accused of stabbing her husband Neal, 27, to death with a sword and of suffocating the couples’ two young boys, Devon, 7, and Ian, 3.
At her initial hearing in the case, Williams' first defense attorney, Kenneth Wenzl, said Williams detailed her involvement in the killings of her husband and sons.
Sheriff’s officials confirmed there was a confession.
Besides the three counts of murder, Williams faces special circumstance allegations of lying in wait prior to the slaying of the children, and three counts of multiple murder.
In addition to her apparent confession, the case against Williams appears to hinge on her shifting story to neighbors and detectives immediately after the bodies were discovered.
At first, she allegedly told neighbors she couldn’t sleep and took a drive. She said she discovered the bodies upon her return home.
“She provided some statements that proved incriminating,” said Sgt. Bill Marsh, lead homicide detective in the case for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Both sides had hoped they could delay a preliminary hearing in the case, but Martinez would not budge and scheduled a Jan. 28 hearing date, with a Jan. 15 status conference.
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This from the wires:

Thursday, 8:30 a.m. POMONA - A preliminary hearing date is scheduled to be set for Manling Tsang Williams, who is charged with capital murder in the slayings of her husband and the couple’s two young sons at the family’s Rowland Heights home. Dept. S, Pomona

According to Crime scene sources attorneys for Manling (man-ling) Williams tossed her apartment this afternoon for several hours.
Williams is accused of slashing her husband to death with a sword and smothering her two boys. She will appear in court later this month in Pomona for a preliminary hearing. The assumption here is that her attorneys were looking for any evidence that would dispute the state's case.
Of course there's not much they could find that would cast doubt on the alleged confession Williams made shortly after the murders.