Spanaway man accused of killing contractor over tile work payment has been charged
A man accused of fatally shooting a contractor Saturday inside his Spanaway home after an argument over the price of tile work has been charged, according to court records.
Prosecutors charged Yoon Myong Bang, 73, with first-degree murder Monday for the death of a 52-year-old man who had been working at Bang’s home as a contractor for about a week. The name of the contractor has not been publicly released.
Bang pleaded not guilty at arraignment in Pierce County Superior Court and his bail was set at $1 million. He was arrested Saturday.
Charging papers made these allegations about what happened:
Deputies responded to a report of a shooting Saturday evening at a residence on 150th Street South. When they arrived, Bang and his wife came out of the house.
According to the declaration for determination of probable cause, Bang approached a deputy and calmly told him he’d shot someone. Bang was detained and told deputies the gun was on a chair in the living room.
Inside, deputies found the 52-year-old contractor lying on the floor of the master bedroom with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.
A witness who also had been doing tile work for Bang told deputies they had been remodeling a bathroom as private contractors for about a week. He said the other contractor and Bang had been bickering over the quality of the work, but there hadn’t been any physical altercations or threats between them before the shooting.
On Saturday, Bang and the victim had been arguing about a leak in a toilet he’d reinstalled, the witness told deputies. Bang allegedly told the contractor he wouldn’t pay him for the work, and that he needed to leave.
The contractor told Bang that if he wasn’t going to be paid for his work, he would get a hammer and break up the tile he had installed, according to the probable cause statement. The contractor went to get the hammer from his truck.
Meanwhile, prosecutors wrote, Bang retrieved a handgun.
The contractor returned with the hammer and struck the bathroom counter with it, but didn’t cause damage, the witness told deputies. Bang allegedly threatened the contractor with the gun, saying he would shoot him if he busted up the tile.
Bang then grabbed the witness and moved him out of the way, telling him he didn’t want him to get shot, according to the probable cause statement. The 52-year-old contractor pushed past Bang to leave the bathroom and Bang followed. Then, the witness heard a gunshot.
Bang’s wife was in the backyard during the incident, prosecutors wrote. She told deputies she went into the house after she heard the gunshot.
Prosecutors wrote that the witness left the bathroom and saw the contractor lying on the floor and bleeding from the head. Bang told the witness to call 911. The witness left the house and called 911. He reported that Bang acted “like it was no big deal,” according to the court document.
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 1:13 PM.
