IRVINE, Calif. — Mid-1997 was a tumultuous period for Danny Pang, the CEO of Private Equity Management Group in Irvine, Calif. He left a venture-capital firm where he was a top executive, accused of a $3 million theft from an escrow account, which he denies. And in May of that year, somebody murdered his wife. Janie Louise Pang, who was 33, had worked on and off as a stripper. She had married at 16 and had two children before she married Mr. Pang. That marriage evidently was stormy. The police were called to their home four times for domestic-disturbance complaints, including a 1993 incident in which Ms. Pang said she was afraid Mr. Pang “was going to kill her.” She also told police her husband had drained value from her parents’ home and spent it on “gambling, women, alcohol, etc.” She said Mr. Pang once had broken her nose, forced her to withdraw $70,000 from the bank and gambled it away in one night. Mr. Pang, through a spokesman, denied any of these events took place and said any