Prosecutor: Revenge fueled man's attack on wife, fatal beating of nephews in Arcadia
A man out for revenge broke into his La Cañada Flintridge home on Jan. 21, 2016, attacked his estranged wife with a wood-splitting tool then headed to Arcadia the next day where he beat to death his two nephews with a bolt cutter, a prosecutor told a jury Thursday.
Deyun Shi's wife, Amy Lin, had filed for a divorce. Her abusive husband found out about it during a court hearing over a temporary restraining order his mother-in-law wanted against him, Deputy District Attorney Mackenzie Teymouri said during opening statements during Shi's murder trial at Alhambra Superior Court.
Before that hearing, she said, Shi went on a Chinese website similar to Quora and asked whether a Chinese citizen who returns to China after committing a crime overseas could avoid punishment. That showed he had an idea, Teymouri added.
When he found out about the divorce, he had a plan, she said.
Shi faces life in prison without parole if convicted in the Jan. 22, 2016, killings of 15-year-old Anthony Lin and 16-year-old William Lin and injuring his wife the day before.
He was also charged with the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders as well as the allegations that he personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a bolt cutter, to commit the murders, inflicted great bodily injury on his wife under circumstances involving domestic violence and personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a maul, in the attack on his spouse.
“The defendant took a bolt cutter and bludgeoned Anthony Lim in the head. Only the head. Killing him as he slept,” Teymouri said.
His other nephew fought back. William Lin had significant injuries to his head and injuries to his arm consistent with someone who fought for his life, she said.
Vicki Podberesky, who is one of Shi's lawyers, said this case is about mental health.
“On Jan. 21 and Jan. 22, 2016, Mr. Shi was acting under an active mental illness,” she said.
Shi has schizoaffective traumatic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, Podberesky said.
Medical records will show in 1986 he had his first hospitalization in China. He was manic, delusional and acted violently, Podberesky said. He was in the hospital for 30 days.
In 1998, she said, Shi had another psychotic break and ended up in the hospital again. He was committing self-harm and had paranoia, she added.
The second hospital stay was also 30 days. He received electroshock therapy again, she said.
Shi also was taken twice by the Disciplinary Committee in China and detained for 30 days each time, Podberesky said. The jury will hear from witnesses how he acted after being released, she said.
Wearing glasses and a long-sleeved shirt, the now 52-year-old Shi did not look at his son and former wife as they testified. Several Mandarin translators translated for Shi and his ex-wife.
Shi was a businessman from China. In 2014, the Shi family moved to the United States, where Shi's brotherin-law, David Lin, lived in Arcadia with his wife and two sons. Shi's wife, Amy Lin, said they bought a home in Arcadia, then later moved to a house on Vista Miguel Drive in La Cañada Flintridge.
Shi didn't like his brother-in-law, who would later tell his sister about restraining orders.
Amy Lin testified that her husband would hit and kick her, a few years after their 1999 marriage. He didn't like her brother and her parents.
Amy Lin filed for a temporary restraining order alleging domestic violence and his mother-in-law also asked for a temporary restraining order claiming elder abuse on Dec. 31, 2015, according to court records. Shi was served with the restraining order on Jan. 8, 2016, and had to leave his home.
His older son, Torres Shi, testified that his father wanted to come to the house and talk to his mother. He wanted his son to leave a door unlocked.
On Jan. 21, 2016, Torres said he was in his room when he saw his father at his window. His mother and his younger brother were sleeping in her room. He opened a door, which triggered the alarm. His father ran away, he said.
Amy Lin woke up and asked what happened. He told her he opened a door accidentally. She remembered he told her he opened a window. She reset the alarm and saw on the alarm system that the garage door was open.
The alarm went off again around 11 p.m., she said. Amy Lin said she woke up suddenly, sat up and saw Shi in front of her with a metal object in his hand.
“He didn't say anything to me,” she said, adding he started hitting her with the object.
Her oldest son heard a loud noise like someone banging on a door. He saw the door to the restroom of the master bedroom open and heard a noise coming from that room.
“It was my mother screaming,” he said. He saw his father hitting his mother on the head with a metal object.
“He was on top of my mother. He was holding my mother so she wouldn't get up,” Torres said.
The then-teen pulled his father off his mother and had a hold of the elder Shi who made a beeline for the kitchen and outside. Shi said to let him go quickly or the police will come soon, according to his son.
Amy Lin testified she pried her husband's fingers off the metal object, took it and put it on the kitchen counter. She suffered a broken nose and lacerations to her head. She called 911. While in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, she called her brother. He and his wife went to the hospital.
The Lins' two sons were at the town house in the 400 block of Fairview Avenue in Arcadia when Shi showed up the early morning hours of Jan. 22, 2016, and attacked his nephews, the prosecution said. He left bloody shoes prints outside one of the nephew's room and in the town house.
He washed the blood off himself, changed clothes and headed to LAX where he bought a one-way ticket to Hong Kong, she said.
Authorities caught him in Hong Kong.
The criminal case against Shi was halted when a judge found him mentally incompetent to stand trial in 2017. A grand jury indicted him in 2018.
The trial continues today.