Sunset Park

Sunset Park murder caused by family dispute in China

Jurors watch video of defendant allegedly confessing

June 26, 2017 By Paul Frangipane Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Wu Long Chen is on trial before a jury and Judge Neil Firetog at Brooklyn Supreme Court for allegedly killing a man in cold blood. Eagle file photo by Paul Frangipane.
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Jurors were shown a confession video in Brooklyn Supreme Court Monday of a Chinese military veteran who killed a man in cold blood on a Sunset Park street amid a 20-year family dispute in China.

“I shot him three times,” Wu Long Chen said to an interpreter in a confession video shown in court. “I held a grudge for revenge.”

Detective Kevin McDonough testified in Chen’s trial and guided the jury through surveillance videos that allegedly showed Chen trailing Ying Guan Chen, 68, for multiple Sunset Park blocks before he pulled out a gun and shot the victim in the head, chest and forearm, leaving him to die on the floor of a Popeye’s restaurant.

In an interview with Wu Long Chen, McDonough said Chen identified himself in the video.

“He was seeking retribution,” McDonough said of Chen, explaining that a fight between families in China caused Chen to hold a grudge.

The video showed Wu Long Chen and Ying Guan Chen at a wedding in the Golden Imperial Palace restaurant at 618 Sixth Ave. in Sunset Park on Dec. 7, 2015. Both men were sitting at different tables before Wu Long Chen stepped outside into the parking lot.

Jurors sat on the edge of their seats as they watched Ying Guan Chen exit the wedding and Wu Long Chen emerge from the shadows, following behind. The two walked to Seventh Avenue and turned onto 61st Street, where Wu Long Chen can be seen allegedly shooting the man in front of him, eventually ending up on top of the man with a gun to his head.

Chen dropped the gun when it jammed as he tried to shoot his target a fourth time before the victim left a bloody trail running into the Popeye’s restaurant on the corner, according to prosecutors.

Wu Long Chen fled to Loredo, Texas in an effort to make his way to Mexico and take a plane back to China, but was caught on Dec. 31, 2015.

McDonough and Detective Raymond Weng, fluent in Mandarin Chinese, took a New Year’s Day flight to Loredo to interview Chen, where he allegedly told the detectives that a family feud sparked the killing.

The brothers and sons of the victim allegedly attacked Chen’s brothers and sisters more than 20 years ago in China and were not brought to justice, according to Chen.

McDonough pointed out that the victim made no direct harm to Chen’s family.

“He felt that because he couldn’t find the victim’s sons, he would seek retribution by killing the victim instead,” McDonough said.

 

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