Deyun Shi: Man found guilty of murdering 2 teenage nephews as 'revenge' against estranged wife's family

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

ARCADIA, CALIFORNIA: A man was found guilty on March 13 of killing his estranged wife's two teenage nephews in their Arcadia home with a bat.

The Alhambra jury heard the case late on Tuesday, March 12 and found Deyun Shi, 52, guilty on two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Anthony Lin, 15, who was attacked with bolt cutters on January 22, 2016, and William, the teen's 16-year-old brother, who was killed while studying in a separate room. 

Deyun Shi's sentence hinges on sanity verdict

Jurors also found the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and his personal use of a deadly weapon to be true.

The 52-year-old man was found guilty of one count of corporal injury for attacking his estranged-wife in La Cañada Flintridge the night before the killings with a wood-splitting tool.

Beginning on March 14 afternoon in court, the next phase of the trial will require jurors to determine whether Shi was sane or not at the time of the crimes, Pasadena Star-News reported.

If jurors find that he was sane, he could be sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole.

During her closing argument on Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney MacKenzie Teymouri informed the jury that Shi orchestrated the bludgeoning deaths of the teenagers as an “act of revenge” against the family of his divorcing wife.

Vicki Podberesky, one of Shi's lawyers, contended that her client was insane and hadn't planned or premeditated the attack.

Shi purchased a one-way ticket from Los Angeles International Airport to Hong Kong; upon arrival at the airport, he was taken into custody and returned to the United States to face charges.

The deputy district attorney informed the jury that Shi's wife had been at the hospital with the father of the teens following the attack, which resulted in a broken nose and injuries to her head.

Shi "put the need for retribution" ahead of the lives of two defenseless children, according to the prosecutor.

Deyun Shi is accused of being abusive and controlling with his wife

The prosecutor stated that Shi had been "abusive and controlling" with his wife for more than ten years before she found strength in her family's support after moving from China to the United States, and that she had recently filed for divorce.

Shi's estranged wife had requested a temporary restraining order against him.

According to the deputy district attorney, Shi was "in his right mind" and "knows what he's doing is wrong" based on "every act along the way."

Teymouri played surveillance footage for the jurors, claiming it demonstrated "absolutely nothing unusual about the defendant" during his time at Los Angeles International Airport and that his one-way flight to Hong Kong fit his escape plan to go to neighboring China in order to avoid punishment.

The two teenage boys were "brutally bludgeoned" in what Podberesky described as a "tragic, tragic case," but she said the question for jurors to consider is whether her client had the mental capacity to plan and premeditate the killings.

According to the defense attorney, Shi had a history of mental health problems that were recorded in Chinese hospital records as early as when he was fifteen years old.

Prosecution failed to prove deliberation in killings

According to Podberesky, the evidence is consistent with a finding of "psychosis" resulting from schizoaffective disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Invoking "inexplicable acts of rage" committed by Shi in the months preceding the killings, Shi's lawyer informed the jury that his behavior was "so unprecedented" that his wife had applied for a restraining order against him.

“This is not a controlling man … This is a man who is deteriorating,” Podberesky said.

The defense lawyer informed the jury that Shi was under the impression that the victims' father was using unusual equipment to monitor him. “These are not beliefs based in reality. They are delusions,” she said.

It's a "real fallacy to believe that somebody who's experiencing a deterioration of mental health can't do things," like drive a car, according to Shi's attorney.

Podberesky pointed out that there was no proof Shi had ever shown the teens any ill will.

In arguing against first-degree murder, she claimed that the prosecution had not met its burden of proof in showing that the killings were carried out with premeditation and deliberation.

The prosecutor countered in her rebuttal that it was "never about the nephews," but rather about exacting "the ultimate revenge" on the boys' father.

The defendant was "deliberate in every one of his actions," according to the deputy district attorney, who stated that what counts is whether the defendant was able to premeditate and deliberate at the time of the crimes.

Shi was "not in an active state of psychosis" at the time of the attacks, according to the prosecutor. Teymouri instructed the jury to "find him fully responsible for his actions on that day."