Liren Chen: Google employee charged with beating wife to death was found ‘spattered with blood’ by cops
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA: California prosecutors alleged on Friday, January 19, said that a man, who appears to be a Google engineer, went on a rampage against his wife this week, punching her repeatedly in the head until she died and he was “spattered with blood", as per The Daily Beast.
27-year-old Liren Chen is accused of beating his wife, Xuanyi Yu, to death in their Santa Clara, California, home on Tuesday, January 16.
Liren Chen was 'spattered with blood'
A news release from the district attorney's office on Friday, January 19, stated that Santa Clara police were called to the house on Tuesday, January 16, morning to do a welfare check after an acquaintance expressed concerns to them about Chen and his wife.
Chen’s wife is not named in the documents but property records show he was married to Yu, a fellow Google engineer, and they owned a home together, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The acquaintance told police that the last time they saw Chen was through the window of his home and he was, "motionless on his knees, had his hands in the air and was staring blankly". Chen refused to answer his phone or the door.
Police entered the home and found Chen, “spattered with blood with his wife’s body nearby,” the press release said.
Chen was placed under arrest. They said that his wife, who was lying on the floor behind Chen, had sustained serious head injuries.
“In the bedroom directly behind where Chen had been standing, officers located the deceased victim on the floor,” the press release said. "She had severe blunt-force injuries to her head.”
Police also instantly noticed injuries on Chen’s hand along with blood splattered across his clothing and body.
“Chen’s right hand was extremely swollen and purple,” the release added. "He had blood on his clothing, legs, arms, and hands and scratches on his arm.”
Chen was working with Google
Chen's initial arraignment was postponed since he was admitted to the hospital following the incident. He was due to be arraigned again on Friday at 1.30 pm. If found guilty, he would be sentenced to life in jail without the chance of release.
Chen has worked on the YouTube Shorts recommendation during his three years as a software engineer at Google, according to a LinkedIn profile under his name.
Yu's name appears on a LinkedIn profile that lists her as a former employee of Amazon. She was also a software developer at Google.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen has also advised anyone who believes they may know someone who is experiencing domestic abuse to get in touch with police authorities.
"Domestic violence deaths have been falling in our county but that does not measure the depth and destructiveness of the violence," Rosen said in the release.
