The elderly couple accused of gunning down their New York Times executive son-in-law last month in the San Francisco Bay Area said Monday that he had threatened their lives.
Shili Chen and Shouyong Zhang, both 77, made the claim through their attorney, Curtis Briggs, during a plea hearing. They pleaded not guilty to murder in the death of Times’ games engineering director Jonathan McKinsey, 40.
Mr. Briggs said McKinsey wanted to hire a hit man to kill Ms. Chen and Mr. Zhang, who purchased weapons earlier this year in fear for their lives.
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Prosecutors said during Monday’s plea hearing that the couple took aim at McKinsey during a supervised visit with his children.
McKinsey was in the middle of a bitter custody battle with his estranged wife, the daughter of Ms. Chen and Mr. Zhang, when the Sept. 26 shooting occurred at a public park in Alameda County.
“Mr. McKinsey was ordered by a court that he couldn’t be around his children alone. He had to pay for a social worker to be present, and he had to meet in a public place,” Mr. Briggs said during the hearing, according to KRON-TV. “So obviously any family member is going to be concerned about whether he’s going to be violent toward those grandkids, and any reasonable family member would want to be in the area in case something happens.”
McKinsey allegedly struck his 6-year-old son and left their 2-year-old alone when he went shopping, according to court records obtained by SFGate.
The family court records revealed that McKinsey accused his wife of using anti-LGBTQ slurs and physically harming him after his sex change operation. McKinsey started identifying as a man in 2010 and underwent procedures to change his appearance.
Ms. Chen and Mr. Zhang are being held without bond in Santa Rita Jail.
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