Google engineer allegedly slain by husband identified in court documents
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SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — A woman who, according to prosecutors, was savagely beaten to death by her husband inside their Santa Clara home was identified in court documents.

The murder victim was identified as 27-year-old Xuanyi Yu, according to court documents filed by prosecutors in Santa Clara County. Yu and her husband, Liren Chen, both worked for Google as software engineers at the time of the killing.

A Google spokesperson, Bailey Tomson, told KRON4 Monday, “We are shocked and deeply saddened by what has happened to Xuanyi. Our thoughts are with her family at this time, and we are working to provide support to them and to co-workers who are processing this tragic news.”

Chen, 27, made a chilling confession after police officers found his wife’s lifeless body on the floor of the couple’s blood-splattered bedroom on January 16. Paramedics asked Chen how he hurt his right hand, which was “extremely swollen and purple,” Santa Clara Police Department Detective Frank Hagg wrote in court documents.

Chen replied, “I punched my wife,” according to Hagg. Paramedics asked him when, and he allegedly answered, “Yesterday.”

An Android character is displayed at Google headquarters on December 19, 2023 in Mountain View. (Photo by Justin Sullivan /Getty Images)

The detective wrote, “Based on my training and experience … I believe suspect Chen murdered his wife, victim Yu, by striking her in the head repeatedly.”

Chen has no prior criminal record within the county, court records show.

The Google engineers’ friends told police that they first became worried about the couple during a dinner party.

The night before Yu was found dead, she and her husband hosted a dinner party inside their house, located at 713 Valley Way in Santa Clara. One friend told police that “he was concerned about a noticeable change in Chen’s demeanor. Chen was quiet and staring blankly for much of the evening,” Hagg wrote.

Xuanyi Yu’s LinkedIn page (Screenshot)

The friend was so unnerved by Chen’s sudden behavior change that he went back to the house the following morning. After no one answered the front door, he looked through a window and saw Chen “motionless on his knees, had his hands in the air, and was staring blankly,” the detective wrote.

When police arrived at the house, officers found the husband covered in blood and standing near Yu’s body. “She had severe blunt force injuries to her head and there was significant blood spatter on the floor, wall, and the back of the bedroom door where she was found,” Hagg wrote.

The District Attorney’s Office charged Chen with first-degree murder.

In addition to the murder charge, prosecutors filed special allegations that Chen targeted a vulnerable victim, took advantage of a position of trust, and used violence with a “high degree of cruelty, viciousness, or callousness,” a felony criminal complaint states.

Ever since his arrest, Chen has been a no-show in court. He failed to show up in court multiple times for arraignment, and inmate records show he remained in a hospital Monday with no bail.

His next court date is scheduled for February 5, at 1:30 p.m. in the Hall of Justice. He has not entered a plea.

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