chen family murders virginia

He was sentenced to 36 years in prison. Bramblett was executed by electric chair on April 9, 2003. However, Anthony and Eddy often came to her home to play with her puppies. [2] Bramblett displayed anger and stated that the "son of a bitch offed his family and killed himself", which indicated prior knowledge and immediately made him a prime suspect.[1]. Chen was arraigned in Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on Monday. The boys father was in the United States legally, but their mother was not, according to unnamed sources quoted by Newsday. As many of the people they sought to interview were Chinese and did not speak fluent English, detectives had to determine which dialect the witnesses used and find appropriate interpreters. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. Samantha was eventually picked up that day by a friend of Eds. Although the police had no idea that the family was missing, she claimed that the triple murder occurred in August 1995. Their bodies were discovered by a coworker of Chens, who went to the home after Chen reportedly failed to show up for work at a nearby Chinese restaurant. Michael said he and Ed met, and Ed had told him weird stories and asked him strange questions about dead people, and what he would do to get rid of dead bodies. Despite more than 600 leads in the case, investigators couldnt zero in on any suspects. When our officers drive by the [Chen] home, I dont think there is any officer that doesnt think about what happened there that day.. Shortly after, Edward Chen began dating Mandy Kolbe. Ed had told Vickie his parents and brother had all died tragically. Members of the Henry County Sheriff's Office announced a new task force will take a new look into the murders of the. He was sixty-one years old at the time of his death, choosing the electric chair over lethal injection as a form of protest. In the early afternoon of October 8, 2014, a coworker of Jin Chen, 39, of Guilderland, New York, United States found the bodies of Chen, his wife and their two children in their home. A World Journal reporter in attendance later told the Albany Times-Union that she and her colleagues believed the family knew more about what might have led to the killings than they were ready to say publicly. He said his parents had heard the noise, and he went into their bedroom. Related Features: Although Mandy and Edward kept meeting up in secret, he seemed to be in good spirits in August of 1995 and claimed that no one would stop them from living together ever again. Investigators looked into links to gangs and human trafficking, according to media reports. Vickie started becoming suspicious when she would get phone calls about a Raymond Chen, Eds brother. Soares said, "The reasons why you would take the life of children? [6][4], The crime stunned Guilderland, normally a quiet suburb. She said both of the brothers "were sweet." Edward Chen returned with his family to Great Falls and killed them so that he could continue dating Kolbe, Horan said. The murders captivated the region for decades. [3], A neighbor told the Albany Times-Union later that the family lived what to him appeared to be a fairly normal life. Also, how do you WILLINGLY help someone cut up bodies and dump them. He requested the services of a public defender, but Judge Jane Delbridge found he has sufficient financial resources to pay for an attorney. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Jin Feng Chen, 39; his wife, Hai Yan Li, 38; and their children, Anthony, 10, and Eddy, 7, were found bludgeoned to death October 8, 2014 inside their bungalow in Guilderland, a suburb of Albany, New York. I couldnt find any pictures of the whole family. Police are continuing to investigate and said autopsies will be done to determine the victims' exact cause and manner of death. [2] Edward Chen, the Chens' younger son and Raymond's younger brother, is now charged with three counts of murder. Interestingly, the court initially considered Edwards confession in police custody inadmissible, but Mandy, Michael, and Vickies testimonies helped strengthen the case. A young man named Edward Chen was charged with shooting his father, mother and brother with a rifle, stuffing their corpses into duffel bags weighted down with concrete, and dumping them in Chesapeake Bay. [1], Local law enforcement officials said later that the investigation progressed very slowly during its first 48 hours, a crucial period. I've never murdered anybody. However, their efforts were hampered by seemingly unfounded rumors and language barriers. Bramblett's sister provided police with a box he had left with her, which contained several audiotapes on which he spoke of his sexual attraction to 11-year-old Winter Hodges, and of his belief that the family, including Winter, was conspiring to set him up for child molestation charges. Soon police gathered additional incriminating evidence against Bramblett. While the family was considered good-natured and quite generous, people who knew them mentioned how they would frequently travel to Taiwan to meet their relatives. He denied an early report that they had been shot, and later details emerged that the victims had been beaten with a hammer;[5] later accounts said they were stabbed as well. Catherine Kitty Pappas Murder: Is George Joseph Cvek Dead or Alive. The police believed that Ed Chen had killed his family, but they needed proof. Soon they had a new baby daughter. Fairfax County, Va, officials arrest 27-year-old Edward Chen for 1995 murders of parents and brother (S) Ed said he had to use his brothers name to take care of his familys business accounts. A deputy's body cam video . HENRY COUNTY, Va. A decades-old murder case now has new leads. Ed Chen murdered his moth It was pretty devastating, Muller says of the crime. Wu-Hung and Weh-Mei Chen, natives of Taiwan, continued to frequently visit their two sons, Raymond and Edward, at their Great Falls home in Fairfax, Virginia. [3] In addition to the NYPD and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), both of which made interpreters available, investigators had reached out for help to police departments not only in other North American cities with large Asian populations, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and Montreal, but to law enforcement in China, as well. [2], Having found Blaine Hodges' body next to a gun, police at first theorized that Blaine had killed his family and then himself; Blaine, a former U.S. It was implied that Chang and his family might have been killed by an attendee who knew he kept large amounts of cash in the house. Although he admitted Chen hosted card games, he said they were intimate events that were only attended by family and close friends (viaA&E). [3], A year after the killings, Scott Coburn, head of the state police's criminal investigations bureau, said that 600 leads had come in from various sources, which he considered to be unusually low for a crime this serious. Horan had announced that he would not seek the death penalty, but Chen still could have faced three life sentences if convicted by a jury. In the meantime, the younger Chen, like his brother a graduate of Herndon High School, sold the family's home in Seneca Knoll for $310,000. Her sisters, Caroline and Mary, were widows who helped the unmarried Virginian run the boarding school for girls. Tue, October 8th 2019, 2:15 PM PDT. Two sons, Anthony and Eddy, were born in 2004 and 2007 respectively. I dont believe hes sorry about what he did. The house is situated among homes that in today's rising market are valued between $800,000 and $1,000,000. However, Mandy allegedly never reported the incident to the police out of fear and instead settled with Edward before having a child together and staying married for a year. Edward Chen Mandy got pregnant and Edward married her. Though police are searching for the family's remains, Horan, who's never lost a murder trial, said he thinks he can get a conviction even without the bodies. Michael Reese was not charged with his crime. According to some reports, large amounts of cash which came from various sources financed an underground network of undocumented Chinese citizens living in the area. Once questioned, Mandy mentioned that her relationship with Edward was quite challenging since his family was against the union. Investigation Discoverys Forbidden: Dying For Love: Family Matters chronicles the strange incident and shows how the police built a case against the perpetrator even without the bodies. Franklin was put to death in 2013 for a different murder. At the time of his arrest he was living in an apartment he rented at Worldgate in Herndon. However, there was little other evidence suggesting who killed the family or why. [6] They attended the local elementary school. Feng Lu, 58, was taken into custody when he landed in San Francisco on a flight from China, Gonzalez said. Its season 4 episode 6, titled Ghost of Great Falls.. At this rate, the police still didnt have the bodies, but they did decide to do one more thing. Ed moved out, except he didnt take everything. Sources involved in the investigation say Chen allegedly handled large amounts of off-the-books cash that came from an underground economy of undocumented Chinese restaurant workers running from New York City to upstate New York and beyond, the Times Union reported. Ed Chen murdered his mother, father, and brother in their home and went undiscovered until . HENRY COUNTY, Va. - It's a case that's gone unsolved for almost two decades. [3], In 2018, Robert Patnaude, commander of state police Troop G, which covers the Albany area, reiterated earlier pleas for help from the public, noting that sometimes even apparently trivial and innocuous information has solved cases. After the boys deaths, the local school district created a memorial scholarship in their name to benefit a graduating senior going into a field of study related to the environment. However, authorities never confirmed his involvement. IN THE MEANTIME, another innocent family moved into the house and fell in love with it. Soares said law enforcement officials are dealing with "one of the most complicated sets of circumstances [they] ever experienced in an investigation.". [5], Police were slow to release information, and much of what was reported in the early days of the case came from relatives of the Chens who talked to the Chinese media at a news conference in New York City's Chinatown. The woman who alerted authorities three years ago to a triple murder in Great Falls, committed by her ex-boyfriend Edward Y. Chen, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Alexandria to. One day, Vickie found passports that belonged to his parents, and the last stamp on the passports was from the U.S. Vickie told the police there was another person who could back up her story, Eds ex-wife, Mandy. He and a friend dumped the bodies in the Chesapeake Bay, and Chen sold the house, keeping the crime not just unsolved but unknown. Police were called to the scene and determined that the family had been killed sometime in the hours before dawn that day by either a knife or a hammer. In 1998, according to court records, Chen assumed his brother's identity and began selling the family's homes. They dismembered the bodies, poured concrete on them, put them in duffel bags and took them out to the Chesapeake Bay and dumped them. In spring of 2002, the Fairfax police received a tip from Eds ex-fiance, a woman name Vickie Taylor. That night, he admitted to investigators that he had purchased a .30-30 Winchester rifle, went into his family members' bedrooms in the middle of the night and shot them. Michael said he would cut them up and throw them in the ocean. Edward Y. Chen admitted in a Fairfax County courtroom yesterday that he shot his parents and older brother to death inside their Great Falls home in 1995, then left their bodies inside the house. He killed his bother Raymond first, and shot him in the upper chest area. Drawings of stick figures with arrows that corresponded to the Hodges' bullet wounds were found at Bramblett's place of employment. Chen said he shot them because they were trying to break up his relationship with his girlfriend. [7] At the beginning of 2014, another Chinese family of four were found shot in the heads in their home outside Houston, Texas. [1] Chief Lawlor said, nonetheless, that there had been no evidence her department knew of that anything illegal was going on at the Chens' house or another one next door that had also been occupied by Chinese immigrants. Wu-Hung and Yei-Mei were constantly traveling to Taiwan, often leaving the two boys at home in their large home. Muller is the pastor of Victory Church, located in Albany, which has offered a $5,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) The family of a man shot and killed in 2017 has filed a lawsuit against the security guard accused of his murder as well as his employer and a community association. Jin Feng Chen and Hai Yan Li were natives of China's Fujian province. However, they did not find any links to the Chen family or the murders. July 17, 2022 In a strange and surprising development, one Vickie Henry called the Fairfax County police department and claimed that she had information about the murders of Wu-Hung, Weh-Mei, and Raymond Chen. The child, who was living with her father, is being cared for by friends, Horan said. Police were also frustrated when Apple refused their initial requests to release the Chens' iPhone records. Horan has indicated he will consider seeking the death sentence for the younger Chen. Unfortunately, they have not been able to identify any viable suspects or persons of interest. Chen had owned a restaurant, but the business was all but closed for about two years, leading to questions about how he made a living, sources also told the newspaper. The police also took Vickies story with a grain of salt at first, because they maybe thought she was a jealous ex. They did just that. Chen, the newspaper said, had allegedly been involved in large transfers of unrecorded cash used to pay undocumented Chinese workers at restaurants in the New York City area, the Capital District and beyond,[9] transporting them from Chinatown to their jobs and back and providing accommodation in cities too far away for day bus trips. Police requested an interview with Bramblett, during which they told him the family had died in a fire, without mentioning the evidence of violence. This page is not available in other languages. Nevertheless, she finally convinced authorities to start an investigation and helped them get in touch with Edwards ex-wife, Mandy Kolbe. He revealed the crime to Kolbe, but she said she didn't report it because she both loved and feared Chen. THOUGH NO MOTIVE was cited, investigators are sifting possible evidence that Chen assumed his older brother's identity and lived off the profit from real estate transactions. I also think its bullshit that Michael Reese was never charged. To listen please click below or find us wherever you listen to podcasts. When he told the same story in the United States, he changed the location of the car wreck to Taiwan, Horan said. [5], Bramblett's case was featured on the popular CourtTV crime show Forensic Files - Season 8, Episode 16: "Private Thoughts"[6] and Discovery Channel's The New Detectives - Season 4, Episode 4: "Dead Wrong".[7]. Eventually, the police discovered blood splatters belonging to Wu-Hung at the Chen family home, but the bodies were never recovered. She had grown up not only in the town but in the neighborhood where the Chens lived, which made it affect her even more. It was determined that it was Wu-Hungs blood. Edward lived off rental incomes for a while, but with expensive tastes and mounting bills decided to start selling the family properties. On May 29, 2019, Rachel Ozuna, her 14-year-old son Kyrrus and her boyfriend, Michael Coleman, were found in their Arlene Acres Drive home bound with their throats cut. Edward Y. Chen admitted in a Fairfax County courtroom yesterday that he shot his parents and older brother to death inside their Great Falls home in 1995, then left their bodies inside the house for nearly four years. Police were called to the scene and determined that the family had been killed sometime in the hours before dawn that day by either a knife or a hammer. Ugh, its so disgusting. But after the March 19 phone call to police by Chen's ex-girlfriend, Vickie Henry, detectives quickly investigated and arrested Chen on March 29. He was 20 when his family disappeared, according to police. The circumstances of the Chen family's death had prosecutors and investigators shaking their heads in amazement during a Good Friday press conference where the deaths, and arrests, were announced. "This is a truly rare situation," said Horan. Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Bob Horan last week outlined what is known about a seven-year-old triple homicide that allegedly occurred in a quiet neighborhood off north Seneca Road in Great Falls. They specifically believe the Chen family was killed between 3:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. As reported by A&E, authorities noted the bodies of Hai Yan Li, Anthony, and Eddy were covered in blankets. [10] Later it was reported that police had found 18 mattresses on the floor in the basement of the Chen house, further suggesting that the family had been involved in trafficking undocumented workers. Tom Jackman has been covering criminal justice for The Washington Post since 1998 and anchors the True Crime blog. He previously covered crime and courts for the Kansas City Star. You have to actually be sitting across from the person who did that to ask that question. Since his English was extremely limited, he had to ask another coworker, a relative of the Chens, to call 9-1-1 for him. [2] Firefighters and police found fire burning throughout the house. Investigators were able to collect DNA samples that might belong to a suspect, but had not been able to determine who might have left it. The woman told a police dispatcher that on Aug. 17, 1995, when Chen was 19, he shot his father, Wu-Hung Chen, 53; his mother, Yeh-Mei Chen, 52; and his brother, Raymond, 25. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2002/12/10/fairfax-man-admits-killing-parents-brother/5008dc2d-f891-41bf-bcff-c3f1aaeb9148/, https://www.monstersandcritics.com/tv/true-crime/murders-of-wu-hung-weh-mei-and-raymond-chen-by-edward-chen-spotlighted/, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2002/04/05/bodies-left-in-home-4-years-police-say/0b278b65-6233-4641-9a92-9db52de7ab2d/. Ed finally took Mandy to his parents house, and showed her the bodies. ", In addition to local authorities, The Daily Gazette reports that the FBI, Homeland Security, and state police have assisted in the investigation into the Chen family murders. He could not say yet whether the killings were the work of organized crime, but allowed that "it's certainly a theory".[4]. This was a very intentional act with very intended targets, Soares said in a October 6, 2015 press conference. Edward Y. Chen pleaded guilty this morning to three counts of first-degree murder, admitting that he shot his parents and older brother to death in their Great Falls home in 1995, then left. Edward Chen, the Chens' younger son and Raymond's younger brother, is now charged with three counts of murder. He said he bought a rifle at K-Mart. "This is truly peculiar.". All of the Chen properties were held in a family trust, with Raymond Chen appointed as trustee. [5], A week after the killings, the Times-Union reported that there was some evidence to support those claims as the New York City Police Department (NYPD) began assisting by investigating possible leads in its jurisdiction. Ed had become very unhappy and even confrontational. In a second bed they found daughters Winter (aged 11) and Anah (aged 3); both had been shot at close range, and Anah had sustained mild burns. The bodies of Wu Hong Chen, 53; Shieh Yeh-Mei Chen, 52, and Raymond Chen, 26, have never been found. You have to actually be sitting across from the person who did that to ask that question.. I am going to my death having had a great life because of my two great sons, Mike and Doug.

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