Google engineer found 'spattered with blood' after murdering wife
A 27-year-old Google engineer is facing murder charges for allegedly killing his wife, Xuanyi Yu—also a Google employee—in their California residence. The crime unfolded in Silicon Valley's Santa Clara, where Liren Chen was discovered "spattered with blood" near his wife's body. Santa Clara County's district attorney's office reported that Yu's body was found with "severe blunt force injuries to her head." The incident came to light after Chen's friend called the cops as neither of them were answering their phones.
Chen was found with swollen, purple hand
The district attorney's statement revealed that police were called by someone who knew Chen, as he wasn't responding to phone calls or opening the door. Officers found Chen "motionless on his knees...his hands in the air and...staring blankly." He had blood on his clothes and body, scratches on his arm, and a swollen, purple right hand. When asked how he hurt his hand, Chen allegedly told first responders, "I punched my wife." Yu's body was found in the bedroom.
Both Yu and Chen studied together
Both Chen and Yu worked as engineers at Google. Chen had been a software engineer since March 2020, working on a YouTube Shorts recommendation algorithm. Yu joined Google in 2021 as a software engineer after previously working at Amazon. Both Yu and Chen studied in China at Tsinghua University and at the University of California, as per LinkedIn. Chen is currently hospitalized and has not yet appeared in court; if convicted, he could face prison without the possibility of parole.
Google expresses shock
In the latest development, Google has offered condolence to the victim's kin. "We are shocked by what has happened to Yu. Our thoughts are with her family at this time, and we will work to provide support to them and to co-workers who are processing this tragic news," Google spokesperson Bailey Tomson said. "Domestic violence deaths have been falling in our county but that does not measure the depth and destructiveness of the violence," District Attorney Jeff Rosen said.
Incident causes shockwaves in Chinese American community
Several unverified media reports earlier linked the gruesome murder to Google's recent layoffs. The rumor was debunked by Google, which confirmed to Google that both Chen and Yu were employees at the tech giant at the time of the incident. The news sent a shock wave through the Chinese American community after rumors of the crime started to circulate on social media.
