A Google employee is charged with murder after allegedly beating his wife to death last week in an incident that left their bedroom covered in blood, according to authorities. Liren Chen, 27, allegedly hit his wife in the head several times at their house on Valley Way in Santa Clara, according to court papers.
While Chen’s wife’s name is censored in the documents, property records reveal that Chen married Xuanyi Yu and that the couple lived at 714 Valley Way. As of Friday morning, January 19, Santa Clara County’s medical examiner was unable to confirm whether Yu was the victim.
Chen was a Google software engineer who worked on the YouTube Shorts recommendation algorithm, according to a LinkedIn profile under his name. Another LinkedIn profile describes Yu as a Google software developer who formerly worked at Amazon.
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Chen is now in the hospital awaiting a court hearing and has not been prosecuted as of Friday morning. If convicted, he risks a life sentence without the chance of release. Prosecutors revealed he was a Google employee.
“Domestic violence deaths have been falling in our county, but that does not measure the depth and destructiveness of the violence,” Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “Anyone who feels that they or someone else is being abused by their partners, please reach out to your local law enforcement agency. You are not alone. We can help.”
“We will be returning to court each day until Mr. Chen is released from the hospital and able to be personally present for his arraignment,” the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office stated in a statement.
According to court filings, police discovered Chen’s wife dead after arriving at the house at 10:55 a.m. on Tuesday to conduct a welfare check. Chen was on his knees, staring blankly out the window, his hands in the air, and there appeared to be blood on his clothing.
Court records state that after entering the home and putting Chen into custody, authorities discovered Yu’s body on the bedroom floor, with serious blunt-force injuries to her skull. Blood spatter coated the room’s floor, walls, and door.
“Chen’s right hand was extremely swollen and purple,” a police detective reported. “He had blood on his clothing, his legs, arms, and hands.”
When questioned how he injured his hand, Chen allegedly informed first responders, “I punched my wife.” He then stated that the attack had occurred the day before.
According to property records, Chen and Yu paid $2.05 million for their residence in April. According to their LinkedIn accounts, Chen and Yu attended both Tsinghua University in Beijing and the University of California, San Diego.
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The news shocked the Chinese American community after rumors about the incident began to circulate on social media. This week’s discovery of two deceased bodies in a Los Altos residence sparked confusion.
Both major national Chinese-language newspapers, globe Journal, and Sing Tao, published the bogus allegation of a murder-suicide on their front pages Friday, causing a media frenzy in the Chinese-speaking globe, including national media in China.
The Chinese-language media also cited unproven rumors that the crime was tied to Google’s recent layoffs. That inaccurate initial reporting found its way into online tech hubs such as Blind and Y Combinator’s Hacker News.
