The elderly couple accused of killing their son-in-law, New York Times executive Jonathan McKinsey, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder with a special circumstance of lying in wait, a defense attorney said Monday.Defense attorney Curtis Briggs argued that his client, Shili Chen and her husband Shouyong Zhang, both 77, did not premeditate the shooting, NBC Bay Area reported.Instead, they acted out of concern after seeing something disturbing while their son-in-law Jonathan McKinsey, 40, had a supervised visit with his children at a sports complex in Dublin, California, Briggs told NBC Bay Area.“My client was absolutely concerned for her own life and also concerned for her grandchildren,” Briggs told NBC Bay Area.Alameda County prosecutors say Chen and Zhang watched and waited to attack McKinsey, who was embroiled in a bitter divorce and custody battle with their daughter.
Briggs said that McKinsey had previously threatened Chen’s life three times through a hitman.The couple purchased firearms in March to defend themselves, Briggs said, and were moved to act last month in the parking lot of a popular park.“They are not cold-blooded killers.
They didn’t premeditate anything,” Briggs told NBC Bay Area.Briggs did not elaborate on what the elderly couple witnessed that drove them to kill their son-in-law.If convicted, they could both face life in prison without the possibility of parole.According to local police, 911 calls started coming in around 3 p.m.
on Sept.26 from terrified witnesses, many of whom were with their young children.
Several witnesses told police they saw a black Honda speeding out of the parking lot and later identified Chen and Zhang as the shooters, police said in a statement.Officers chased down the car and arrested the couple, according to the police report.
Nearly a decade’s worth of court documents revealed a deeply troubled marriage between McKinsey and his wife, Candice Jang, who has not been charged in connection with h...