A Palm Desert man accused of fatally stabbing his estranged wife and her lover outside a Coachella Valley motel was in the grip of extreme rage over the affair when he attacked them, his attorney said Monday, while the prosecution countered that the defendant made a premeditated decision for which he must now face consequences.
Kenny Shun Yu Wu, 36, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and special circumstance allegations of lying in wait and taking multiple lives in the same crime for the 2022 deaths of 31-year-old Yaying “YaYa” Wu of Palm Desert and 30-year-old Jesus Sanchez of Cathedral City.
“This case is about Kenny’s state of mind,” defense attorney John Dolan told jurors in his opening statement Monday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. “It’s an awful and ugly situation.”
Dolan recounted how his client had been distressed to the point of a psychological collapse over YaYa’s ongoing relationship with Sanchez in 2022.
The extramarital affair was uncovered in the winter of that year, and Wu initially tried to forgive his spouse’s behavior, but it left him scarred and emotionally damaged, in need of professional help, Dolan said.
The affair did not stop, leading to a rift that Wu attempted to heal, continually hoping that his wife would abandon her connection to Sanchez and remain in the defendant’s life, according to the defense.
Wu had long conversations with relatives, seeking to resolve the conflict. Dolan said YaYa’s own father tried to help, speaking with the defendant for more than two hours via telephone, listening to the defendant plead for YaYa’s fidelity.
Testimony from Wu’s preliminary hearing in October 2022 indicated that he had physically assaulted the woman on more than one occasion, stemming from her communications with Sanchez.
YaYa’s mother, Xue Jia, believed her daughter was in danger, having heard Wu express a desire “to kill them,” a sheriff’s deputy testified during the hearing.
When Wu discovered that YaYa intended to meet Sanchez at the Spring Hill Suites on Highway 111 in Palm Desert on the morning of July 15, 2022, he went there, waiting for the victims and then confronting them in the parking lot, according to investigators.
“The rage just exploded,” Dolan said.
Prosecutors allege Wu pulled a knife and stabbed YaYa and Sanchez multiple times, killing them. The defendant did not attempt to flee afterward and was arrested at the scene without incident.
Deputy District Attorney Samantha Paixao gave a brief opening statement, telling jurors that the case is not complicated.
“We are here for his choices, his decisions,” she said.
Testimony is expected to last several weeks.
Wu, who is being held without bail at the Benoit Detention Center, has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.