A 38-year-old Irvine man Tuesday was charged with murder and other charges in the stabbing death of his wife’s one-time boyfriend.
Hongli Sun also faces a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, along with an assault with a deadly weapon charge and sentence-enhancing allegations of great bodily injury and the personal use of a deadly weapon.
His arraignment was rescheduled to Aug. 7 at the Central Jail in Santa Ana.
Sun suspected 54-year-old dentist Xuan Liu was still having a relationship with his wife and drove to the victim’s Irvine office last Saturday, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Howard Gundy.
Sun is accused of ramming his Mercedes-Benz SUV into the victim in the parking lot and stabbing him as he tried to get up, the prosecutor said.
A woman associated with the victim sustained defensive wounds from the defendant’s knife when she tried to intervene, said Irvine Police Department spokeswoman Farrah Emami.
Liu was pronounced dead at the scene of the attack, which occurred at 1:20 p.m. at 4980 Barranca Parkway.
Sun made no attempt to flee and essentially waited for police, Gundy said.
The defendant’s wife, Huaying Chen, listed Liu as her “boyfriend” in a financial disclosure document filed when she was divorcing her husband, whom she married in 2003 in Singapore.
The couple, who have an 8-year-old son, subsequently reconciled and moved to rescind their divorce, which was granted on Nov. 5, according to court documents.
“At the time our Judgment of Dissolution was entered, we each believed irreconcilable differences caused the irremediable breakdown of our marriage, However, we were both mistaken …,” the court filing states.
“For a host of personal, cultural, and religious reasons, we do not want any public record to reflect that we are divorced,” their court papers stated. “Even if such record is later changed, a harmful stigma could result. Therefore, it is imperative to us that this stipulation and order by entered today.”
The divorce was vacated by the court April 24.
The victim’s wife, Junli Zha, a physician who worked in the same office as her husband, was granted a divorce on Oct. 8, about a week after filing court papers to end their nearly 28-year marriage.
Zha retained custody of the couple’s 13-year-old child.
A divorce court hearing was scheduled for this Friday on Zha’s allegation that Liu did not sign quitclaim deeds for property, including their Irvine home, over to her, according to court records.
— City News Service