73-year-old boyfriend orchestrated beloved dentist’s murder-for-hire death, CA cops say
A 73-year-old man is accused of orchestrating his girlfriend’s murder-for-hire death, California authorities said.
Two men, Lili Xu’s boyfriend and a 33-year-old man, were arrested more than two months after the beloved dentist’s fatal shooting in Oakland’s Little Saigon, the Oakland Police Department and Alameda County District Attorney’s Office said at a joint news conference on Friday, Oct. 28.
The men were set to be charged Monday, Oct. 31, District Attorney Nancy E. O’Malley said at the news conference.
The boyfriend, however, died by suicide in a “single occupant holding cell” while awaiting further processing after being booked into jail on Friday, the Alameda County Sheriff’s office said in a news release. McClatchy News is not identifying the man as he was never formally charged.
“When deputies conducted a routine observation check of Chia, they noticed he was motionless and unresponsive,” the release said.
The man was expected to be charged with murder with the special circumstance of murder for financial gain, O’Malley said at the news conference. The 33-year-old man is expected to face the same charge.
Xu’s death
Police initially said Xu, who had just celebrated her 60th birthday, was killed in an attempted robbery on Aug. 21, McClatchy News previously reported.
Xu was exiting her parked car on 5th Avenue in Oakland’s Little Saigon on Aug. 21 when an “older white model four-door Lexus” pulled up next to her, according to a news release from the Oakland Police Department.
Within a matter of seconds, someone exited a Lexus and approached Xu, a video released from the police department shows.
Police said the person “appear(ed) to attempt to rob her” and then shot multiple times at Xu before entering and fleeing in the Lexus. Xu “sustained multiple gunshot wounds” and was taken to a hospital where she later died, officials said.
By looking at the surveillance footage, investigators determined something was “off about the way it happened,” Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said at Friday’s news conference.
“This did not seem to be the typical robbery-related homicide,” Armstrong said. “It wasn’t normal for what we would expect in a situation like this.”
Not about race, officials say
At the time of her death, some believed the crime was racially charged.
“I am outraged and sickened over the senseless, brutal slaying of an elderly (Asian American and Pacific Island) woman in broad daylight this afternoon in Oakland’s Little Saigon,” Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas said on Twitter.
Nonetheless, Armstrong urged at the news conference that race did not play a factor in Xu’s death.
“This is not a case about race. This is a case about grief,” Armstrong said. “Some tried to use this case as a way of dividing our community. My hope is that we can come together and support the family and the community as we have all experienced this tragedy.”
This story was originally published October 31, 2022 at 1:24 PM with the headline "73-year-old boyfriend orchestrated beloved dentist’s murder-for-hire death, CA cops say."
