Man who brutally killed his 2 nephews in their Arcadia home sentenced to 2 consecutive life terms
The man who savagely killed his two teenage nephews in their Arcadia home in 2016 was sentenced to two consecutive life prison terms, without the possibility of parole on Thursday.
Deyun Shi, 52, attacked 15-year-old Anthony Lin with bolt cutters as he slept, and 16-year-old William Lin was killed while he was studying.
Superior Court Judge Jared Moses called the killings "acts of stunning savagery and brutality."
A jury found Shi guilty in March of two counts of first-degree murder for the Jan. 22, 2016 killings, also finding true the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders and allegations that he personally used a deadly weapon--bolt cutters.
The jury also convicted Shi of one count of corporal injury for an attack with a wood-splitting ax on his then-wife in La Cañada Flintridge the night before the killings.
Shi became enraged after learning that his wife obtained a restraining order against him and began divorce proceedings, detectives said earlier.
The parents of the teenage boys went to visit Shi's wife in the hospital and didn't find their sons' bodies until the day after the attack.
One day after the jury's verdict, a judge ruled Shi was sane at the time of the crimes committed.
Shi boarded a plane, a one-way flight to Hong Kong, hours after the boys were killed. He was taken into custody by Hong Kong authorities shortly after his plane landed. He was extradited to Los Angeles a few months later to face trial on the multiple charges.
One of Shi's attorneys argued that her client was suffering from delusions and did not premeditate or deliberate the attack.
The defense lawyer said Shi had a history of mental issues documented in hospital records from China dating back to when he was 15 years old.
Prosecution had said earlier that Shi planned the teens' deaths in an "act of revenge" against the family of his estranged wife, saying he was in his right mind and knew what he was doing.
