Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown has charged a 47-year-old Flushing man in the grisly murder and mutilation of a 46-year-old woman who lived several buildings away.
Huang Chen, 47, of 135-24 40th Road in Flushing is accused of following Qian Wu, who lived with her husband at 135-32 40th Road, into her building on Tuesday, January 26 and stabbing her multiple times in the torso, arms and face.
Published reports say the dead woman’s heart and lungs were removed from her body and have not been found.
Chen was arrested after he went to New York Hospital Queens with cuts to his hand and leg, claiming he had been injured in a robbery attempt. Detectives from the 109th Precinct became suspicious when they noticed that although his shoes were bloody, he was dressed in clean clothes.
He was arraigned on Thursday, January 28 before Judge Stephanie Zaro, who remanded him to jail without bail. Department of Corrections records show that there is an outstanding immigration warrant against the Chinese national.
Chen faces a 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the top charge. He is due back in court on February 1.
According to police sources, Wu’s body was found on the third floor stairwell landing, outside of apartment 2F sometime after 7:30 p.m., after a 9-1-1 caller said that blood was seeping out from under the exit door.
Published reports say that Wu’s blood was found on the floor; hair and blood were found on the wall. According to Brown, the medical examiner determined that the cause of death was blunt trauma to the head and severed arteries.
According to the DA a surveillance video shows Chen leaving his residence just after 5 p.m. and putting a dark object in his pocket. About a half-hour later Chen returned to his residence with blood on his body and clothing and carrying a small yellow plastic bag. He then cleaned blood off his building stairwell with a rag.
A hammer and utility knife recovered from inside a yellow plastic bag that had been placed inside a larger red plastic bag and then deposited in a garbage can near Chen’s residence. The red plastic bag also contained a bloody sweater, a bloody pair of jeans and a bloody rag, according to DA Brown.
The video also allegedly shows a woman wiping up blood and removing the bag.
Brown has charged the live-in owner of the building, Wenxin Zhang, 54, with two counts of tampering with physical evidence. She was also arraigned before Judge Zaro, who set her bail at $4,000.
Zhang allegedly told police that, “I just threw the stuff out because the garbage was full and it was bloody and dirty.” and “He [Chen] told me that he got cut when he got robbed.” She is due back in court on Tuesday, February 16. If convicted, she faces up to four years in prison.
Police said that Chen met Wu in 2006 when he went to her home-based employment agency looking for help getting a job. Reports say Wu’s husband, Yongwei Guo, recalled that Chen made romantic advances toward his wife, but she refused him.
According to Brown, in May 2006, Wu filed a complaint against Chen, saying that, while in her apartment, he choked her with a plastic rope and repeatedly punched her in the face. She also said that Chen pointed a knife at her and said, “I need a job.” He pleaded guilty in October 2006 to fourth-degree weapons possession and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.
Published reports state that Wu had gotten numerous orders of protection against Chen. Brown said that on Friday, January 22, she filed a police report at the 109th Precinct, which stated that Chen has harassed her that Monday.
