Slain New York Times executive Jonathan McKinsey's shaken neighbors say police have been quizzing them about his wife in the days since his cold-blooded killing – as authorities raided the family's Dublin, California home and seized several personal items.
asserted
authorities → shake → items
McKinsey's in-laws, Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, have been charged with murder after they allegedly shot him in a public park in the Bay Area on Saturday - just days before he and the couple's daughter were set for a hearing in a bitter divorce case.
uncertain
he → charge → case
In the days after their arrests, neighbors told the Daily Mail that investigators and social services had been peppering them with questions about the couple and McKinsey's widow, Candice Jang.
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investigators → tell → couple
At least two locals said authorities had reached out to them over the last three days to ask about Jang's treatment of the three young children she shared with McKinsey.
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she → say → McKinsey
Cops probed, too, whether the kids - ages 7, 5 and 3 - appeared adequately bathed, clothed and fed, according to the neighbors.
'One [officer] asked us if we heard any unusual yelling or crying from their place,' one said, adding that 'we have not.'
Authorities have not accused Jang of having any involvement in the killing or charged her with any crime.
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Authorities → probe → crime
Other residents said they watched on as authorities searched Jang's townhouse in the wake of the fatal shooting.
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authorities → say → shooting
They must have been terrified,' one neighbor, Nickah Murray, told the Daily Mail of the search.
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neighbor → terrify → search
Jonathan McKinsey's wife, Candice Jang, was spotted strolling in her Bay Area neighborhood with the couple's three young children on Wednesday - soon after her 77-year-old parents faced charges over the New York Times executive's murder
Authorities were spotted leaving Candice Jang's home in Dublin, California with multiple items after speaking with the widow for several hours, neighbors told the Daily Mail
Jonathan McKinsey, 40, who had worked in games tech for the New York Times since 2023, was shot dead in the parking lot of a Dublin Sports Grounds store in Dublin, California on Saturday
Some claim they saw investigators leaving with Jang's SUV, as well as containers full of documents and electronics.
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investigators → spot → documents
The Daily Mail has repeatedly reached out to police about the search but is yet to hear back.
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Mail → reach → search
While a motive for the brazen killing hasn't yet been made public, neighbors said the ordeal has shaken them.
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ordeal → make → them
It comes as both grandparents appeared briefly Thursday morning in Alameda County Superior Court, where they asked to defer entering pleas to the 12 charges they were hit with.
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they → come → charges
Chen and Zhang's string of murder charges include additional allegations of lying in wait - a charge that presumes premeditation and carries a life-in-prison sentence with no chance of parole.
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that → include → parole
Both have been denied bail.
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Both → deny → bail
Defense attorney Curtis Briggs, who is representing the grandmother, said he was particularly concerned about the approximately 80-pound woman's health - and would be working to get her released from custody.
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her → represent → custody
Some neighbors said they saw investigators leaving with Jang's SUV, as well as containers full of documents and electronics
Residents told the Daily Mail they watched as authorities searched Jang's townhouse in the wake of the fatal shooting
McKinsey's in-laws - Shili Chen and Shouyong Zhang, both 77 - were both arrested and charged with murder
He declined to comment about the couple's relationship or communication with their daughter.
Briggs, however, did speak at length about their son-in-law, pointing to how McKinsey had pleaded not guilty to two charges of misdemeanor child abuse late last year.
McKinsey, who was director of engineering for the New York Times' games department, had been scheduled to appear in court on that case on Friday.
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who → say → Friday
Instead, he was gunned down last Saturday afternoon when his in-laws allegedly took turns opening fire in the parking lot.
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laws → gun → lot
A police sergeant happened to be driving nearby and saw the victim lying on the ground just as witnesses began frantically calling 911, authorities said.
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authorities → happen → 911
Within minutes, the couple were taken into custody after witnesses were able to point them out in a nearby car, according to police.
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witnesses → take → police
Police searched the townhouse where McKinsey's widow has been living with their three children
The victim was gunned down on Saturday afternoon when his in-laws allegedly took turns opening fire in parking lot in Dublin
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laws → search → Dublin
The Daily Mail spotted what appeared to be bullet holes in the pavement where the shooting unfolded
McKinsey's grisly slaying came as he and Jang, who were living separately, were embroiled in a bitter divorce and custody battle - each having filed restraining orders against the other.
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each → spot → other
In petitions for restraining orders filed last year, the couple – who wed in July 2011 - had both accused each other of physical, emotional and psychological abuse stretching back well over a decade.
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who → file → abuse
McKinsey, who transitioned from female to male in 2010 - a year before he married Jang, alleged that his wife and her parents had been verbally and physically abusive regarding his gender transition.
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wife → transition → transition
According to a restraining order McKinsey filed against Jang in 2023, a visit Chen made to their home to babysit led to a hostile interaction.
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Chen → accord → interaction
McKinsey claimed in the filing that Chen became upset about McKinsey's son asking to wear his sister's dresses.
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son → claim → dresses
Jang, 46, her two sons and daughter were believed to be holed up in the townhome they once shared with McKinsey in Dublin, about 30 miles east of San Francisco
When approached by the Daily Mail on a sidewalk Wednesday, Jang refused to comment on her estranged husband's murder
McKinsey's slaying came as he and Jang were living separately, each having filed restraining orders against the other as they went through a bitter divorce and custody battle over their kids
After telling his mother-in-law it was just a 'phase' the boy was going through, McKinsey alleged that Chen responded by berating him and his son.
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Chen → believe → him
He alleged Chen called the young child a 'disgusting queer' and a 'pervert' before calling him the same names as she admonished him for being transgender, the filing said.
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filing → allege → him
McKinsey alleged that when he begged Chen to stop berating his son, his mother-in-law then turned her anger toward him, according to the filing.
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mother → allege → filing
He also filed allegations of abuse by Jang, including claiming that she tried to push him into suicide during their relationship, according to his court filings.
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she → file → filings
According to McKinsey, his wife told him he should take his own life because 'no one would want to be with someone as f***ed up and transgender like me.'
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one → accord → me
Jang, for her part, went on to file her own restraining order against McKinsey last year, alleging he had 'threatened to kill me and my parents.'
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he → go → me
McKinsey's grisly slaying came as he and Jang, who were living separately, were embroiled in a bitter divorce and custody battle - each having filed restraining orders against the other
Zhang is pictured being taken into custody on Saturday after he and his wife allegedly took turns gunning down their son-in-law in the brazen, broad daylight attack
Jang alleged that McKinsey gifted his daughter a book about how to mourn your dead mother, according to a court filing.
The mother described feeling frightened by the book, titled the Memory String, reportedly writing: 'I cannot know what Jonathan intended by selecting that particular book.'
Meanwhile, McKinsey was arrested last October and charged with misdemeanor child abuse for allegedly hitting their oldest son and leaving a 'large bruise in the shape of a handprint' on his face, court documents state.
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documents → come → face
He was also charged with endangering their youngest child after deputies responded to the family's home to talk with him and found their 2-year-old had been left home alone, according to court papers.
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old → charge → papers
McKinsey was ultimately freed on $50,000 bail on the condition that he complete 12 parenting classes.
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he → free → classes
Jang had obtained a domestic violence protection order against McKinsey in October – the same month of his arrest.
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Jang → obtain → arrest
She alleged in her filing that McKinsey had grabbed her by the forearms during one argument in 2010 – causing her to hit the corner of a coffee table and fracture a vertebra in her upper back.
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her → allege → back
McKinsey responded to the court filing by requesting his own domestic violence protection order and filing for divorce.
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McKinsey → respond → divorce
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