Richmond man on trial again for killing his wife
A 2nd trial began today for James Jian Hua Wu who was found beside the body of his wife in 2014
For the second time in a year, a Richmond man is standing trial for the second-degree murder of his wife, a killing that happened on their two-year wedding anniversary.
On May 4, 2014, the body of Jin Jenna Cheng was found with multiple stab wounds in the hallway outside the apartment unit where she lived with her husband, James Jian Hua Wu.
Wu was found next to her body and was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
His trial began in September of 2016 at the B.C. Supreme Court in downtown Vancouver. Six weeks later, the jury began deliberations. However, after 13 days, the panel was unable to reach a verdict and a hung jury was declared.
Wu is now standing trial for the second time in front of a new jury.
Crown: a case of 'extreme domestic violence'
The trial began with opening statements from Crown lawyers Jenny Machek and Jeremy Hermanson.
Machek warned the jury that some of the details of the case will be graphic and, at times, difficult to listen to and look at.
"The Crown's theory is this is a case of extreme domestic violence, and that the accused intentionally caused the death of his wife in anger following ... a difficult frustrating period in their marriage," said Machek, who mentioned in her opening statements that police had visited the same apartment on Granville Street before the incident.
Machek said the evidence will show Wu was found in the building's hallway next to his wife's body, and a bloody cleaver was found not far from her head.
She said police will testify the first officers on scene asked Wu "Who did this?" To which he responded: "I did."
What the jury will have to decide, according to the Crown, is what Wu intended to do.
"We expect that the principle issue that you'll have to consider is what the accused's state of mind was," said Machek.
"In other words: what did he intend to do to cause Cheng's death."
Machek said the Crown will call 17 witnesses including a forensic pathologist, RCMP officers who were first on scene, as well as neighbours who witnessed the incident through the peepholes of their doors.