Latest / Crime Alert Hourly Update / "He Wanted to Get Rid of Her": In-Laws Claim NYT Exec Threatened Their Lives | Crime Alert 10.24.26

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"He Wanted to Get Rid of Her": In-Laws Claim NYT Exec Threatened Their Lives | Crime Alert 10.24.26 · Crime Alert Hourly Update

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alert, hourly update, breaking crime news now. I'm Sydney Silvani.
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  Speaker 1: An elderly California couple is behind bars facing murder charges
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  Speaker 1: after police say they ambushed and executed their son-in-law in
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  Speaker 1: broad daylight outside a public park. The victim, 40-year-old Jonathan McKenzie,
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  Speaker 1: was found shot to death in a parking lot near
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  Speaker 1: a Dublin, California park on September 26th. McKenzie served as
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  Speaker 1: the head of engineering for New York Times Games. a
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  Speaker 1: role the company has since confirmed. Authorities quickly arrested his parents-in-law,
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  Speaker 1: Shili Chen and Shuyang Zhang, accusing the pair of taking
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  Speaker 1: turns shooting McKenzie directly in the vicinity of several children
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  Speaker 1: who are present in the park. According to police records,
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  Speaker 1: both elderly suspects remained in the immediate area when officers
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  Speaker 1: responded to a flurry of 911 calls reporting the gunfire.
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  Speaker 1: During an interview with law enforcement, Zhang allegedly admitted to
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  Speaker 1: shooting McKenzie. Now-defense attorney Curtis Briggs, representing Chen, insists the
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  Speaker 1: grandmother was absolutely concerned for her safety, claiming she feared
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  Speaker 1: for her life and the safety of her grandchildren. Briggs
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  Speaker 1: argues the couple did not commit a premeditated killing, describing
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  Speaker 1: them as concerned grandparents who acted after witnessing an alarming incident,
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  Speaker 1: though he declined to specify what they saw. Briggs further
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  Speaker 1: alleged McKenzie had threatened Chen's life three times, claiming one
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  Speaker 1: threat involved hiring a hitman, while two others involved McKenzie
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  Speaker 1: stating he would get rid of her. The attorney maintained
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  Speaker 1: the couple purchased two handguns found in their car upon
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  Speaker 1: arrest back in March, strictly for personal defense. Court records
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  Speaker 1: reveal months of bitter legal conflict between McKenzie and his in-laws,
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  Speaker 1: marked by allegations of transphobic abuse, a fierce custody dispute,
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  Speaker 1: and dueling restraining orders. In an earlier petition, McKenzie accused
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  Speaker 1: Zing of punching him in the chest following his 2010
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  Speaker 1: double mastectomy during gender transition procedures. McKenzie also claimed his
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  Speaker 1: partner attempted to remove his medical tubes after another procedure
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  Speaker 1: that year, though the two married in 2011. McKenzie had
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  Speaker 1: also faced abuse accusations, with online court records showing child
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  Speaker 1: cruelty charges from 2025 after his estranged wife accused him
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  Speaker 1: of assaulting her and their children. McKenzie, who was never
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  Speaker 1: charged with assaulting his wife, pleaded not guilty to the
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  Speaker 1: child abuse charges. While online court records were temporarily inaccessible,
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  Speaker 1: several news outlets confirmed Chen and Zhang have pleaded not
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  Speaker 1: guilty to murder. More crime and justice news after this.
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  Speaker 1: In West Virginia, two Charleston parents faced serious criminal charges
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  Speaker 1: after their severely malnourished 12-year-old daughter was left wandering alone
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  Speaker 1: for hours without either parent contacting authorities. Charleston police arrested
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  Speaker 1: 33-year-old Nuna Overton and 35-year-old Clarence Spotsville on October 12,
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  Speaker 1: booking them on charges of child neglect creating risk of injury,
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  Speaker 1: according to online court records. Authorities report the young girl
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  Speaker 1: had been wandering unsupervised for approximately six hours before finally
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  Speaker 1: arriving at a Dunkin' on Oakwood Road in search of
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  Speaker 1: her parents. Responding officers discovered a shocking case of extreme deprivation.
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  Speaker 1: According to a criminal complaint cited by local news outlets,
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  Speaker 1: officers noted the 12-year-old appeared dangerously emaciated, with the bones
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  Speaker 1: in her hands and feet visibly protruding through her skin.
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  Speaker 1: Most horrifying of all, investigators allege the child weighed a
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  Speaker 1: mere 40 pounds when she was found. The young victim
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  Speaker 1: was rushed to a local hospital for urgent medical evaluation.
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  Speaker 1: Detectives determined the family's residence at the Oakwood Terrace apartment
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  Speaker 1: complex sat just a half mile away. The criminal complaint
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  Speaker 1: revealed the girl was so physically frail that officers had
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  Speaker 1: to physically hold her upright so authorities could take photographs
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  Speaker 1: documenting her condition. Investigators emphasized that throughout the entire six-hour ordeal,
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  Speaker 1: neither parent ever dialed 911. Online records confirm Overton and
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  Speaker 1: Spotsville were released after posting Bond and waived their preliminary hearings,
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  Speaker 1: while the Charleston Police Department did not immediately respond to
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  Speaker 1: requests for comment. In New Mexico, a dramatic legal reversal
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  Speaker 1: unfolds in a notorious homicide case. Second Judicial District Judge
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  Speaker 1: Cindy Leos has granted a new trial to 73-year-old Linda Henning,
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  Speaker 1: ruling her 2002 prosecution was an absolutely overwhelming miscarriage of
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  Speaker 1: justice due to severe mental incompetence. Henning was sentenced to
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  Speaker 1: 73-and-a-half years in prison following her October 2002 conviction for
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  Speaker 1: first-degree murder kidnapping and other felonies in the September 1999
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  Speaker 1: disappearance of 36-year-old Gurley Chu Hossenkopf from Albuquerque. Though Gurley's
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  Speaker 1: body was never found, investigators discovered clothing, duct tape and
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  Speaker 1: a tarp bearing her DNA along a highway near Magdalena.
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  Speaker 1: Prosecutors alleged Henning conspired with her then-boyfriend, Diazian Hossenkopf, who
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  Speaker 1: pleaded no contest in 2002 and is serving life plus
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  Speaker 1: 60 years. But Judge Leos found Henning suffering from profound delusions,
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  Speaker 1: asking how she could assist counsel when she did not
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  Speaker 1: believe she was involved. As reported by the Albuquerque Journal,
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  Speaker 1: trial testimony revealed Henning claimed freeway reptilian symbols marked time
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  Speaker 1: travel portals and believed she transformed into a fanged, cat-like
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  Speaker 1: creature during sexual encounters. Psychiatric reports showed Henning believed prosecutors
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  Speaker 1: targeted her to seize mysterious golden discs she thought she possessed.
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  Speaker 1: While current defense counsel Nicholas Hart argued her trial lawyer
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  Speaker 1: failed to raise competency, original attorney Gary Mitchell defended his representation,
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  Speaker 1: citing two evaluations while insisting she is innocent. With Henning
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  Speaker 1: jailed since 1999, Leos ordered prosecutors from the Bernalillo County
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  Speaker 1: District Attorney's Office to prepare detention motions for Thursday's hearing.
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  Speaker 1: For more crime and justice news, be sure to join
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  Speaker 1: us for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on Fox 1, YouTube,
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  Speaker 1: Sirius XM, and now streaming on Tubi. With This Crime Alert,
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  Speaker 1: I'm Sydney Silvani.