Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / "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 Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alert, hourly update, breaking crime news now. I'm Sydney Silvani.
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  Speaker 2: An elderly California couple is behind bars facing murder charges
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  Speaker 2: after police say they ambushed and executed their son-in-law in
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  Speaker 2: broad daylight outside a public park. The victim, 40-year-old Jonathan McKenzie,
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  Speaker 2: was found shot to death in a parking lot near
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  Speaker 2: a Dublin, California park on September 26th. McKenzie served as
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  Speaker 2: the head of engineering for New York Times Games. a
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  Speaker 2: role the company has since confirmed. Authorities quickly arrested his parents-in-law,
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  Speaker 2: Shili Chen and Shuyang Zhang, accusing the pair of taking
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  Speaker 2: turns shooting McKenzie directly in the vicinity of several children
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  Speaker 2: who are present in the park. According to police records,
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  Speaker 2: both elderly suspects remained in the immediate area when officers
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  Speaker 2: responded to a flurry of 911 calls reporting the gunfire.
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  Speaker 2: During an interview with law enforcement, Zhang allegedly admitted to
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  Speaker 2: shooting McKenzie. Now-defense attorney Curtis Briggs, representing Chen, insists the
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  Speaker 2: grandmother was absolutely concerned for her safety, claiming she feared
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  Speaker 2: for her life and the safety of her grandchildren. Briggs
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  Speaker 2: argues the couple did not commit a premeditated killing, describing
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  Speaker 2: them as concerned grandparents who acted after witnessing an alarming incident,
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  Speaker 2: though he declined to specify what they saw. Briggs further
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  Speaker 2: alleged McKenzie had threatened Chen's life three times, claiming one
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  Speaker 2: threat involved hiring a hitman, while two others involved McKenzie
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  Speaker 2: stating he would get rid of her. The attorney maintained
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  Speaker 2: the couple purchased two handguns found in their car upon
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  Speaker 2: arrest back in March, strictly for personal defense. Court records
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  Speaker 2: reveal months of bitter legal conflict between McKenzie and his in-laws,
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  Speaker 2: marked by allegations of transphobic abuse, a fierce custody dispute,
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  Speaker 2: and dueling restraining orders. In an earlier petition, McKenzie accused
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  Speaker 2: Zing of punching him in the chest following his 2010
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  Speaker 2: double mastectomy during gender transition procedures. McKenzie also claimed his
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  Speaker 2: partner attempted to remove his medical tubes after another procedure
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  Speaker 2: that year, though the two married in 2011. McKenzie had
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  Speaker 2: also faced abuse accusations, with online court records showing child
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  Speaker 2: cruelty charges from 2025 after his estranged.
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  Speaker 1: Wife accused him of assaulting her and their children.
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  Speaker 2: McKenzie, who was never charged with assaulting his wife, pleaded
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  Speaker 2: not guilty to the child abuse charges. While online court
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  Speaker 2: records were temporarily inaccessible, several news outlets confirmed Chen and
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  Speaker 2: Zhang have pleaded not guilty to murder. More crime and
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  Speaker 2: justice news after this. In West Virginia, two Charleston parents
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  Speaker 2: faced serious criminal charges after their severely malnourished 12-year-old daughter
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  Speaker 2: was left wandering alone for hours.
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  Speaker 1: Without either parent contacting authorities.
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  Speaker 2: Charleston police arrested 33-year-old Nuna Overton and 35-year-old Clarence Spotsville
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  Speaker 2: on October 12, booking them on charges of child neglect
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  Speaker 2: creating risk of injury, according to online court records. Authorities
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  Speaker 2: report the young girl had been wandering unsupervised for approximately
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  Speaker 2: six hours before finally arriving at a Dunkin' on Oakwood
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  Speaker 2: Road in search of her parents. Responding officers discovered a
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  Speaker 2: shocking case of extreme deprivation. According to a criminal complaint
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  Speaker 2: cited by local news outlets, officers noted the 12-year-old appeared
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  Speaker 2: dangerously emaciated, with the bones in her hands and feet
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  Speaker 2: visibly protruding through her skin. Most horrifying of all, investigators
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  Speaker 2: allege the child weighed a mere 40 pounds when she
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  Speaker 2: was found. The young victim was rushed to a local
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  Speaker 2: hospital for urgent medical evaluation. Detectives determined the family's residence
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  Speaker 2: at the Oakwood Terrace apartment complex sat just a half
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  Speaker 2: mile away.
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  Speaker 1: The criminal complaint revealed.
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  Speaker 2: The girl was so physically frail that officers had to
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  Speaker 2: physically hold her upright so authorities could take photographs documenting
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  Speaker 2: her condition. Investigators emphasized that throughout the entire six-hour ordeal,
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  Speaker 2: neither parent ever dialed 911. Online records confirm Overton and
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  Speaker 2: Spotsville were released after posting bond and waived their preliminary hearings,
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  Speaker 2: while the Charleston Police Department did not immediately respond to
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  Speaker 2: requests for comment. In New Mexico, a dramatic legal reversal
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  Speaker 2: unfolds in a notorious homicide case. Second Judicial District Judge
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  Speaker 2: Cindy Leos has granted a new trial to 73-year-old Linda Henning,
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  Speaker 2: ruling her 2002 prosecution was an absolutely overwhelming miscarriage of
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  Speaker 2: justice due to severe mental incompetence. Henning was sentenced to
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  Speaker 2: 73 1⁄2 years in prison following her October 2002 conviction
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  Speaker 2: for first-degree murder kidnapping and other felonies in the September
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  Speaker 2: 1999 disappearance of 36-year-old Gurley Chu Hossenkoff from Albuquerque. Though
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  Speaker 2: Gurley's body was never found, investigators discovered clothing, duct tape
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  Speaker 2: and a tarp bearing her DNA along a highway near Magdalena.
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  Speaker 2: Prosecutors alleged Henning conspired with her then-boyfriend, Diazian Hossenkoff, who
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  Speaker 2: pleaded no contest in 2002 and is serving life plus
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  Speaker 2: 60 years. But Judge Leos found Henning suffering from profound delusions,
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  Speaker 2: asking how she could assist counsel when she did not
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  Speaker 2: believe she was involved. As reported by the Albuquerque Journal,
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  Speaker 2: trial testimony revealed Henning claimed freeway reptilian symbols marked time
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  Speaker 2: travel portals and believed she transformed into a fanged, cat-like
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  Speaker 2: creature during sexual encounters. Psychiatric reports showed Henning believed prosecutors
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  Speaker 2: targeted her to seize mysterious golden discs she thought she possessed.
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  Speaker 2: While current defense counsel Nicholas Hart argued her trial lawyer
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  Speaker 2: failed to raise competency, original attorney Gary Mitchell defended his representation,
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  Speaker 2: citing two evaluations while insisting she is innocent. With Henning
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  Speaker 2: jailed since 1999, Leos ordered prosecutors from the Bernalillo County
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  Speaker 2: District Attorney's Office to prepare detention motions for Thursday's hearing.
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  Speaker 2: For more crime and justice news, be sure to join
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  Speaker 2: us for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on Fox 1, YouTube,
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  Speaker 2: Sirius XM, and now streaming on Tubi. With This Crime Alert,
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  Speaker 2: I'm Sydney Silvani.