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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012
32 PAGES
Murder/suicide came after man lost $200,000 at casino
On the catwalk
Chin Yao Hu, 55, and Miao Zhen Chen, 50, were found dead at local hotel in 2011 by Martin van den Hemel Staff Reporter
Matthew Hoekstra photo Models strut the catwalk at River Rock Show Theatre Tuesday as part of an annual showcase of creations from Kwantlen’s fashion graduates. See Page 3.
The 55-year-old man who is believed to have murdered his 50-year-old partner before turning a knife on himself, lost nearly $200,000 in a little more than a day before their bodies were discovered by police in a Richmond hotel room. A coroner’s report obtained by The Richmond Review sheds new light on what factors may have precipitated the murder/suicide at the Hampton Inn on Jan. 8, 2011. The report details the investigation into the deaths of Chin Yao Hu and his female companion, Miao Zhen Chen, with whom he frequently gambled at local casinos. According to the report, Hu borrowed $200,000 from a famly member on the afternoon of Jan. 6, promising to repay the money in two days and letting the family member know he was planning to gamble. “That same family member received a call from Mr. Hu around midnight on the 7th of January, advising that he had lost approximately $100,000 of the money he had borrowed,” the report said. “The family member suggested to him that he should stop gambling and leaving (sic) the casino; he advised he planned to continue at another casino in an attempt to win the money back. During this conversation, he discussed his children and requested that she take care of herself and the family
when he was not there.” The family member didn’t consider the conversation alarming, and simply thought he was referring to his “frequent absences rather than anything more permanent.” When Hu was found in his hotel room, he had just $2,010 remaining. In interviews with family, coroner Lisa Graham learned that both Hu and Chen were frequent gamblers. Hu regularly played with large quantities of cash, and before he died, had warned family members not to gamble, “stating it was addictive and could ruin peoples’ lives...” Chen gambled 15 to 20 times per month, usually wagered in the $1,000 to $1,500 a hand range, and travelled several times a year to Las Vegas to gamble. “She was well known to the high stakes hospitality staff at the local casino, who advised that she often gambled in the company of this male companion.” Chen’s family became concerned about her gambling in the months before her death, when she began showing signs of anxiety and depression. Both Chen and Hu had been charged in connection with crimes elsewhere in the province. In 2010, they were both charged in 150 Mile House, east of Williams Lake, with production of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking, and fraudulently consuming electricity or gas. “This was known to be causing her significant stress,” the report said. But Graham did not conclude that gambling played a direct role in the incident. “Although the role that the gambling loss played on Mr. Hu’s decisions the night of these events cannot be conclusively determined, it is my belief that it played a marginal role in his decision. See Page 3
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