Irvine Man Sentenced to 26 years to Life for Hitting Wife’s Lover with a Car and Stabbing Him to Death in Front of Her
October 30, 2020

SANTA ANA, Calif. – An Irvine man was sentenced today to the maximum sentence of 26 years to life in state prison for the first degree murder of his estranged wife’s lover. The defendant was also convicted of stabbing the victim’s female friend before fleeing the crime scene.

Hongli Sun, 43, of Irvine, was convicted on October 1, 2020 of one felony count of first-degree murder with a felony enhancement for using a deadly weapon, and one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon with a felony enhancement of inflicting great bodily injury.

On July 18, 2015, Sun drove to Dr. Xuan Liu’s dental office on Barranca Parkway in Irvine and sat in his Mercedes waiting for Liu to return. Sun discovered months before that Liu was having an affair with Sun’s wife.

Sun intentionally drove into Liu in the parking lot and then stabbed Liu multiple times. The 54-year-old dentist died at the scene. Sun also stabbed a women who attempted to intervene in the attack.

“The cold, calculated choice to murder another human being deserves the harshest punishment,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Violence is never the answer, especially when it comes to matters of the heart.”

Senior Deputy District Attorney Mark Birney of the Homicide Unit prosecuted this case.

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Irvine Man Convicted of First-Degree Murder for Hitting Wife’s Lover with a Car and Stabbing Him to Death in Front of Her
October 1, 2020

SANTA ANA, Calif. – An Irvine doctor was convicted of first degree for the killing of his estranged wife’s lover. The defendant was also convicted of stabbing the victim’s female friend before fleeing the crime scene.

Hongli Sun, 43, of Irvine, was convicted of one felony count of first-degree murder with a felony enhancement for using a deadly weapon, and one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon with a felony enhancement of inflicting great bodily injury. He faces a maximum sentence of 26 years to life.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 30, 2020.

On July 18, 2015, Sun drove to Dr. Xuan Liu’s dental office on Barranca Parkway in Irvine and sat in his Mercedes waiting for Liu to return. Sun discovered months before that Liu was having an affair with Sun’s wife.

Sun intentionally drove into Liu in the parking lot and then stabbed Liu multiple times. The 54-year-old dentist died at the scene. Sun also stabbed a women who attempted to intervene in the attack.

“Even though there were multiple witnesses to the murder, this was not an easy case to prosecute,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “The defense attempted to paint this as a crime of passion, but Deputy District Attorney Mark Birney was masterful in walking the jurors through the elements of the crime to show this was a cold calculated choice by the defendant to end another human being’s life.”

Senior Deputy District Attorney Mark Birney of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.

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加州華人情殺案 工程師判26年至終身監禁
2020-10-31

五年前震驚南加州社區殺妻案，43歲的加州爾灣華裔工程師孫紅力（Hongli Sun ）10月初陪審團隊對其做出一級謀殺罪（First Degree of Murder）和使用致命武器攻擊加重刑罰的多項控罪成立，昨天（30日）該案宣判，他被判26年至終身監禁。

孫紅力2015年發現妻子外遇後，殺害了妻子情人、華人牙醫劉旭桉後被捕。經過長達五年的訴訟，律師之間的辯論和討價還價，陪審團最後做出決定，昨日法官宣布了對孫紅力的刑期判決。

孫紅力犯案前在爾灣威騰電子公司（Western Digital Corp.）擔任工程師，2015年7月18日，他因懷疑妻子陳華英與其前雇主、牙醫師劉旭桉繼續有染，當日午間前往受害人就職的牙醫診所前等候。在劉旭桉和其妻與兩名員工出現後，孫紅力先駕車衝撞劉旭桉，隨後下車持長刀連刺劉旭桉17刀，導致其最終身亡。

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Man Arrested for Murder in Irvine Parking Lot
Saturday, July 18, 2015

Irvine, CA (July 18, 2015): The Irvine Police Department (IPD) has arrested a man for murder in an Irvine parking lot. The suspect has been identified as Hongli Sun, 38, of Irvine.

At approximately 1:20 p.m. today, July 18, 2015, Sun was in his Mercedes sport utility vehicle in a parking lot at 4980 Barranca Parkway. The suspect observed a 34-year-old man, whom he believed was having a relationship with Sun’s wife, and drove his vehicle at the victim with the intention of hitting him with the car.

As the victim attempted to stand up, Sun got out of his car and stabbed him. A female associate of the victim attempted to intervene and was stabbed in the struggle.

Witnesses at the scene called 911, and IPD and the Orange County Fire Authority immediately responded. The suspect was located in the parking lot and arrested without incident.

The victim died at the scene as a result of his injuries. His identity is being withheld pending notification of his family.

The female victim was transported to an area hospital and is expected to survive her injuries.

Anyone with additional information is asked to call IPD Detective Karie Davies at 949-724-7131.

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OC Man Convicted of Fatally Stabbing Dentist Who ‘Seduced’ His Wife
2020年10月2日

A man accused of stabbing his wife’s lover to death was convicted of first-degree murder in Irvine, California on Thursday.

Hongli Sun, an engineer, killed Dr. Xuan Liu, a dentist, on July 28, 2015 for having an affair with his estranged wife, Cynthia Chen.

Sun and Chen first divorced in November 2014 after the latter engaged in a relationship with Liu. She moved to China for several months, leaving their child to Sun’s care.

Upon Chen’s return, the couple reconciled and remarried in January 2015. However, Sun remained suspicious that his wife and Liu were still seeing each other.

On the day of the attack, Sun drove to Liu’s office to see if Chen was there. He found a letter on the door — in his wife’s handwriting — saying that they had gone to lunch.

When they arrived, Sun drove his Mercedes-Benz SUV toward Liu, who was knocked down before trying to run away. Sun managed to chase the 54-year-old and stabbed him 17 times, which led to his death.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Mark Birney told jurors that Sun planned to murder Liu. He argued that his motive emerged out of “anger, jealousy and ultimately desire for revenge.”

Defense Attorney John Barnett, on the other hand, argued that his client had no plans to kill Liu. He claimed that Sun only “snapped” under the pressure of Chen’s infidelity.

“Forgiveness repaid by betrayal,” Barnett said, according to MyNewsLA. “That forgiveness begat betrayal and further forgiveness begat further betrayal. After being stretched over time… he finally snapped and he killed Dr. Liu.”

Sun learned that Liu had “drugged,” “debased” and “seduced” his wife, according to Barnett. He also found out that the dentist photographed her while having sex and gave her a sexually transmitted disease, which he believes had led to her cancer, according to the Orange County Register.

Barnett argued that Sun carried the knife because Liu’s own estranged wife, Junli Zha, was having an affair with a “gangster” and was using Liu and Chen’s explicit photos as leverage for her own divorce.

Sun, who faces 26 years to life in prison, will return to court on Oct. 30. Aside from killing Liu, the 43-year-old was also convicted of felony assault for injuring someone who tried to intervene in the attack.

Feature Images via Orange County Sheriff’s Department (left) and DMV (right)