Crime scene in the middle of the fields.
Four dead bodies were found by police in a mushroom farm south of San Francisco and three in a trucking company less than two kilometers away on January 23.
The alleged perpetrator of this mass killing, Chunli Zhao, is appearing this Wednesday, May 3, 2023 by order of the judge.
This 66-year-old Chinese, who has been living in the United States for more than ten years, allegedly shot dead seven of his colleagues and seriously injured another on a farm in Half Moon Bay, a small coastal town in California, with a semi-automatic weapon purchased legally.
“Deplorable and heartbreaking living conditions”
The first elements of the investigation indicated that it would be a litigation related to work.
If Chunli Zhao had already had an altercation in 2013 with another employee who had complained, it was a new incident that had recently upset the farm worker, reports the
New York Times
.
Operations management wanted him to pay a $100 bill to repair a forklift damaged in a collision for which he did not consider himself responsible.
"
Obviously that's not what caused it, because there was a long buildup over a period of time
," San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said in an interview. phone, again reports the famous American daily.
“
But that argument could have been what, in his mind, was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
", he added.
The prosecutor evokes here the very difficult living conditions of these agricultural workers, sadly revealed by the tragedy.
These land workers are mostly from Asia or Latin America.
The Mexican consulate in San Francisco confirmed that two of the seven victims were Mexican while the other five were Chinese citizens, the Chinese consulate in San Francisco said, also reports AFP.
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The suspect and his wife lived in a trailer on their employer's California Terra Garden
farm
where the first attack took place.
They lived there with nearly eight other families.
One of San Mateo County's supervisors, Ray Mueller, spoke of "
deplorable and heartbreaking living conditions
" when posting photos.
“
Terrible.
Horrible.
We saw what basically looked like hangars.
Storage containers that people lived in.
No insulation
“, he had lamented after visiting the housing of agricultural workers in the coastal town of just under 12,000 inhabitants a few days after the killing.
No running water but water cans, outdoor stoves, mattresses on the ground where logs and construction site things are piled up.
The company that owns the farm, however, responded to the comments by assuring that the homes were “
all equipped with kitchens, bathrooms and showers in addition to standard living amenities
,” reports ABC News.
plead not guilty
Charged with seven counts of premeditated murder and one of attempted murder, Chunli Zhao faces the death penalty, a prosecutor announced during his first appearance.
The criminal complaint does cite "
special circumstances
" accusing the suspect of "
personally and intentionally
" shooting to kill
,
which under California law carries the maximum penalty.
After the attack, Chunli Zhao was found in his car in a parking lot near the sheriff's station.
His semi-automatic weapon was placed on the passenger seat.
However, he dismissed all the charges against him through a Mandarin interpreter on February 16.
He had, however, confessed to the murders during an interview with
NBC Bay Area
, a few days after the killing.
To explain his gesture, the 66-year-old Chinese had declared to suffer from mental disorders and had insisted on the overwork endured for years within the farm, speaking of “years
of intimidation combined with long hours of work
”.
This new appearance should make it possible to set a later date for a preliminary hearing (session during which the prosecutors present their case in order to convince the judge that they have enough evidence to go to trial, Editor’s note
)
.