Prosecutors: Man Who Didn't Get Promotion Killed Family

Feng Lu arrested in connection with 2014 Houston-area murders
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 15, 2022 12:20 PM CDT

More than eight years after the murder of an entire family stunned the Houston area's Chinese community, an arrest has been made. According to court documents filed Wednesday, investigators believe 58-year-old Feng Lu killed Maoye Sun; his wife, Mei Xie; and their two sons, 7-year-old Titus and 9-year-old Timothy, because he was angry about not getting a promotion at work, the Washington Post reports. The four family members were found dead at their home in the Houston suburb of Cypress on Jan. 30, 2014, six days after Sun was last seen leaving work, per the AP. All four had been shot in the head.

Feng and Sun both worked at oil and gas corporation Cameron International. According to court documents, Feng, who was interviewed by an FBI special agent after the murders, asked Sun to recommend him for a transfer to the company's R&D section, the Houston Chronicle reports. After he didn't get the promotion, Feng called Sun, who denied failing to recommend him, court papers state—but Feng told the FBI agent he was treated differently at work the next day and suspected Sun had made derogatory remarks about him. The affidavit states that Feng also made contradictory statements about a Glock handgun he bought shortly before the murders and returned days after the bodies were found.

According to court papers, Feng returned the gun to the store without a barrel, saying his wife had thrown it away because she didn't want a gun in the house. She told investigators, however, that she didn't know he'd bought a gun until the FBI spoke to him. In another interview, Feng claimed he lost the barrel while cleaning the weapon. He also denied that he'd been to Sun's home or even knew where he lived, but DNA testing earlier this year found that his DNA was on Mei Xie's purse, which was found at the scene. Feng was arrested Sunday on four counts of capital murder after he arrived in San Francisco on a flight from China, and he is currently awaiting extradition to Texas. (More Texas stories.)

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