GUILTY CA - Xia Zhao, 32, shot to death, San Jose, 1 July 2008

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San Jose engineer on trial for murder in death of lawyer shot at her office

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_20071606?source=most_viewed

Armed with new evidence, a Santa Clara County prosecutor Wednesday launched his second effort to prove that an enraged San Jose software engineer fatally shot a local lawyer at such close range the gun muzzle left an imprint on her chest.

Software engineer Jason Cai's first trial ended 18 months ago in a mistrial, after the jury deadlocked 11 to 1 in favor of a conviction. Cai has remained in jail pending his second trial on suspicion of gunning down lawyer Xia Zhao on the morning of July 1, 2008, in the parking lot of her Hamilton Avenue office.
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This is a murderer who did not kill in self-defense," he said, gesturing at Cai, a slight man with glasses wearing a gray pinstriped suit. "This is a murderer who did not kill in a jealous rage. This is a murderer who killed for one of the oldest motives in the book -- money."

As he did in the first trial, Welch contended that Cai threatened, stalked and ultimately shot Zhao in broad daylight because he feared he would have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars if he lost a wrongful death civil lawsuit Zhao was handling for the family of his deceased wife, who drowned in the couple's
Cupertino swimming pool.

Cai had been charged with killing her, but in 2006 a jury acquitted him of murder and deadlocked on manslaughter. Welch also noted that if Cai lost the lawsuit, the $250,000 from a life insurance policy he had taken out on his wife shortly before she died would have gone to her family.

Wednesday, Welch argued Cai had a third financial motive, based on new evidence he and investigator Pete Ramirez developed.


More at link....
 
From July 2012:

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_21168805/man-who-killed-san-jose-lawyer-will-spend

Four years after gunning down a lawyer in a San Jose parking lot, Jason Cai was ordered Thursday to spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

He also drew an additional 25 years to life for a gun enhancement and must pay $714,544 in restitution to the victim's family.

Half of everything 54-year-old Cai earns in prison will go to the family of Xia Zhao, the San Jose lawyer he shot twice in July 2008.
 

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