Picture-perfect image shattered

[Chester]

This was a front-page story in today's paper. Thought it might be of interest, given recent threads about "mail-order brides" and domestic violence...

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http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...al/8743642.htm

Posted on Mon, May. 24, 2004

Picture-perfect image shattered
INVESTIGATION DUBBED "CHINESE LACI PETERSON CASE"

By Cecilia Kang

Mercury News
Ying Deng and Jason Cai fell in love Silicon Valley style: They courted over the Internet for two years before exchanging vows. The wedded bliss, though, lasted all of six weeks before Deng's lifeless body was found floating in the pool of their Cupertino home, and her engineer husband was charged with murder.

In the year since the gruesome discovery, the little-known murder investigation has captured the hearts and minds of many Bay Area Chinese-Americans, who have dubbed it the Chinese Laci Peterson case, after the slain Modesto mom-to-be whose husband also stands accused of murder.

Though the two cases have little in common, Deng's death similarly shatters the image of a picture-perfect marriage, which began when Cai whisked Deng from her life in Shanghai to start anew in America. But unlike the all-American Peterson tale, Deng's death also reveals the sometimes harsh realities of life as a newcomer in a country built on achieving the immigrant dream.

``The Laci Peterson story is an American story,'' said Vicky Ching, a Palo Alto resident who has followed Deng's murder investigation in Chinese-language newspapers. ``But this is an immigrant story. It is about the tremendous stress of life in America for Chinese immigrants.''

In the South Bay's Chinese-American community, where murder is rare, people widely assume Cai is guilty. But they still identify with the hard-working engineer, struggling with the pressure to succeed, and his lonely wife, whose closest friends were online.

`` `What was it that tipped Jason Cai to the edge?' is what people are asking,'' said Derek Cheung, the South Bay bureau chief of Sing Tao Daily.

Sing Tao and other Chinese-language media have covered the story at every turn. And readers have been ``swallowing up'' the new developments, said Mei Huey Huang, the South Bay city editor for World Journal.

Cai, a 44-year-old software engineer who immigrated to the United States 23 years ago, accompanied Deng, 30, from Shanghai last year to start a new life together in his two-story stucco home. The pair married soon after in a San Jose courthouse chapel.

In their quiet cul-de-sac, Deng spent her days gardening and preparing meals at home while Cai went to work at Visa in Foster City. Cai, according to his attorney, showered his wife with gifts of jewelry and helped buy a condominium for Deng's parents in Shanghai.

But on June 25, six weeks after the couple married, Cai reported his wife missing, and Deng's 87-pound body was discovered by police under a cover atop their bean-shaped pool. Cai was arrested the same day after giving inconsistent statements to investigators.

Cai, who remains in Santa Clara County Jail without bail, has not yet entered a plea to charges including homicide. His trial is expected to begin this summer in Santa Clara County Superior Court.

As the case unfolds, Deng's struggles as a new immigrant and the couple's troubled relationship have surfaced.

Deng was extremely lonely in the Kingsbury Court home, with no friends or family nearby, according to a statement by her mother, Hui Di Shen. The former club singer told her mother that she felt trapped, unable to speak English and drive.

The couple slept in separate bedrooms as Deng spent evenings chatting over the Internet with friends and her twin sister in China. Cai, who has an 8-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, told police his wife only had friends through online chat rooms.

Local Chinese-Americans are often reluctant to admit their interest in the Cai case, for fear of drawing negative attention to the community. But they can rattle off the details, which ring true because many have experienced or know someone who has experienced trouble adjusting to American life.

``There are many stories where a woman comes here to get married and then is hit with culture shock because life is not what she expected,'' said Ching, the Palo Alto resident who is the owner of Ming's Restaurant in Palo Alto.

There were also possible signs of domestic violence. Deng's dead body had several bruises and scrapes, and police found a suspicious blood stain in the downstairs bedroom that led to the pool. Deng's mother said her daughter complained of abuse, although there is no record of her contacting authorities.

But Cai's parents, who live in San Jose, describe Deng as an unstable woman who had threatened suicide many times. Bao Cai, Jason Cai's mother, told investigators she had warned her son against marrying Deng, suggesting she may have simply sought money and a green card.

As the disturbing picture of the couple's marriage has emerged, followers of the case have begun drawing their own conclusions about the death, even though prosecutors have yet to reveal a motive.

``A lot of engineers get pressure from work, so they can't handle more pressure at home,'' said San Jose resident Michele Sun, adding that cultural mores sometimes inhibit people from expressing their feelings, ``so they let it build up until they can't handle it any more.''

Thomas Lee, a software company executive in San Jose, believes the odds were stacked against the couple, whose different lifestyles created tension that ultimately pushed Cai over the edge. Lee described how 15 years ago he contemplated marrying a woman from Taiwan. But it dawned on Lee that their relationship wouldn't work.

``There was too much of a cultural gap. She didn't understand what life would be like in America,'' Lee said. ``The reality is that women who come here might be alone with no relatives or friends.''

That's a factor that local experts say often prevents domestic violence victims from coming forward. Asian immigrants, they say, make up the largest percentage of domestic-violence related deaths in Santa Clara County over the past 10 years.

Teresa Yu, the domestic violence program manager for Asian Americans for Community Involvement in San Jose, said that in the Cupertino slaying case, the fact that Cai had been in the United States much longer than Deng created a power gap between the couple, with Deng dependent on her husband.

It's a scenario she often sees at the social service agency's domestic violence shelter.

``It's an uncomfortable topic with a lot of stigma attached to it,'' Yu said. The reluctance to talk openly about difficult issues, she said, are ``unfortunately part of the immigrant experience.''

[Faithless]

Hmmm.

Are some saying that she was unstable enough to commit suicide?

There were also possible signs of domestic violence. Deng's dead body had several bruises and scrapes, and police found a suspicious blood stain in the downstairs bedroom that led to the pool. Deng's mother said her daughter complained of abuse, although there is no record of her contacting authorities.

But Cai's parents, who live in San Jose, describe Deng as an unstable woman who had threatened suicide many times. Bao Cai, Jason Cai's mother, told investigators she had warned her son against marrying Deng, suggesting she may have simply sought money and a green card.

As the disturbing picture of the couple's marriage has emerged, followers of the case have begun drawing their own conclusions about the death, even though prosecutors have yet to reveal a motive.

``A lot of engineers get pressure from work, so they can't handle more pressure at home,'' said San Jose resident Michele Sun, adding that cultural mores sometimes inhibit people from expressing their feelings, ``so they let it build up until they can't handle it any more.''

If my calculations are correct, the dude is like 14 years older than Deng.

[AliBabaIncorporated]

Why does the US even issue visas for internet or mail order marriages anymore? Social ineptitude came to this ...

[Faithless]

Doing a google search of Jason Cai's name, I came up with a lot of hits for his participation in Java and other technical things.

Could this be the same person? If so, he's sort of regarded for his technical expertise.

[kitty]

depends on how she died. are they implying that she killed herself and threw herself in the pool, and then covered it back up as she died?

i'm a little disconcerted by this connection to the laci peterson death -- the reporter is right in that this has pretty much nothing to do with the peterson case.

edit: is this a mail-order bride case? i mean, there is a difference between a mail order bride and just meeting someone over the internet, right?

[ellsworth81]

maybe i'm dense, but there were like no details about the actual incident. why is the guy being charged with the murder? was there evidence? I read about the "signs of domestic abuse", but didn't really pick up much else...

[Faithless]

Originally Posted by ellsworth81

maybe i'm dense, but there were like no details about the actual incident. why is the guy being charged with the murder? was there evidence? I read about the "signs of domestic abuse", but didn't really pick up much else...

You're right.

What you have is similarities to Lacy Peterson.

A dead body. Claims of problems at home. Blood from the wife found at the home.

If this is the same person I see in articles on the internet, then the interesting thing, here, would be how a more public figure could supposedly get involved in such a crime.

[kimpossible]

Originally Posted by AliBabaIncorporated

Why does the US even issue visas for internet or mail order marriages anymore? Social ineptitude came to this ...

That's a good question.

[>:^|]

Originally Posted by AliBabaIncorporated

Why does the US even issue visas for internet or mail order marriages anymore?

I'm guessing that there is no good way to identify those types of marriages.

[Faithless]

Unlike the Peterson case, this case hasn't gotten the publicity.

Google groups posting of Los Gatos Daily News article

Woman in murder case ruled to have drowned
Christina Bellantoni
Los Gatos Daily News
July 9, 2003

A Cupertino woman who authorities claim was murdered by her husband died by drowning, officials said yesterday.

Jason Cai, a 44-year-old software engineer, has been held in Santa Clara County Jail since his June 25 arrest on charges he murdered his wife of just a few months, Ying Deng.

Cai's attorney will ask a judge to let Cai out on bail next week.

Deng died by freshwater drowning, according to Deputy District Attorney Ed Fernandez. Many elements of the case, still an ongoing investigation, are being withheld by authorities, including Deng's time of death.

Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies arrested Cai when they found Deng's body floating in the pool of the couple's Kingsbury Court home underneath a pool cover.

Cai had initially reported his wife missing, authorities said, but Deng's body was found when deputies searched the couple's back yard.

Deng, 30, married Cai and moved into his Cupertino home about two months before her death.

Cai's defense attorney Richard Pointer told the Daily News he'll delay a plea for his client until the coroner's report is ready.

that's a critical bit of information. The cause of death is going to be a major issue," Pointer said, elaborating that the manner in which Deng was drowned will be a point of contention.

"There has been no confession in this case," Fernandez told the Daily News. "Cai made statements to police that formed part of the body of evidence."

Fernandez wouldn't comment further.

Cai, who's been held in jail without bail, meets with Pointer regularly.

Pointer said probably cause documents filed with the court don't show "Proof beyond a reasonable doubt."

"Some observations in (the documents) we anticipate we'll be able to prove to be factually inaccurate," said Pointer, adding that his office will conduct its own investigation.

Next Wednesday during a plea hearing, Pointer will ask the judge to let Cai out on bail.

"I'd like to get him out of jail," Pointer said. "He has no prior record and has an impeccable work record. He's not going anywhere."

If a judge were to grant bail Wednesday, Cai could be released the same day.

According to sheriff's spokesman Deputy Terrance Helm, the night he was arrested Cai said he became suspicious when his wife hadn't prepared dinner. He'd seen her when he arrived home from work at 5 p.m., but didn't see her again, Cai told authorities.

Helm said that Cai did work on his computer while his wife did chores around the house. Cai also told deputies that he cooked dinner for himself when his wife hadn't prepared it for him.

When sheriff's deputies arrived after Cai's 911 call, they searched the back yard with Cai's help.

In the partially covered pool, deputies found Deng's body floating under the pool cover, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Anyone with information relating to this case may call sheriff's Detective Randy Bynum at (408) 808-4500.