July 3, 2024 • 26 mins
This is the story of an entire family, the Chen family, who was brutally murdered in their own home, and no one knows why or most importantly who could have committed this crime. There appears to be a wall between the community of this family and the investigators who are trying to determine who killed this family. Tune in to hear all the details along with some theories about what or why have been the cause of their savage murder.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Cases that cross international borders can be especially difficult to solve.
(00:07):
And so can cases in which witnesses and communities have excellent reasons to keep their mouths
shut.
The horrific murder case I'm about to share with you suffers from this double whammy.
On October 8th, 2014, a family of four was found mercilessly stabbed and bludgeoned to
death inside their Albany, New York bungalow home.
(00:30):
The local community clammed up almost immediately, police hastened to assure the family's neighbors
that they were not in any danger.
Secrets surround this case.
Tips have been dropped in furtive whispers and carried on the winds of rumor.
Let's attempt to unravel this tangled web and make sense of the Chen family murders.
(00:52):
Come along with me for a ride through odd, strange and mysterious, here at Odd Mysteries
Stories.
Jing Feng Chen, aged 39, lived with his 38-year-old wife, Haiyan Li, in Gilderland, a suburb of
Albany, New York.
Their home was located at 1846 Western Avenue.
(01:15):
There they raised their sons, 10-year-old Anthony, and his younger brother Eddie, only
7 years old.
Chen and Li spoke very little English, though Chen's was said to be adequate enough, but
their children were fluent.
The boys attended Gilderland Elementary School and were loved by their teachers and many
in the community.
(01:36):
Some neighbors spoke of spotting Li keeping a watchful eye over her children while she
gardened, and they played in the backyard.
None of the neighbors had any complaints about this young family.
Chen and Li were both from the province of Fujian on the southeastern coast of China.
Like many from the province, they came to the United States to improve their lot in
(01:58):
life.
They arrived in 2000, joining roughly 8,000 other Chinese immigrants at the time, including
extended family members.
After the murders, questions began to arise about how Chen was making his money.
He had a job at the family restaurant called King's Walk, however several sources say Chen
(02:21):
was only working part-time.
While the Gilderland area was relatively affordable, owning a home and supporting a family of four
comes with more expenses than a part-time restaurant gig can cover.
That's also accounting for generosity of wage offered by extended family members.
Later, it came out that Chen may have even been a restaurant owner himself at some point,
(02:45):
but that restaurant closed for two years, a period in which Chen may have been unemployed.
Nobody has ever reported on the name of the alleged restaurant.
I don't know when it was opened or closed, or if it was another King's Walk location.
It may have later been purchased and reopened by another family member.
(03:06):
I've attempted to look up Secretary of State records to find out what restaurant Chen might
have owned and when, but the search wasn't particularly enlightening.
There are King's Walk businesses registered across the state of New York, both active
and inactive, but none in Albany County.
(03:27):
Chen did have one potential legitimate source of income, a neighboring home at 1848 Western
Avenue, which he bought in 2010 and was renting out at the time.
Whether he could have charged rents high enough to make up for the likely shortfall in employment
income is uncertain.
The question of how Chen made his money might be pivotal to this case.
(03:51):
Later, I'll cover some of the possibilities and how these theories might ultimately have
led to his and his entire family's demise.
When Chen didn't show up for work on the morning of October 8, one of his coworkers
went to his home to check on him.
(04:12):
The coworker discovered Chen's body downstairs and found Chen's wife and children upstairs.
All the bodies had suffered atrocious wounds to the head and face caused by both a knife
and a hammer.
The bodies upstairs had been covered with blankets before the killer left.
It looked like the perpetrator had committed the murder sometime between 3.30 and 6.30
(04:37):
a.m.
Five law enforcement agencies have worked on this case due to its international ties.
They include the Gilderland and New York State Police, the NYPD, and the U.S. Department
of State, along with the FBI.
All of them have struggled to locate any viable leads.
(04:57):
Police were tight-lipped about the crime from the beginning.
I don't know if there were signs of forced entry or if the murder weapons were ever found,
or even if police collected any helpful physical evidence from the scene.
In fact, of all the cases I've covered at Odd Mysteries Stories, this one seems to be
(05:18):
the one that police are most reluctant to talk about.
However, David Sores, Albany County's district attorney, did tell the public that law enforcement
had determined the crime was an intentional act with intended targets.
The community was equally tight-lipped.
Part of the problem was the language barrier.
(05:40):
Many relevant witnesses only spoke the Fujian-Chinese dialect, and translators had to be brought
in before police could ask any questions at all.
Immigration issues reared their head as well.
It soon came out that Chen was in the country legally, and his boys were American citizens
by birthright.
But his wife, Li, was an undocumented immigrant, and so were many of the potential witnesses.
(06:07):
Law enforcement was combing through a population that had plenty of reasons to fear them.
Law enforcement might not have been the only source of fear for potential witnesses.
Soon, whispers began to arise that Chen was involved in one or more lucrative criminal
(06:27):
enterprises.
If that was true, then anyone who spoke up risked themselves and the lives of their families.
It's a danger that might explain why nobody has come forward, even after district attorney
Sores offered immunity from immigration charges for anyone with information about the case.
Worse, there were no security cameras at nearby homes or businesses, and no traffic cameras
(06:53):
in the area.
Police sought iPhone records, but Apple initially refused to provide them.
Police gathered DNA samples from the scene, but were unable to match the DNA to any suspect.
In the end, law enforcement was left with just 600 leads, a staggeringly low number for
(07:14):
a case like this one.
With few leads to go on, police began looking into similar cases.
They found a 2011 case from Diberville, Mississippi.
It was another unsolved family murder, and a restaurant was involved called Chinese Happiness.
(07:38):
This family was also stabbed to death, and they had the same surnames, Chen and Li.
Unfortunately, the similarity of these cases didn't offer many leads.
Chen is the fifth most common name in mainland China, and the fourth most common surname
in the entire world.
Li is another very common Chinese surname.
(08:00):
The two families were not related.
Also, running a Chinese restaurant is a popular business model for immigrants and their families.
Both families may have had a connection to organized crime, even if they lived in different
states and didn't know any of the same people.
But again, police haven't made any concrete connections.
(08:24):
Some thought that law enforcement had a new lead when, in 2017, another family of four
was murdered.
They lived in Troy, New York, just 10 miles away from the Chen family home.
They were all bound, stabbed, and left dead in their basement.
But in 2021, the case was solved.
(08:45):
James White was found guilty of first-degree murder after police made a DNA match.
So if there were a connection, the DNA would have matched the Chen family case as well.
Two days before the Chen family was murdered, the New Yorker published an article by journalist
Lauren Hilger called Chinatown's Kitchen Network.
(09:09):
In the article, she described an underground network of Chinese restaurants, nail salons,
and massage parlors deeply involved in immigrant trafficking.
Let me offer a brief disclaimer.
I'm going to describe the model in detail because it is relevant to this case.
But I'd like you to keep in mind that I am not offering an opinion on U.S. immigration
(09:32):
policy or the effects of that policy.
Nor am I offering judgment on the immigrants themselves.
My hope is that all viewers can extend some empathy, even if they disagree with the actions
of the people involved in this so-called kitchen network or the policies that led to its creation.
(09:53):
To the best of my understanding, the immigration trafficking business model works like this.
Faced with a lifetime of poverty and few prospects in China's most remote provinces, immigrants
pay an individual they call a snakehead.
That person gets them into the United States.
Snakeheads often charge as much as $70,000 for their services.
(10:15):
Once immigrants are in the United States, they're linked up with a number of Chinese
employment agencies.
All devoted to placing undocumented immigrants in Chinese-owned businesses, the immigrant
calls a provided number and links up with a boss.
If the boss hires them, they're put to work.
The wages described were somewhat generous by trafficking standards.
(10:40):
Perhaps due to the Chinese culture of collective and community care and responsibility, Hilger's
source, speaking in 2014, described making $2,000 to $2,800 a month.
Indeed, there are legitimately employed American workers making far less money in the restaurant
industry.
(11:01):
Immigrants divide their money in three ways.
Sending money home to their families in China, paying down their debt to the snakehead, and
meeting their own needs.
Like many trafficking operations, it seemed this one actually allowed the immigrants to
pay back the debt.
There are far darker trafficking networks that keep piling on made-up surcharges so that
(11:24):
the immigrant stays locked in bondage forever.
Once the debt is paid, the immigrant often starts saving up their money.
They may even get green cards.
Eventually, they open restaurants, nail salons, and massage parlors of their own, which they
then staff with other immigrants through trafficking employment agencies.
The immigrants arrive knowing their lives will be difficult, but that they will have
(11:47):
an opportunity to provide for future generations.
The immigrants are also housed, often in large collective dormitories, and often within walking
distance of their workplaces or on a convenient bus line.
There is a fair amount of circumstantial evidence to suggest that Chen was a part of this so-called
(12:09):
kitchen network.
Some of that evidence even indicates that the New Yorker article itself could have helped
to put Chen in the crosshairs of his family's killer.
Was Chen involved with the kitchen network?
I don't know for sure.
(12:29):
Law enforcement has neither confirmed nor denied.
Chen's brother firmly denies any involvement.
There are plenty of Chinese restaurants that don't do business this way and don't have
any affiliations with this network at all.
Yet circumstantial evidence exists in this case that would be consistent with kitchen
(12:50):
networks operations, as described in the New Yorker article.
The rumor that Chen was handling large amounts of off-book cash to pay undocumented restaurant
workers began circulating early.
As did the rumor that Chen was engaged in some money laundering.
An article that ran in the Altamont Enterprise on the evening of October 8, 2014 included
(13:15):
quotes from a pair of freshly interviewed neighbors.
The first was Rosalind Kowalski, who lived at 1850 Western Avenue.
She told the press that Lee had three children, not two.
And she said their names were Ed, Vincent, and Michelle.
Well, only one of the children's names was correct.
(13:36):
And Lee never had a daughter.
So where did the neighbor get those names from?
Perhaps they were younger people who lived in the Chen family's basement.
Then Marie Kavanaugh at 1838 Western Avenue mentioned the rental property at 1848 Western.
She noted that a lot of people lived there.
(13:58):
Supposedly, the tenants were students who didn't stay long.
Still, nobody knows for sure.
And cramming many undocumented workers into a single house would be entirely in line with
kitchen network operations.
Another rumor surfaced that suggested there were 18 mattresses in the basement of the
(14:20):
Chen family home at 1846 Western.
Perhaps their own home was another dormitory for immigrant workers, just like the house
they own next door.
Also remember that the police made it a point, almost immediately after the murders, to say
that the neighbors had nothing to fear.
How would they know that?
(14:42):
Could it be that the police saw evidence that the Chen's were involved in organized immigration
crime, which meant the murders were isolated to this network?
What about the fact that the New Yorker article's primary source mentioned having worked at a
restaurant just outside Albany?
Is it possible that the source was someone Chen had housed?
(15:05):
Did someone move decisively to protect their business interests?
Remember that the wife and children were covered with blankets.
In many crimes, covering the bodies is a sign that the killers either knew the victims personally
or felt great remorse after killing them.
Could this small detail point to a member of this extended family, cultural, or community
(15:30):
network?
Even the fact that the police were so tight-lipped about the crime offers some circumstantial
evidence that involvement in the kitchen network ultimately ended the lives of the Chen family.
Perhaps the network was already under investigation.
Maybe circulating information about the murders jeopardized the Justice Department's ability
(15:54):
to solve a much larger case, one that would allow them to take down an entire crime ring.
They may even have had a thread to tug on.
Hilger's source mentioned going to a New York lawyer to try to make an asylum claim.
The same lawyer ended up arrested for fraud.
(16:15):
They were ties to the local organized crime networks.
One of the reasons why so few people who were connected directly to the Chen's wanted to
speak to the police.
Did they fear receiving a hammer blow to the head in their own homes?
Some dark night?
First, let me draw from my own experience.
(16:40):
For many years, I lived in the Allerton Avenue section of the Bronx in New York City.
I remember watching new neighbors move into a private home down the block from me.
I later learned that they were Chinese immigrants.
The day they moved in, I watched as they hauled about 12 mattresses and a refrigerator into
the house.
(17:01):
I don't recall seeing them bring in any other furniture.
Seven days a week, twice a day.
A passenger van would pick up and drop off 10 people at a time.
They worked in shifts running two Chinese food takeout restaurants in the area.
I never saw young kids, just older teenagers and adults.
I was told by the few neighbors these immigrants spoke with that even though they spent most
(17:25):
of their time working, they felt it was much better than living behind the wall of China,
so to speak.
But it seems like they built their own wall in New York.
In my opinion, they were a mysterious group of people, created their own community and
kept to themselves.
They obviously weren't that interested in assimilating into the country or our culture.
(17:48):
There were one or two women, I recall, that spoke broken English, and it appeared their
main function was to work the front counters at the takeout restaurant.
There was a serious language barrier for the rest of the occupants in that house.
At the restaurant one day, I was trying to be friendly and said to one of the men cooking
in the back, hey, you live on my block, don't you?
(18:11):
He smiled, bowed his head, and scurried back to the kitchen.
The lady up front apologized and said they don't speak English, so he not know what
you say.
They were always nice people, polite, quiet, and never rude to their neighbors.
The best part was, New Yorkers love their takeout Chinese food.
(18:32):
Back to the Chen family murders.
Remember it was reported that there were 18 mattresses in the basement and the home could
have been an immigrant dormitory.
If there were indeed people sleeping in the basement of their home, then any of those
unknown and undocumented occupants would have had plenty of access to the family during
(18:54):
the wee morning hours.
Is it possible one of those individuals snapped from the stresses of living in a crowded
basement and working in a demanding restaurant job?
Or was possibly told to murder the Chen family for some other reason?
Of course, there are big holes in this theory.
(19:16):
First, investigators haven't revealed that anyone was living in the Chen family basement
at all, and anyone in the basement would probably have heard the crime in progress.
It's conceivable they all might have scattered before the bodies were discovered for fear
of ICE arresting them or other unknown reasons.
(19:37):
Yet it seems a little hard to believe that not even one of them stepped up and said something.
I mean two of the victims were innocent children.
If there were people in the basement, then one might even ask whether the killer knew
they were there.
It would be quite the risk killing four people while 18 potential witnesses were sleeping
(19:57):
right down the stairs.
A more refined version of this theory may be that no one was ever in the basement, but
the rumor arose because there was an immigrant dormitory nearby at 1848 Western.
Do you believe the killer could have been one of the immigrant workers?
Perhaps even living in the Chen family home?
(20:24):
Rumors about organized crime and human trafficking weren't the only whispers of criminality at
the Chen place.
Chen had allegedly held a gambling party the night before he was murdered.
Chen's brother told the press this rumor was nonsense.
He said that Chen had only hosted a small card game for friends.
(20:47):
This was one of the only things Chen's brother ever said to the press.
I couldn't even find anyone who'd reported on the brother's name and believe me, I tried
to find him online.
In most cases I cover, the family is front and center, speaking to the media and demanding
justice.
Chen's brother seems to have drifted out of the woodwork long enough to deflect the gambling
(21:09):
rumor only to hold his silence once again.
Is this a significant observation or merely a cultural difference?
I don't know for sure.
Card games with friends are perfectly legal in the state of New York, but a large gambling
party could be construed as an underground casino, which would have meant Chen was engaging
(21:31):
in a different kind of criminal activity.
Gambling is another reason why people came to believe that Chen had stacks of cash in
his home.
It was presented as another theory about how exactly he was making his money.
Who were the people at the card table the night before Chen died?
(21:52):
How big were the stakes?
Did one of the players come back to get the money they'd lost that night?
Rumor itself might have led to the death of the Chen family.
If someone believed Chen was running some sort of gambling ring or was handling large
stacks of illicit cash, they might have gone into the home looking for money, whether he
(22:13):
had it or not.
Stabbing and bludgeoning are both highly personal methods of murder, often driven by hatred,
rage or revenge.
As previously mentioned, covering up the bodies after a murder, as the Chen family killer did,
is also a hallmark of a perpetrator who knows their victims personally.
(22:37):
There isn't much to go on to support or refute this theory.
These have never released the name of anyone who might have had a vendetta against any
member of this family.
In fact, one of the few details they released was that investigators didn't know of any
antagonistic relationships the Chen family had with anyone at the time.
(22:59):
Yet, because it is impossible to confirm any of the stories that link Chen to a criminal
network, this is an angle we must consider.
A personal motive would probably even be the best news for the case, as it offers some
hope that a member of Chen's tight-knit community really does know something that they might
(23:22):
someday be willing to share.
Should we apply Occam's razor to this case and abandon all discussion of unproven criminal
ties and sorted gambling rings?
Should the answer really be as straightforward as an emotional human dispute?
(23:42):
One of the hardest things to accept about this terrible crime is the fact that the killer
could be long gone by now.
The killer could have returned to China, which does not have an extradition treaty with the
United States.
If that is the case, it may be impossible to charge someone with the crime, even if genealogical
DNA turns up a match in the future.
(24:05):
Every so often, the authorities remind the public the case exists.
Hoping someone, somewhere, will be willing to speak up.
Both 1846 and 1848 Western Avenue were sold a long time ago.
On home listing sites, the interior of 1846 looks nice.
(24:26):
The gleaming hardwood floors and clean white walls look pretty and peaceful.
The big windows pour natural light into the space.
The basement is unfinished but sparkling clean.
It's as if the Chen family has been erased.
The walls of the home no longer seem to remember the horrors they witnessed.
(24:49):
But there are those who can never forget Chen, Li, and their two young sons.
But someday, the memory of this family will compel someone to tell a new story, one that
finally closes this case.
I sincerely hope that you enjoyed this story to the end, and for that I thank you from
(25:09):
the bottom of my heart.
Wasn't this one of the strangest true crime stories you've ever heard?
Doesn't it seem like there is almost no hope to ever know who did this crime, but even
more strange why, and to include such young children?
It's a very sad story in my opinion.
If you have questions about the details I've covered in the show, or would like to follow
(25:33):
my other projects, please find Odd Mysteries stories on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
I answer all messages, so don't hesitate to reach out.
In the next episode, I'll share the odd, mysterious, and unsolved murder mystery of
Jennifer Servo.
This young lady had everything going for her.
Her life was beginning to take shape as a true professional in her career, but there
(25:56):
was a dark part of her life.
Her personal relationships might not have been the best.
Or was her murder an unexpected act by someone she trusted but wasn't intimate with?
Tune in to my next episode to hear the complete murder story of Jennifer Servo.
I sincerely hope you enjoyed this story.
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(26:21):
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Cases that cross international borders can be especially difficult to solve.
(00:07):
And so can cases in which witnesses and communities have excellent reasons to keep their mouths
shut.
The horrific murder case I'm about to share with you suffers from this double whammy.
On October 8th, 2014, a family of four was found mercilessly stabbed and bludgeoned to
death inside their Albany, New York bungalow home.
(00:30):
The local community clammed up almost immediately, police hastened to assure the family's neighbors
that they were not in any danger.
Secrets surround this case.
Tips have been dropped in furtive whispers and carried on the winds of rumor.
Let's attempt to unravel this tangled web and make sense of the Chen family murders.
(00:52):
Come along with me for a ride through odd, strange and mysterious, here at Odd Mysteries
Stories.
Jing Feng Chen, aged 39, lived with his 38-year-old wife, Haiyan Li, in Gilderland, a suburb of
Albany, New York.
Their home was located at 1846 Western Avenue.
(01:15):
There they raised their sons, 10-year-old Anthony, and his younger brother Eddie, only
7 years old.
Chen and Li spoke very little English, though Chen's was said to be adequate enough, but
their children were fluent.
The boys attended Gilderland Elementary School and were loved by their teachers and many
in the community.
(01:36):
Some neighbors spoke of spotting Li keeping a watchful eye over her children while she
gardened, and they played in the backyard.
None of the neighbors had any complaints about this young family.
Chen and Li were both from the province of Fujian on the southeastern coast of China.
Like many from the province, they came to the United States to improve their lot in
(01:58):
life.
They arrived in 2000, joining roughly 8,000 other Chinese immigrants at the time, including
extended family members.
After the murders, questions began to arise about how Chen was making his money.
He had a job at the family restaurant called King's Walk, however several sources say Chen
(02:21):
was only working part-time.
While the Gilderland area was relatively affordable, owning a home and supporting a family of four
comes with more expenses than a part-time restaurant gig can cover.
That's also accounting for generosity of wage offered by extended family members.
Later, it came out that Chen may have even been a restaurant owner himself at some point,
(02:45):
but that restaurant closed for two years, a period in which Chen may have been unemployed.
Nobody has ever reported on the name of the alleged restaurant.
I don't know when it was opened or closed, or if it was another King's Walk location.
It may have later been purchased and reopened by another family member.
(03:06):
I've attempted to look up Secretary of State records to find out what restaurant Chen might
have owned and when, but the search wasn't particularly enlightening.
There are King's Walk businesses registered across the state of New York, both active
and inactive, but none in Albany County.
(03:27):
Chen did have one potential legitimate source of income, a neighboring home at 1848 Western
Avenue, which he bought in 2010 and was renting out at the time.
Whether he could have charged rents high enough to make up for the likely shortfall in employment
income is uncertain.
The question of how Chen made his money might be pivotal to this case.
(03:51):
Later, I'll cover some of the possibilities and how these theories might ultimately have
led to his and his entire family's demise.
When Chen didn't show up for work on the morning of October 8, one of his coworkers
went to his home to check on him.
(04:12):
The coworker discovered Chen's body downstairs and found Chen's wife and children upstairs.
All the bodies had suffered atrocious wounds to the head and face caused by both a knife
and a hammer.
The bodies upstairs had been covered with blankets before the killer left.
It looked like the perpetrator had committed the murder sometime between 3.30 and 6.30
(04:37):
a.m.
Five law enforcement agencies have worked on this case due to its international ties.
They include the Gilderland and New York State Police, the NYPD, and the U.S. Department
of State, along with the FBI.
All of them have struggled to locate any viable leads.
(04:57):
Police were tight-lipped about the crime from the beginning.
I don't know if there were signs of forced entry or if the murder weapons were ever found,
or even if police collected any helpful physical evidence from the scene.
In fact, of all the cases I've covered at Odd Mysteries Stories, this one seems to be
(05:18):
the one that police are most reluctant to talk about.
However, David Sores, Albany County's district attorney, did tell the public that law enforcement
had determined the crime was an intentional act with intended targets.
The community was equally tight-lipped.
Part of the problem was the language barrier.
(05:40):
Many relevant witnesses only spoke the Fujian-Chinese dialect, and translators had to be brought
in before police could ask any questions at all.
Immigration issues reared their head as well.
It soon came out that Chen was in the country legally, and his boys were American citizens
by birthright.
But his wife, Li, was an undocumented immigrant, and so were many of the potential witnesses.
(06:07):
Law enforcement was combing through a population that had plenty of reasons to fear them.
Law enforcement might not have been the only source of fear for potential witnesses.
Soon, whispers began to arise that Chen was involved in one or more lucrative criminal
(06:27):
enterprises.
If that was true, then anyone who spoke up risked themselves and the lives of their families.
It's a danger that might explain why nobody has come forward, even after district attorney
Sores offered immunity from immigration charges for anyone with information about the case.
Worse, there were no security cameras at nearby homes or businesses, and no traffic cameras
(06:53):
in the area.
Police sought iPhone records, but Apple initially refused to provide them.
Police gathered DNA samples from the scene, but were unable to match the DNA to any suspect.
In the end, law enforcement was left with just 600 leads, a staggeringly low number for
(07:14):
a case like this one.
With few leads to go on, police began looking into similar cases.
They found a 2011 case from Diberville, Mississippi.
It was another unsolved family murder, and a restaurant was involved called Chinese Happiness.
(07:38):
This family was also stabbed to death, and they had the same surnames, Chen and Li.
Unfortunately, the similarity of these cases didn't offer many leads.
Chen is the fifth most common name in mainland China, and the fourth most common surname
in the entire world.
Li is another very common Chinese surname.
(08:00):
The two families were not related.
Also, running a Chinese restaurant is a popular business model for immigrants and their families.
Both families may have had a connection to organized crime, even if they lived in different
states and didn't know any of the same people.
But again, police haven't made any concrete connections.
(08:24):
Some thought that law enforcement had a new lead when, in 2017, another family of four
was murdered.
They lived in Troy, New York, just 10 miles away from the Chen family home.
They were all bound, stabbed, and left dead in their basement.
But in 2021, the case was solved.
(08:45):
James White was found guilty of first-degree murder after police made a DNA match.
So if there were a connection, the DNA would have matched the Chen family case as well.
Two days before the Chen family was murdered, the New Yorker published an article by journalist
Lauren Hilger called Chinatown's Kitchen Network.
(09:09):
In the article, she described an underground network of Chinese restaurants, nail salons,
and massage parlors deeply involved in immigrant trafficking.
Let me offer a brief disclaimer.
I'm going to describe the model in detail because it is relevant to this case.
But I'd like you to keep in mind that I am not offering an opinion on U.S. immigration
(09:32):
policy or the effects of that policy.
Nor am I offering judgment on the immigrants themselves.
My hope is that all viewers can extend some empathy, even if they disagree with the actions
of the people involved in this so-called kitchen network or the policies that led to its creation.
(09:53):
To the best of my understanding, the immigration trafficking business model works like this.
Faced with a lifetime of poverty and few prospects in China's most remote provinces, immigrants
pay an individual they call a snakehead.
That person gets them into the United States.
Snakeheads often charge as much as $70,000 for their services.
(10:15):
Once immigrants are in the United States, they're linked up with a number of Chinese
employment agencies.
All devoted to placing undocumented immigrants in Chinese-owned businesses, the immigrant
calls a provided number and links up with a boss.
If the boss hires them, they're put to work.
The wages described were somewhat generous by trafficking standards.
(10:40):
Perhaps due to the Chinese culture of collective and community care and responsibility, Hilger's
source, speaking in 2014, described making $2,000 to $2,800 a month.
Indeed, there are legitimately employed American workers making far less money in the restaurant
industry.
(11:01):
Immigrants divide their money in three ways.
Sending money home to their families in China, paying down their debt to the snakehead, and
meeting their own needs.
Like many trafficking operations, it seemed this one actually allowed the immigrants to
pay back the debt.
There are far darker trafficking networks that keep piling on made-up surcharges so that
(11:24):
the immigrant stays locked in bondage forever.
Once the debt is paid, the immigrant often starts saving up their money.
They may even get green cards.
Eventually, they open restaurants, nail salons, and massage parlors of their own, which they
then staff with other immigrants through trafficking employment agencies.
The immigrants arrive knowing their lives will be difficult, but that they will have
(11:47):
an opportunity to provide for future generations.
The immigrants are also housed, often in large collective dormitories, and often within walking
distance of their workplaces or on a convenient bus line.
There is a fair amount of circumstantial evidence to suggest that Chen was a part of this so-called
(12:09):
kitchen network.
Some of that evidence even indicates that the New Yorker article itself could have helped
to put Chen in the crosshairs of his family's killer.
Was Chen involved with the kitchen network?
I don't know for sure.
(12:29):
Law enforcement has neither confirmed nor denied.
Chen's brother firmly denies any involvement.
There are plenty of Chinese restaurants that don't do business this way and don't have
any affiliations with this network at all.
Yet circumstantial evidence exists in this case that would be consistent with kitchen
(12:50):
networks operations, as described in the New Yorker article.
The rumor that Chen was handling large amounts of off-book cash to pay undocumented restaurant
workers began circulating early.
As did the rumor that Chen was engaged in some money laundering.
An article that ran in the Altamont Enterprise on the evening of October 8, 2014 included
(13:15):
quotes from a pair of freshly interviewed neighbors.
The first was Rosalind Kowalski, who lived at 1850 Western Avenue.
She told the press that Lee had three children, not two.
And she said their names were Ed, Vincent, and Michelle.
Well, only one of the children's names was correct.
(13:36):
And Lee never had a daughter.
So where did the neighbor get those names from?
Perhaps they were younger people who lived in the Chen family's basement.
Then Marie Kavanaugh at 1838 Western Avenue mentioned the rental property at 1848 Western.
She noted that a lot of people lived there.
(13:58):
Supposedly, the tenants were students who didn't stay long.
Still, nobody knows for sure.
And cramming many undocumented workers into a single house would be entirely in line with
kitchen network operations.
Another rumor surfaced that suggested there were 18 mattresses in the basement of the
(14:20):
Chen family home at 1846 Western.
Perhaps their own home was another dormitory for immigrant workers, just like the house
they own next door.
Also remember that the police made it a point, almost immediately after the murders, to say
that the neighbors had nothing to fear.
How would they know that?
(14:42):
Could it be that the police saw evidence that the Chen's were involved in organized immigration
crime, which meant the murders were isolated to this network?
What about the fact that the New Yorker article's primary source mentioned having worked at a
restaurant just outside Albany?
Is it possible that the source was someone Chen had housed?
(15:05):
Did someone move decisively to protect their business interests?
Remember that the wife and children were covered with blankets.
In many crimes, covering the bodies is a sign that the killers either knew the victims personally
or felt great remorse after killing them.
Could this small detail point to a member of this extended family, cultural, or community
(15:30):
network?
Even the fact that the police were so tight-lipped about the crime offers some circumstantial
evidence that involvement in the kitchen network ultimately ended the lives of the Chen family.
Perhaps the network was already under investigation.
Maybe circulating information about the murders jeopardized the Justice Department's ability
(15:54):
to solve a much larger case, one that would allow them to take down an entire crime ring.
They may even have had a thread to tug on.
Hilger's source mentioned going to a New York lawyer to try to make an asylum claim.
The same lawyer ended up arrested for fraud.
(16:15):
They were ties to the local organized crime networks.
One of the reasons why so few people who were connected directly to the Chen's wanted to
speak to the police.
Did they fear receiving a hammer blow to the head in their own homes?
Some dark night?
First, let me draw from my own experience.
(16:40):
For many years, I lived in the Allerton Avenue section of the Bronx in New York City.
I remember watching new neighbors move into a private home down the block from me.
I later learned that they were Chinese immigrants.
The day they moved in, I watched as they hauled about 12 mattresses and a refrigerator into
the house.
(17:01):
I don't recall seeing them bring in any other furniture.
Seven days a week, twice a day.
A passenger van would pick up and drop off 10 people at a time.
They worked in shifts running two Chinese food takeout restaurants in the area.
I never saw young kids, just older teenagers and adults.
I was told by the few neighbors these immigrants spoke with that even though they spent most
(17:25):
of their time working, they felt it was much better than living behind the wall of China,
so to speak.
But it seems like they built their own wall in New York.
In my opinion, they were a mysterious group of people, created their own community and
kept to themselves.
They obviously weren't that interested in assimilating into the country or our culture.
(17:48):
There were one or two women, I recall, that spoke broken English, and it appeared their
main function was to work the front counters at the takeout restaurant.
There was a serious language barrier for the rest of the occupants in that house.
At the restaurant one day, I was trying to be friendly and said to one of the men cooking
in the back, hey, you live on my block, don't you?
(18:11):
He smiled, bowed his head, and scurried back to the kitchen.
The lady up front apologized and said they don't speak English, so he not know what
you say.
They were always nice people, polite, quiet, and never rude to their neighbors.
The best part was, New Yorkers love their takeout Chinese food.
(18:32):
Back to the Chen family murders.
Remember it was reported that there were 18 mattresses in the basement and the home could
have been an immigrant dormitory.
If there were indeed people sleeping in the basement of their home, then any of those
unknown and undocumented occupants would have had plenty of access to the family during
(18:54):
the wee morning hours.
Is it possible one of those individuals snapped from the stresses of living in a crowded
basement and working in a demanding restaurant job?
Or was possibly told to murder the Chen family for some other reason?
Of course, there are big holes in this theory.
(19:16):
First, investigators haven't revealed that anyone was living in the Chen family basement
at all, and anyone in the basement would probably have heard the crime in progress.
It's conceivable they all might have scattered before the bodies were discovered for fear
of ICE arresting them or other unknown reasons.
(19:37):
Yet it seems a little hard to believe that not even one of them stepped up and said something.
I mean two of the victims were innocent children.
If there were people in the basement, then one might even ask whether the killer knew
they were there.
It would be quite the risk killing four people while 18 potential witnesses were sleeping
(19:57):
right down the stairs.
A more refined version of this theory may be that no one was ever in the basement, but
the rumor arose because there was an immigrant dormitory nearby at 1848 Western.
Do you believe the killer could have been one of the immigrant workers?
Perhaps even living in the Chen family home?
(20:24):
Rumors about organized crime and human trafficking weren't the only whispers of criminality at
the Chen place.
Chen had allegedly held a gambling party the night before he was murdered.
Chen's brother told the press this rumor was nonsense.
He said that Chen had only hosted a small card game for friends.
(20:47):
This was one of the only things Chen's brother ever said to the press.
I couldn't even find anyone who'd reported on the brother's name and believe me, I tried
to find him online.
In most cases I cover, the family is front and center, speaking to the media and demanding
justice.
Chen's brother seems to have drifted out of the woodwork long enough to deflect the gambling
(21:09):
rumor only to hold his silence once again.
Is this a significant observation or merely a cultural difference?
I don't know for sure.
Card games with friends are perfectly legal in the state of New York, but a large gambling
party could be construed as an underground casino, which would have meant Chen was engaging
(21:31):
in a different kind of criminal activity.
Gambling is another reason why people came to believe that Chen had stacks of cash in
his home.
It was presented as another theory about how exactly he was making his money.
Who were the people at the card table the night before Chen died?
(21:52):
How big were the stakes?
Did one of the players come back to get the money they'd lost that night?
Rumor itself might have led to the death of the Chen family.
If someone believed Chen was running some sort of gambling ring or was handling large
stacks of illicit cash, they might have gone into the home looking for money, whether he
(22:13):
had it or not.
Stabbing and bludgeoning are both highly personal methods of murder, often driven by hatred,
rage or revenge.
As previously mentioned, covering up the bodies after a murder, as the Chen family killer did,
is also a hallmark of a perpetrator who knows their victims personally.
(22:37):
There isn't much to go on to support or refute this theory.
These have never released the name of anyone who might have had a vendetta against any
member of this family.
In fact, one of the few details they released was that investigators didn't know of any
antagonistic relationships the Chen family had with anyone at the time.
(22:59):
Yet, because it is impossible to confirm any of the stories that link Chen to a criminal
network, this is an angle we must consider.
A personal motive would probably even be the best news for the case, as it offers some
hope that a member of Chen's tight-knit community really does know something that they might
(23:22):
someday be willing to share.
Should we apply Occam's razor to this case and abandon all discussion of unproven criminal
ties and sorted gambling rings?
Should the answer really be as straightforward as an emotional human dispute?
(23:42):
One of the hardest things to accept about this terrible crime is the fact that the killer
could be long gone by now.
The killer could have returned to China, which does not have an extradition treaty with the
United States.
If that is the case, it may be impossible to charge someone with the crime, even if genealogical
DNA turns up a match in the future.
(24:05):
Every so often, the authorities remind the public the case exists.
Hoping someone, somewhere, will be willing to speak up.
Both 1846 and 1848 Western Avenue were sold a long time ago.
On home listing sites, the interior of 1846 looks nice.
(24:26):
The gleaming hardwood floors and clean white walls look pretty and peaceful.
The big windows pour natural light into the space.
The basement is unfinished but sparkling clean.
It's as if the Chen family has been erased.
The walls of the home no longer seem to remember the horrors they witnessed.
(24:49):
But there are those who can never forget Chen, Li, and their two young sons.
But someday, the memory of this family will compel someone to tell a new story, one that
finally closes this case.
I sincerely hope that you enjoyed this story to the end, and for that I thank you from
(25:09):
the bottom of my heart.
Wasn't this one of the strangest true crime stories you've ever heard?
Doesn't it seem like there is almost no hope to ever know who did this crime, but even
more strange why, and to include such young children?
It's a very sad story in my opinion.
If you have questions about the details I've covered in the show, or would like to follow
(25:33):
my other projects, please find Odd Mysteries stories on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
I answer all messages, so don't hesitate to reach out.
In the next episode, I'll share the odd, mysterious, and unsolved murder mystery of
Jennifer Servo.
This young lady had everything going for her.
Her life was beginning to take shape as a true professional in her career, but there
(25:56):
was a dark part of her life.
Her personal relationships might not have been the best.
Or was her murder an unexpected act by someone she trusted but wasn't intimate with?
Tune in to my next episode to hear the complete murder story of Jennifer Servo.
I sincerely hope you enjoyed this story.
If you did, please leave me a review, download, and share this story with your friends.
(26:21):
If you enjoyed this podcast and want to help it grow, head over to my Patreon page, buy
me a cup of coffee, and donate to the show in exchange for future premium content.
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