Man is suspected of attacking his wife and killing 2 of his nephews in Arcadia

A La Cañada Flintridge man is suspected of attacking his wife and killing two of his nephews in their Arcadia home, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigator said.

The mother of the two boys, 15 and 16, discovered one of them in the living room of the family’s townhouse at 12:30 p.m. Friday. She called Arcadia police, who found her second son in his third-floor bedroom. Both teenagers had suffered blunt-force trauma to their upper torsos and were pronounced dead at the scene. The weapon has not been found.

Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau Lt. Eddie Hernandez said the suspect, Deyun Shi, 44, boarded a plane for Beijing and was expected to land at 11 p.m. Pacific time. He is wanted on suspicion of the murder of his two nephews and the attempted murder of his wife, Hernandez said, adding that his department is working with federal authorities on the case.

Authorities say the motive stems from Shi’s anger at learning that his wife wanted a divorce. His wife, the sister of the dead boys’ father, had requested a restraining order against Shi and he learned of her divorce plans during a Thursday court hearing in Pasadena.

Shi, who had moved out of his family’s home in the 5200 block of Vista Miguel Drive, broke into the residence Thursday night and attacked his wife with a wood-cutting tool, Hernandez said. Their 15-year-old son intervened and Shi left.

Investigators believe Shi later drove to the three-story townhouse in the 400 block of Fairview Avenue where the boys lived with their parents. “We’re not sure when he got” to the Arcadia home, Hernandez said.

Early Friday, the boys’ parents left home to go to the hospital to visit the father’s sister, leaving the boys asleep.

When they returned at 5 a.m., they noticed nothing unusual and went to bed. The father left a few hours later and the mother discovered one of her sons, unresponsive and bleeding profusely.

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The sheriff’s department is not releasing any of the victims’ names. Hernandez said the dead boys were born in this country and their parents are Chinese nationals.

He said that apprehending the suspect “will be a long process” because the U.S. does not have an extradition treaty with China.

bettina.boxall@latimes.com

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