Murder In Brooklyn Ends Grudge Born In Chinese Village 20 Years Ago

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — A grudge that started in a remote Chinese village simmered for more than 20 years and crossed 8,000 miles before ending in murder in Sunset Park.

Wu Long Chen, 46, was convicted Wednesday of killing the father of his old neighbors in China whom he'd feuded with two decades earlier over plans to extend their home, putting his in shade. Wu Long faces up to 25 years in prison.

In 2015, Wu Long followed Ying Guan Chen, then 68 years old, as he left a friend's wedding reception at the Golden Imperial Palace in Sunset Park. Both men had been guests at the wedding of a mutual friend, but had been seated at different tables at the reception. Wu Long tailed Chen to a nearby street corner where he shot him in the head, chest and arm, according to surveillance footage from the area.

Chen stumbled to a nearby Popeye's restaurant before he collapsed on the floor of the restaurant.

"I’m going to die; I’m going to die," he said repeatedly in Mandarin, according to media reports at the time. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he died from his injuries.

Wu Long, who lived on the Lower East Side, fled New York City, flying to Texas in the hopes of making it to Mexico, authorities said. He was arrested by police before making it to the border.

The street corner ambush followed frequent and intense fights in China between Wu Long and Chen's sons over a planned expansion to his property that would have hovered over Chen's homes. The dispute over Wu Long's expansion plans grew so intense that it resulted in a family-on-family fight that Wu Long said had resulted in a serious injury to one of his relatives.

That injury, and the grudge that came with it, haunted Wu Long for years and across continents.

"Since he couldn’t find the victim’s sons he sought retribution by killing the victim instead, even though he had no involvement in the dispute," prosecutors said in a statement released Wednesday.

Wu Long is scheduled to be sentenced in July. He was convicted of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon in a jury trial.

Lead image via Brooklyn district attorney's office