Jack Chen prepped and sipped the identical cup of scorching lemonade most mornings, however it wasn’t till struggling abdomen ulcers and a swollen esophagus that he observed a “chemical style.” That’s when he determined to put in hidden cameras inside his Irvine dwelling.
Chen, a radiologist, lived in a cushty home along with his spouse, dermatologist Yue “Emily” Yu, and their 7- and 8-year-old youngsters.
However Chen was rising involved about their 10-year marriage. In courtroom paperwork filed in a request for a restraining order, he described an abusive and at occasions violent relationship; Yu hit and cursed on the youngsters and, as the wedding turned bitter, yelled at them once they frolicked with their father, Chen alleged.
Then, on July 11, he stated, he seemed on the hidden-camera video to verify a nagging suspicion.
“I discovered my spouse,” the 53-year-old wrote in a courtroom declaration, “has poisoned me with Drano to attempt to kill me.”
On Aug. 4, Irvine police searched the couple’s dwelling and arrested Yu, 45, after Chen turned over the video, authorities stated. The following day, Chen filed for divorce and requested the courtroom for a short lived restraining order, together with a number of stills from movies that he stated present his spouse calmly spiking his morning drink on three separate events.
A video nonetheless submitted in a household courtroom case reveals Yu pouring liquid from a vibrant orange container into Chen’s cup on three totally different events in July, in keeping with Chen’s courtroom filings.
(Hittelman Household Regulation Group)
Yu, who has since been launched from county jail on $30,000 bail, denied the allegations and, via an lawyer, referred to as her husband’s statements defamatory.
Yu “vehemently and unequivocally denies ever making an attempt to poison her husband or anybody else,” her lawyer, David E. Wohl, stated in an announcement. She “has by no means engaged in dangerous conduct towards anybody, together with members of her household.”
No felony fees have been filed within the case, however a decide has since granted a short lived restraining order in opposition to Yu. A listening to is ready for Thursday in household courtroom.
In divorce filings, Chen has requested for Yu to maneuver out of their dwelling and for him to retain full custody of their youngsters, who he stated “have suffered bodily, verbal and emotional abuse by their mom.”
Yu would typically insult the kids, Chen alleged, calling them “silly,” “dumb” or at occasions utilizing a Chinese language phrase that interprets to “go die.” To self-discipline the kids, Chen claimed in courtroom, Yu typically disadvantaged them of sleep, waking them up once they fell asleep with out her permission.
Yu’s lawyer accused Chen of constructing false allegations so as to achieve an higher hand within the divorce proceedings.
“We’re very involved that these defamatory, false allegations have been made by Mr. Chen in an try to achieve a bonus within the divorce and custody case he filed in opposition to Ms. Yu, a day after she was arrested,” Wohl wrote. “On prime of that it’s laborious to think about anybody believing that Dr. Chen might begin consuming Drano practically 6 months in the past and never determine he was ingesting a caustic chemical till final week.”
Chen’s lawyer, Steven Hittelman, stated his shopper began to expertise suspicious signs in March and has since been recognized with two abdomen ulcers, gastritis and a swollen esophagus.
In keeping with Chen’s claims within the household courtroom case, his hidden-camera movies present Yu pouring liquid from a vibrant orange container into Chen’s cup on July 11, 18 and 25.
On July 18, Hittelman stated, video reveals Chen getting ready his tea, taking a sip, after which putting a sheet of plastic wrap atop it earlier than leaving the room.
No felony fees have been filed in opposition to 45-year-old Yue “Emily” Yu after her husband instructed police he suspected she was poisoning him. Her lawyer stated she “has by no means engaged in dangerous conduct towards anybody, together with members of her household.”
(Irvine Police Division)
Yu is then seen grabbing the orange bottle from underneath the sink, lifting the plastic, pouring a little bit of the bottle’s contents and placing the wrap again over the cup, in keeping with Chen’s lawyer.
“She sits again like nothing had occurred,” Hittelman stated.
The same sequence occurred July 25, Hittelman stated, however after reviewing the primary video, Chen had stopped consuming the tea.
When Chen reached out to Hittelman and confirmed him the video, the household regulation lawyer stated he “instructed him he was within the improper workplace and instructed him he wanted to go to the Irvine Police Division.”
Wohl, a felony protection lawyer primarily based in Riverside, stated neither he nor Yu had considered the movies however nonetheless challenged the outline of them in Chen’s courtroom declaration, saying that Yu has been a well-respected doctor for years and that the movies wouldn’t present her doing something unlawful.
“Her purpose [has] at all times been to assist individuals and by no means to hurt them,” Wohl stated.
In keeping with the California Medical Board, Yu has been a licensed doctor since 2010 and has been affiliated with Windfall Mission Hospital.
“Mr. Chen’s claims that my shopper has tried to poison him for months are flat out not true.”
— David E. Wohl, lawyer representing Yue “Emily” Yu
The hospital stated in an announcement that it was conscious of the arrest and cooperating with police, however referred to as the incident a “home matter.”
“We need to reassure our neighborhood that there was no affect to our sufferers,” the assertion stated.
On Sunday, Yu’s on-line biography appeared to have been faraway from the hospital’s web site.
In response to questions from The Instances, Wohl additionally alleged that Chen didn’t submit the whole movies to household courtroom as a result of they might present Yu didn’t do “something unlawful or abusive in any respect.”
“He submitted the stills as a result of he took elements of the video that he thought would assist his false allegations,” Wohl stated. “Mr. Chen’s claims that my shopper has tried to poison him for months are flat out not true.”
Hittelman stated that the movies have been handed over to a detective and that he submitted solely stills to the courtroom on the request of the Irvine Police Division and the Orange County district lawyer’s workplace, that are each nonetheless investigating the case. Submitting the movies in household courtroom, he stated, would make them public and probably hinder the investigation.
Chen at the moment has custody of the 2 youngsters and, Hittelman stated, has not had contact along with his spouse for the reason that day she was arrested. Yu referred to as Chen from jail, Hittelman stated, and requested him to bail her out.
He refused to do it, the lawyer stated.
