Prosecutor Rebecca Weiant addresses the court during the sentencing of Chue Yang, who is pictured far left. Photo by Patty Sullivan/LAW.
(Anchorage, AK) — Last week, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Pro-Tem Patrick McKay, Sr., sentenced Chue Yang, 37, to serve 35 years in jail for the murder of his wife Nancy Xiong.
On Nov. 3, 2019, just after midnight, Chue Yang called a family member to report that his wife, Nancy, was dead. The couple had been at a nearby family party that evening, and Nancy, 29, had left the party without Yang less than an hour before the shooting. When Nancy left the party, she threatened to divorce Yang if he stayed too late. When the family members received the call from Yang telling them that Nancy was dead, several family members went immediately to the Xiong and Yang’s residence. The victim’s brother and two other family members rushed into the house to help Nancy, but they could tell she was already deceased. When they entered, they found Yang in the same room as his deceased wife, covered in blood.
When police arrived at the residence moments later, they found the victim deceased, lying on a bed in one of her children’s bedrooms; she had an apparent gunshot wound to her head. Police found Yang barricaded in another bedroom of the trailer, intoxicated and covered in blood, with a shotgun nearby. A loaded model 1911 handgun with round chambered was found under a pillow in the bedroom where Nancy was found. Yang told Detectives that he was trying to show his wife how to use the gun to protect herself, but she was not paying attention to him, and the gun just went “boom.”
At trial, the evidence showed that there was a history of unreported domestic violence by Yang, including prior threats to kill Nancy, which resulted in family members taking Yang’s firearms for several months prior to the murder. Multiple family members described Yang as abusive to Nancy, especially when he consumed alcohol. At one point within the year prior to the murder, Nancy had left the couple’s residence to go live with her sisters due to marital issues.
Three of the couple’s children were in the trailer at the time of the shooting. One testified that their father came home from a party looking for his wife, and he retrieved what is now known to be a handgun from the couple’s bedroom. The child heard an argument between their parents, followed by a gunshot. Yang tried to keep the child from coming into the bedroom where their mother lay, but the child was still able to see their mother’s body.
A State medical examiner testified that the victim died from a single gunshot wound with a perpendicular entry point to the left temple. The State firearms expert conducted ballistics testing that confirmed that the muzzle of the firearm was less than 12 inches from the victim’s head when it was fired. Further, the State firearms expert conducted a function test that demonstrated that the firearm operated as designed. She also described the three safety mechanisms that existed on this model 1911 firearm and explained how each must be disengaged before the firearm could be fired.
At sentencing, the State asked the court to find that Yang’s conduct was amongst the most serious included within the definition of Murder in the Second Degree and recommended a sentence of 70 years with 10 years of suspended time.
Although the Court did find that this case was very serious, it focused on the defendant’s prospects for rehabilitation because there had been no prior attempts at intervention as to Yang’s demonstrated issues with alcohol, firearms misuse, and domestic violence.
The Court did not find it credible to believe that the firearm went off accidentally and was surprised that – even at sentencing – the defendant maintained he was not guilty of this crime. He further noted that he would not have disagreed if the jury had returned verdicts on a higher-level offense of Murder in the First Degree.
Following these remarks, the Court stated, “I am going to give you a chance,” and imposed a sentence of 50 years with 15 years suspended. Yang will be eligible for discretionary parole when he has served two-thirds of the active 35-year sentence.
Assistant District Attorneys Rebecca Weiant and Paul Miovas prosecuted the case with the assistance of Paralegal Kim Smith. Anchorage Police Detective Brendan Lee was the lead detective.
