Suspect Pleads Not Guilty in Restaurant Slaying
Wen Lee, the 63-year-old Burbank man accused of fatally shooting a woman and seriously wounding her husband in a Glendale restaurant last month, pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder charges.
Lee entered the plea in Glendale Municipal Court last Friday in connection with the April 30 death of Tuai Li-Chun, 28, and the shooting of Johnny Soong, 35, at Lee’s South Brand Boulevard restaurant.
If convicted, Lee could be sentenced to from 27 years to life in prison, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Phil Heeger.
According to police, the shooting was prompted by a business dispute between Lee and the newly married couple from Alhambra, who agreed to lease a restaurant from him. Soong could not get a co-signer for the lease, apparently angering Lee, who was losing money in the deal, police said.
Police said Lee stalked into the restaurant just after 10:30 a.m. on April 30 and shot the couple with a .38-caliber revolver. Li-Chun was shot in the head and Soong in the shoulder and thigh, police said.
Lee is being held in Los Angeles County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. A preliminary trial is scheduled for June 16 in Glendale Municipal Court.
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