Murder Charges Filed in Musicians’ Deaths

Orange County prosecutors filed murder charges Thursday against a Rosemead man suspected of slaying a piano teacher and an award-winning pianist last year in their upscale Irvine condominium.

Forensic evidence linked Vincent Choy Cheung, 28, to last July’s killings of Thomas Whitney and Lawrence Wong, Irvine Police Lt. Sam Allevato said.

Detectives believe that Whitney upset Cheung six months earlier by ending a short romance, then starting another with Wong.

Friends of the dead men told investigators the couple complained that Cheung began stalking them three months before they were found stabbed to death.

Allevato said the couple made a deadly mistake in failing to notify authorities about the alleged harassment.

“We could have contacted him and maybe arrested him,” Allevato said.

Wong, 51, won international acclaim as a pianist. Whitney, 60, ran an Irvine conservatory, where he taught voice and music.

Cheung is currently serving a 22-month sentence in Jamestown state prison for failing to appear for a sentencing on two felony theft convictions, Allevato said.

The part-time actor is scheduled to be transported to Orange County for arraignment next week.