A 27-YEAR-OLD Chinese Google worker has been charged with murder after he allegedly beat his wife to death last week in Santa Clara, the United States. Chen Liren allegedly repeatedly punched his wife, Yu Xuanyi in the head at their home. She was found on the floor with severe blunt-force injuries, and the bedroom was covered in blood, when police arrived Jan. 16, according to San Francisco Standard, a local news portal. Chen and Yu both graduated from Tsinghua University and the University of California San Diego with the same major and were employed by Google as software engineers, according to their LinkedIn profiles. Chen was a software engineer at Google who worked on the YouTube Shorts recommendation algorithm, according to a LinkedIn profile under his name. Another LinkedIn profile lists Yu as a software engineer at Google who previously worked at Amazon. Chen faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. “Domestic violence deaths have been falling in our county but that does not measure the depth and destructiveness of the violence,” Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “Anyone who feels that they or someone else is being abused by their partners, please reach out to your local law enforcement agency. You are not alone. We can help.” Police found Chen’s wife dead after arriving at the house to conduct a welfare check, court records say. The responding officer saw Chen through the window on his knees, staring blankly with his hands in the air and what appeared to be blood on his clothing. After entering the home and taking Chen into custody, court records show officers found Yu’s body on the bedroom floor with severe blunt-force injuries to her head. The floor, wall and door of the room were covered in blood spatter. “Chen’s right hand was extremely swollen and purple,” a police detective wrote. “He had blood on his clothing, his legs, arms, and hands.” When asked how he hurt his hand, Chen allegedly told first responders, “I punched my wife.” He then indicated that the attack had occurred the day prior. Chen and Yu purchased their house last April for US$2.05 million, according to property records. Prosecutors filed murder charges against Chen, but the hearing date has been postponed as Chen is in the hospital. (SD-Agencies) | 