No Bail For Man Charged With Killing Nephew At Medford Courthouse As New Details Of Relationship Emerge

SOMERVILLE (CBS) – Chenghai Xue, the man charged with killing his nephew in a courthouse parking lot, was ordered held without bail at his arraignment Friday.

Xue, 44, was in tears as he pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in Somerville District Court, a day after prosecutors said he ran down 23-year-old Cong Wang with his car and then shot him to death outside Cambridge District Court in Medford.

Xue was at the courthouse Thursday to get an extension of a restraining order against his nephew. According to court documents released Friday, Xue's wife and nephew started a romantic relationship in 2018 while he was traveling for work in China. When she tried to end it, the nephew wouldn't accept the breakup. Xue said his nephew began threatening to harm his family, his now ex-wife and himself.

But the judge denied Xue's request for an extension Thursday and prosecutors said Xue got into his car and ran down his nephew in the parking lot, pinning him. Witnesses told police Xue then fired 5-to-6 shots at Wang's head, killing him.

"He was operating the vehicle, a white SUV, exited the vehicle, pointed a black handgun at the party and fired five to six times," said prosecutor Ceara Mahoney.

Leonard Milligan, Xue's defense attorney, said, "It appears something serious and tragic happened outside the courthouse. Anything beyond that is pretty dangerous speculation."

Wong allegedly sent text messages to Xue's ex-wife, saying, "I will kill your family. If I don't kill your family, I will commit suicide."

He also said, "my future was ruined by you," "I have no dignity now," and "I am the walking dead."

In court documents, Xue claimed his nephew physically attacked him and frequently attempted to enter his Arlington home or linger outside. He told a judge Thursday that his nephew wanted a wife to help him get a green card. When Xue refused to help, the nephew was despondent.

But Kevin Lin, the Wong's former roommate, said Wong was worried for his safety.

"At one point he was afraid he'd come into the house and kill him," Lin said. "I was afraid too."

Xue, who is an accomplished cancer researcher, helped his nephew when he came from China to attend school. Wong studied computer science at Northeastern.

Lin said his friend seemed to be moving on, working at a co-op program.

"He worked very hard. He was telling me he was working 80 hours a week because he just wanted to impress his boss," said Lin.

Xue's ex-wife was in court for his arraignment Friday. She waved to him as he was taken away at the end of the hearing.