Man charged with murder of missing woman, unborn child
CHICAGO (CBS) – A Brighton Park man is charged with murdering a missing 40-year-old pregnant woman last month.
Yaer Shen, 46, is charged with first-degree murder, intentional homicide of an unborn child, and concealing a homicide. According to an arrest report, he was identified through cell phone and video evidence as the person responsible for the death of Bilian Fang and her unborn child.
Shen was ordered held without bond Thursday afternoon.
As CBS 2's Sabrina Franza reported Thursday, the details of the murder are beyond disturbing.
Fang was last seen in the 3000 block of South Lock Street in Bridgeport on Oct. 9.
At the time, she was already dead.
Court documents revealed that Fang was 37 weeks pregnant with Shen's child at the time of her murder. It also revealed that she suffered multiple injuries to the body and was choked to death by Shen.
Cook County prosecutors said Shen owns a Lincolnwood restaurant where Fang worked. On the night of Oct. 9, Fang left work and drove Shen's car to the home where he lives with his ex-wife and kids, who did not know that Shen had fathered a baby with Fang.
While Fang was still in Shen's car outside the home, the two got into a quarrel about money. After the argument, Shen went into his home, while Fang was crying on the front porch. When Shen's ex-wife saw Fang and told Shen there was a woman crying on the front porch, he went outside and took her back to his car while she called her 14-year-old daughter around 10:50 p.m. on Shen's cell phone, according to prosecutors.
Fang told her daughter to call a friend to pick her up near 36th Street and California Avenue, but when the friend showed up, they couldn't find Fang, and called her daughter, who called Shen. Prosecutors said Shen told the daughter that Fang "could go if she wanted" before hanging up.
When Fang called her daughter back, she again told her to have her friend come pick her up, but when her daughter called back later, she didn't get an answer.
Prosecutors said as Shen and Fang were driving, they started arguing again, and Fang slapped Shen in the face. Shen then started choking her, but let go. Fearing she would call the police, he hit her and choked her again until she lost consciousness.
Shen then tried to revive Fang by performing CPR, before dumping her body at the Stickney Water Reclamation Plant in Cicero, and covering it with branches, and throwing her jacket into a nearby wooded area, according to prosecutors.
Fang's family reported her missing the next day, and after learning she had been with Shen when she went missing, police used cell phone data to track Shen's movements on Oct. 9, and then obtained surveillance video footage showing him driving on the Stevenson Expressway before driving to a soccer field near Morton College, where he sat in the parking lot for 45 minutes, before driving to the Stickney Water Reclamation Plant.
When detectives went to the plant, they found Fang's body in thick vegetation, with her pink jacket hanging from a branch. The jacket had Fang's ID, keys, money, and a handwritten note, in Cantonese and signed by Shen, which said, in summary, "I am sorry. I am not a good person. I made you suffer. I got scammed. I know it is irresponsible for me to leave you. I hope we don't meet in another life," prosecutors said.
An autopsy determined Fang died of multiple blunt force trauma and strangulation, and that had her baby been born at the time of Fang's death, the baby would have survived, according to prosecutors.
Burrs found on Fang's body also were late found inside Sheng's car.
When police arrested Shen on Tuesday of this week, he admitted to killing Fang, and knowing that she was pregnant, prosecutors said. Police also found a note in his wallet, which stated, in summary, "he had done very bad things, he wanted to kill himself, but couldn't do it, and that he was going to turn himself in, but was afraid to go to prison," prosecutors said.
A search of Shen's home also turned up another letter he wrote to his ex-wife, which said in summary, "In the heat of the moment, I did something wrong. I am regretful that in the heat of the moment, I caused a big mistake," prosecutors said.
Shen has no previous criminal record, and is due back in court on Nov. 22.
