Make California Post a Preferred Source The attorney for the alleged killer in-laws painted a drastically different picture Thursday of the transgender New York Times executive gunned down in a Northern California parking lot.
Curtis Briggs stood in front of the court where Jonathan McKinsey’s mother-in-law Shili Chen and father-in-law Shouyong Zhang were attending proceedings Thursday — and told reporters the victim had “rained hell on his family for years.”
“He was extremely rageful, could not control his temper, abused his wife so badly at one point he fractured her spine, abused the kids so badly that a court in Alameda County had to send him to parenting classes,” Briggs said. “McKinsey was extremely violent and dangerous to his family,” he added.
McKinsey faced allegations of spousal abuse and domestic violence from wife Candice Jang, well before he died Sept. 26, after Zhang and Chen allegedly shot him to death.
The New York Times employee was charged last year on two counts of misdemeanor child abuse for the incident, but was ultimately released from jail on the condition that he take parenting classes. Jang called the police after McKinsey allegedly hit their young son.
The California Post spotted Jang at her Dublin home on Wednesday and attempted to speak with her. A friend with her told The Post that she’s in “survival mode” and has “nothing to say” about her husband’s death.
Briggs told reporters that while the couple did not enter a plea on Thursday, they do plan to enter a not guilty plea.
Prosecutors charged them both with murder with a series of special circumstances and allegations, including lying in wait.
The lawyer suggested he may work toward “blaming the victim” as he looks into court documents.
“Not yet, but once we do an investigation, that may be what happens,” he said. Briggs, in turn, portrayed the grandparents as loving and devoted to their family and each other.
He pointed out a moment in court Thursday where he said Zhang put on Chen’s earpiece for her after a Mandarin interpreter handed it to her and she could not put it on.
“I just thought, ‘Wow, this is completely inconsistent with what the allegations are,'” he said. The lawyer said Chen weighs 80 pounds, is frail, and is a “loving, devoted grandmother.”
Briggs characterization is a far cry from prosecutors’ picture. Officials say Chen and Zhang murdered McKinsey in a cold-blooded ambush-style attack where both grandparents took turns firing at him.
A family member told The Post he would bet that the in-laws murdered McKinsey so Jang could have sole custody of their three kids. Briggs sought to redirect speculation to the slain father.
“I can’t make a comment about that right now,” Briggs said in response to a question about whether the grandparents acted on behalf of Jang.
“I don’t know. That’s speculation that’s going around in the public. All I know is that Mr. McKenzie had a reputation terrorizing his family, extremely violent, volatile, rageful, and he was a dangerous person.”
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