The man suspected of murdering four Chinese nationals “execution-style” at a marijuana farm in Oklahoma last month was charged in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, on Friday.
Wu Chen, 45, is facing four counts of first-degree felony murder and one count of assault and battery with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors are also seeking to file a motion to hold the man without bond.
“His conduct shows him to be an intolerably dangerous criminal, ready to take human life at a moment’s notice, and the witnesses he has left alive would be in very real danger if he were allowed to be free on bond,” the motion against Wu read.
The state’s motion also noted that a video recording of the incident briefly shows parts of the murder and that eyewitnesses at the scene positively identified the shooter.
Wu was accused of holding several workers at the Kingfisher County marijuana farm hostage on Nov. 20. He was also accused of killing four Chinese nationals and injuring another during the incident, which prosecutors described as an “execution-style” killing.
According to eyewitness testimonies, the accused held the marijuana farm workers at gunpoint and told them to hand over $300,000 “as a return of a portion of his ‘investment’ in the enterprise,” Assistant District Attorney Austin Murrey said.
“The suspect demanded $300,000 within the next half hour or he was going to kill everyone in the garage,” Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent Phillip Ott wrote in the arrest affidavit.
One of the workers told investigators that Wu had previously worked at the farm around a year prior.
After not meeting his demands, Wu began his killing spree. While the murdered victims’ identities were initially withheld, authorities eventually disclosed them as Quirong Lin, Chen He Chun, Chen He Qiang and Fang Hui Lee. The wounded victim was identified as Yi Fei Lin.
Wu was arrested after an automated vehicle registration plate reader tagged his car in the Miami Beach area on Nov. 22.
Speaking in court in Miami-Dade County, Florida, following his arrest, Wu said through an interpreter that he wishes to stay in Florida, declaring, “If I go back to Oklahoma, I’m afraid I will be killed because these people are mafia.”
Authorities learned that the farm was operating under an illegally obtained license. Police have seized the enterprise, as mentioned in the filing.
Booked into the Kingfisher County Justice Center on Thursday, Wu is expected to make his first court appearance on Wednesday.
Featured Image via Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
