Man Held Without Bail in Connection with Lexington Homicide

LEXINGTON - Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Lexington Chief of Police Mark Corr have confirmed that Hongyan Sun, 50, of Lexington, was arraigned today in Concord District Court on the charge of murder in connection with the death of his wife, Shen Cai.  Judge John Coffey ordered the defendant held without bail.  The next court date in this case is July 30, 2019.

On May 30, 2019, at approximately 12:30 a.m., Ms. Cai was found dead in a white Honda CRV on Worthen Road in Lexington. She was pronounced dead on scene. After an autopsy of Ms. Cai, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide by mechanical asphyxiation. There was also significant trauma to the victim’s neck consistent with being strangled and trauma to her body and extremities consistent with a violent struggle.

Investigators subsequently learned that Ms. Cai and her husband were in the process of going through a divorce and that she had reported to her friends and her attorney a history of verbal abuse, prior threats, and one prior instance of physical violence.  The defendant also allegedly had a history of controlling behavior including allegedly using the victim’s immigration status to control her, threatening to not file the paperwork for her to renew her green card if she left him or told anyone what he was doing to her.

The prosecutors assigned to this case are assistant district attorneys Suzanne Wiseman and Radu Brestyan.

This investigation is being conducted by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, the Lexington Police Department and the State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office. This charge is an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Previous press releases about this case can be viewed here: Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and Lexington Police Investigating Homicide; Victim’s Husband Arrested in Connection with Lexington Homicide.