Man who fatally shot and chopped up West Van businessman gets 10-1/2 years

 Man who fatally shot and chopped up West Van businessman gets 10-1/2 years

Li Zhao, 60, was convicted of manslaughter in connection with the May 2015 slaying of Gang Yuan, 42, in the victim's British Properties mansion.

Oct 06, 2020

In January, Li Zhao, 60, was convicted of manslaughter in connection with the May 2015 slaying of Gang Yuan, 42, in the victim’s British Properties mansion. He had initially been charged with second-degree murder. 

The trial heard that Zhao’s wife was Yuan’s cousin and that they were all living in the home on King Georges Way at the time of the killing.

Zhao apparently disapproved of certain aspects of Yuan’s behaviour, including his multiple romantic partners and his abuse of those women, but overall had an amicable relationship with him.

On the day of the slaying, the two men, who were also business partners, got into an argument about Zhao’s invention of a gun stand that Yuan had expressed an interest in.

The dispute escalated into a fight when Yuan, a multi-millionaire, offered Zhao a half-share in any company that might be formed if Zhao allowed him to marry  his daughter then Zhao reacted angrily to the suggestion his daughter might be married to Yuan, which he considered incest, Yuan struck him, according to a statement Zhao gave to police.

Zhao, a shorter, lighter and older man, backed off and noticed a hammer in the foyer. Yuan threatened to kick him to death for grabbing the hammer. Zhao struck him in the leg and foot with the hammer.

Yuan went to grab a hunting rifle and Zhao, concerned about what would happen if he got the gun, struck Yuan on the head with the hammer, one of the blows fracturing Yuan’s skull.

A fight over the hammer ensued, with Yuan succeeding in getting the hammer as the two men stood near the front door.

Yuan came toward Zhao with the hammer in the driveway, with Zhao ducking. Yuan fell to the ground and Zhao ran into the house, grabbed the rifle and came out to the driveway, pointing the firearm at Yuan.

Yuan threw the hammer at him but missed, and Zhao responded by opening fire. He also fired a second shot.

Zhao then used power tools to cut up Yuan’s body into more than 100 pieces.

In imposing sentence Monday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Terence Schultes said that despite possessing the hammer, Yuan was not a meaningful threat to Zhao at the point when the shots were fired.

“He was on the ground, quite seriously injured already and Mr. Zhao was holding a loaded rifle, with his back toward the house as a potential place of refuge,” said the judge.

“His decision to fire in response to the hammer being thrown and then Mr. Yuan’s upraised arm must be seen as serious overreaction to the threat that he actually faced and any resulting need to respond to the potentially lethal force.”

The judge said Zhao’s actions in dismembering the body were also aggravating.

“The sheer scale and rather clinical nature of Mr. Zhao’s actions amounted effectively to the obliteration of Mr. Yuan’s body as an intact entity.”

The judge handed Zhao a 10-1/2 year jail term for the two offences. After he receives credit for pre-sentence custody, Zhao will have two years, four months and eight days remaining to serve.

Zhao appeared by video link from prison and had little reaction to the sentence.

Outside court, Ian Donaldson, Zhao’s lawyer, said he was sure his client, who had no prior criminal record or history of violence, was “very pleased” that the protracted case was concluded.

He said it was a “super sad” case and that the judge had imposed a fair sentence.

“I think there are many judges who would have hit him a lot harder.”