CrimeWatch

SANTA CLARA (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― A Silicon Valley engineer accused of killing three former colleagues appeared Wednesday in Santa Clara County Superior Court for arraignment and learned he could face the death penalty if convicted.

Jing Hua Wu, 47, of Mountain View, was formally charged with three counts of first-degree murder, three related gun counts and the special circumstance of killing multiple people.

That leaves open the possibility of a death sentence, although prosecutors have not yet said whether they plan to pursue it.

"It's a very careful process that takes us many months to decide," Deputy
District Attorney Jeff Rosen said.

Wu, in handcuffs and orange jail clothing covered by a yellow T-shirt, stood before Judge Jerome Nadler, looking down as cameras leaned in.
 
Wu's Public Defender attorneys Michael Ogul and Ken Mandel delayed entering a plea and waived time for a preliminary hearing.

Afterwards, Ogul described his client as "sad and distraught about the situation."

"I think that it's natural for him to be very sad at this point," Ogul added.

Wu has been in custody since his arrest Saturday morning and remained held on no bail status in the mental ward of the Santa Clara County jail. He was scheduled to return to court Dec. 18 for further arraignment.

Rosen said he would not comment on Wu's mental state, a possible motive or anything else that could affect an investigation into the shootings.

"I don't want to speculate about why the defendant murdered three of his co-workers because I am ethically bound to preserve his right to a fair trial and to allow the police to conduct a thorough and objective investigation," Rosen said.

Police and prosecutors said Wu was a product test engineer at SiPort Inc., which makes semiconductor chips for high-definition radios, and had requested a meeting with company executives Friday afternoon — hours after being fired from his job due to performance-related issues.

"Obviously they didn't sense any kind of reason to be alarmed by his behavior," Santa Clara police Lt. Mike Sellers said. 

But it was during that meeting that Wu allegedly took out a 9 mm handgun and killed SiPort CEO Sid Agrawal, 56, of Fremont; Vice President Brian Pugh, 47, of Los Altos; and Marilyn Lewis, 67, of San Jose, the human resources manager.

Employees in the office at the time of the shooting were able to quickly identify Wu as the shooter, telling police that he fled from the office park at 3255 Scott Blvd. in Santa Clara in a silver Mercury Mariner sport utility vehicle.

After extensive searches, officers found Wu walking through a parking lot near El Camino Real and Grant Roadin Mountain View Saturday morning. Police arrested him without incident and said they found a 9 mm handgun in the trunk of Wu's vehicle parked nearby.

Meanwhile, mourners were gathering this week to remember those killed in the shootings.

Agrawal's funeral was held Wednesday morning in Fremont. Lewis' funeral was scheduled for Thursday in San Jose, and Pugh's memorial was set to be held Friday in Los Altos.

SiPort also established a memorial fund for the three slain employees.

Donations to the fund could be mailed to Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Attn: SiPort Memorial Fund, 2440 W. El Camino Real, Suite 300, Mountain View, Calif. 94040.

SiPort Memorial Fund should also be written on the check memo line, a company spokesperson said.

(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)