Jul 2, 2008 12:01 am US/Pacific
Lawyer Gunned Down Near SJ Mall, Suspect Arrested
SAN JOSE (CBS 5 / KCBS / AP) ―
A man who was acquitted in 2006 of murdering his wife is again in police custody, this time on suspicion of gunning down an attorney in the wrongful death lawsuit against him.
San Jose police arrested Jason Cai on Tuesday, after Xia Zhao was found shot dead outside an office complex near the Westgate Mall.
Sgt. Mike Sullivan said police received several calls around 9:50 a.m. from people who heard the gun shots as well as someone who reported seeing an Asian man in his 20s carrying a gun in the area.
The fatal shooting came less than two weeks after Zhao had filed a restraining order against Cai, saying that he was stalking and threatening her.
Zhao was part of the legal team for the family of Cai's wife, Ying Deng, whose body was found floating in the pool of couple's Cupertino home in 2003.
A jury eventually acquitted Cai of murder, but Deng's family pursued the civil case against him.
Family members of Zhao said that in the past few weeks, she had become worried for her own safety and the safety of her family, telling them not to go outside.
The shooting was San Jose's 18th homicide of the year.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
