[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to another episode of USA Unsolved, where we look into Unsolved cases in the U.S. involving those of Asian descent.
[SPEAKER_00]: You will find that we will be traveling back to the state of California quite often, not only because it is a very large state, but also because a lot of Asians live there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hawaii is technically the state with the most Asians, but California is second on that list, followed by Washington state.
[SPEAKER_00]: Today's case has actually been covered by a few other podcasts, most notably crime junkie, and this case has also been featured on the Queen of Hearts, from the Cold Case Card Duck in Elameda County, California.
[SPEAKER_00]: Today's case concerns a young girl named Jennifer Han-Chilin.
[SPEAKER_00]: She was just a child.
[SPEAKER_00]: She had a lot going on in her life.
[SPEAKER_00]: And no one was able to find a reason for her brutal murder.
[SPEAKER_00]: Probably because there is absolutely no good reason for it.
[SPEAKER_00]: But then again, most murders don't really make sense.
[SPEAKER_00]: Or the reasons are extremely silly.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's take a look at who Jenny Lin was, what happened to her, and where the investigation stands today.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's begin.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Lynn parents arrived in the U.S. in the year 1973 to pursue their master's degrees.
[SPEAKER_00]: Originally, they were from Taiwan, and John Lynn studied computer science.
[SPEAKER_00]: And his wife, Melian, was pursuing a graduate degree in biochemistry.
[SPEAKER_00]: After completing their studies, John was hired at the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Lynn's at the time were already doing pretty well for themselves, both specializing in quite lucrative careers.
[SPEAKER_00]: They settled down in northern California, and eventually they had two daughters, their first born being Roda in 1975, and then Jenny, in May of 1980.
[SPEAKER_00]: While they moved around a bit here and there in the general area, they eventually found a perfect home for the four of them in 1991, located in Castro Valley, a suburb in Alameda County, which is just east of San Francisco.
[SPEAKER_00]: So what was Jenny like?
[SPEAKER_00]: In the year 1994, Jenny was 14.
[SPEAKER_00]: She had been studying the piano and violin for years, which is a very standard Asian daughter thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Most Asian kids I grew up with were encouraged to learn either the piano or the violin.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know why that is, but it's just super common.
[SPEAKER_00]: As for Jenny though, she was much more than just her musical talents.
[SPEAKER_00]: She was a straight-a student, set to graduate middle school in 1994 as valedictorian.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not only did she excel in school and extracurricular activities, she also had a great circle of friends and was described as a popular girl.
[SPEAKER_00]: She was curious, took dance lessons, and spent her Saturday mornings going to Chinese school to learn the language and culture.
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, she had just celebrated her 14th birthday with her friends only days before she
[SPEAKER_00]: But why?
[SPEAKER_00]: What happened?
[SPEAKER_00]: And most importantly, who would do this?
[SPEAKER_00]: The date was Friday, May 27, 1994.
[SPEAKER_00]: School had finished for the day, and Jenny headed home.
[SPEAKER_00]: Probably excited to relax and enjoy the weekend.
[SPEAKER_00]: She got home at around 245 p.m., and, like a responsible child, she proceeded to work on her homework, but also taking it easy,
[SPEAKER_00]: She played on the piano a bit, had a snack, watched some TV, did some homework, and phone her friends.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her parents were at work, and her sister, being five-year-older, was probably off at college.
[SPEAKER_00]: The last anyone heard from her was around 5.15 pm when she finished the call with a friend of hers.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then at 5.30 pm, the phone rang once more.
[SPEAKER_00]: This time, it was Jenny's dad, John, calling in to check on her.
[SPEAKER_00]: Although only 15 minutes had gone by, Jenny failed to pick up the phone.
[SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps she was busy, perhaps she was in the bathroom, or maybe she just didn't hear it, or get to it in time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Either way, I can't say this was a huge cause for concern.
[SPEAKER_00]: About an hour and 15 minutes later, John returned home from his work in San Francisco.
[SPEAKER_00]: He entered his home, noting that the TV was still on, but no sign of Jenny.
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, nothing strange about that.
[SPEAKER_00]: John continued looking to the house, eventually heading upstairs.
[SPEAKER_00]: He entered the home's primary bathroom, and there he found Jenny.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jenny was lying on the bathroom floor, partially disrobed, bleeding profusely from multiple stab wounds.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was clear that Jenny was already deceased, and despite the shock and grief, John had the face that specific moment, he called the police,
[SPEAKER_00]: and an investigation into Jenny's death was launched immediately.
[SPEAKER_00]: Police began gathering evidence, and the first thing they looked into was how someone could have gotten into the Lynn residents.
[SPEAKER_00]: It appeared that the neighbors had, at some point in the afternoon, heard the sound of glass breaking.
[SPEAKER_00]: When looking around for the source of this, police found a broken window in the dining room.
[SPEAKER_00]: While this could explain how the intruder got in, it was also revealed that the patio sliding door was left unlocked.
[SPEAKER_00]: As for Jenny, she was stabbed to death.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her hands had been bound together, and it appeared that the intruder had forced her to take off her clothes.
[SPEAKER_00]: However, upon further examination, it did not appear as a Jenny had been sexually assaulted.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was strongly believed that the intruder was interrupted before he was able to play out
[SPEAKER_00]: It's worth wondering just how long was the intruder in the house for?
[SPEAKER_00]: Did he enter after Jenny hung up the phone call with her friends?
[SPEAKER_00]: Or was he already inside, hiding, biting his time?
[SPEAKER_00]: But why would anyone want to kill a 14-year-old girl?
[SPEAKER_00]: The idea of revenge or some personal grudge did not really seem likely.
[SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps it was someone that harbored hatred towards the parents.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing of that sort came up during the investigation, but John Lynn did tell the police of a bizarre encounter weeks before Jenny's murder.
[SPEAKER_00]: On May 12, a strange man came up to Jenny's dad at a Bart station, and if you're unfamiliar, Bart stands for the Bay Area Rapid Transit, so basically the local train system.
[SPEAKER_00]: The man appeared quite the shoveled, and he told John that, quote, I got your daughter on quote.
[SPEAKER_00]: While it seemed unlikely, John was rattled, so he rushed home to check.
[SPEAKER_00]: Turns out, both his daughters were safe and sound.
[SPEAKER_00]: John chucked this whole thing up as a weirdo encounter.
[SPEAKER_00]: And honestly, this kind of stuff does happen from time to time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even though the police agreed with John, and also didn't think the stranger was involved in Jenny's murder, there were still interested in finding this man.
[SPEAKER_00]: So if not the weird train guy, then who?
[SPEAKER_00]: They could not determine whether the killer looked out by finding Jenny at home alone, or if this person knew that Jenny would be home alone at this time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Either the intruder was someone to family knew, or someone who had been watching the family for some time, getting familiar with their routines.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Lynn family wanted to get as much attention as possible for their daughter's death, so they went ahead and printed multiple flyers
[SPEAKER_00]: hoping someone knew something and would eventually come forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: They had also announced a reward for $100,000, for anyone with information that could lead to Jenny's murder.
[SPEAKER_00]: But so far, this case has more or less been sitting cold.
[SPEAKER_00]: But that doesn't mean there was no suspect.
[SPEAKER_00]: Allow me to introduce to you a very terrible person.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ho Chau-Kong was a Chinese Vietnamese man born during the Vietnam War.
[SPEAKER_00]: He and his father immigrated to the United States when he was a young boy, and despite being constantly disciplined by his father and attending church, Ho appeared to have behavioral issues.
[SPEAKER_00]: When he was around 14, his father took him and moved to Oregon, where he began his life at a local high school.
[SPEAKER_00]: After a falling out with his father, though, he proceeded to move in with his aunt in California.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, after, he joined a Marine Corps, and served for a few years, before being honorably discharged in 1990.
[SPEAKER_00]: Once returning to civilian life, he found work as a security dispatcher at a cable system's company called Paragon Cable.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was at this point in his life, he was probably like, well, new life knew me,
[SPEAKER_00]: so he had his name legally changed to Sebastian Alexander Shaw.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know.
[SPEAKER_00]: This name gives zero hints that he is of Asian descent, but the man is definitely Asian.
[SPEAKER_00]: The first time he was arrested was an august of 1994 when the police found him inside a car that was reported as stolen.
[SPEAKER_00]: As if that wasn't bad enough, they also found a so-called murder kit in his car.
[SPEAKER_00]: That included rifles, gloves, cords, duct tape, and various tools one would use to say break into a house.
[SPEAKER_00]: At this point in time, no charges were filed against Shaw, so he was let go.
[SPEAKER_00]: But a few years later, while Jenny's case continued to grow cold, this man was formally arrested, not for stolen vehicles, though, but for murder and rape.
[SPEAKER_00]: In July of 1991, Shaw came across a man named J. Rick Beal in Portland, Oregon.
[SPEAKER_00]: This murder definitely explains why we cannot be so trusting of strangers, because
[SPEAKER_00]: Jay was a disabled man, a quadriplegic who also suffered from cerebral palsy.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was also apparently a devout new age believer, and constantly welcomed strangers to his house, most often hoping to convert them.
[SPEAKER_00]: With that said, it's definitely easy to see how bad guys can take advantage of a very trusting person.
[SPEAKER_00]: Shaw, at this time, had recently lost his job at Paragon Cable,
[SPEAKER_00]: and then he found an easy target.
[SPEAKER_00]: He entered Jay's home, slash Jay's throat, and left him to die in bed.
[SPEAKER_00]: About a year later, a couple, Todd Rudiger and Donna Ferguson, also in Portland, Oregon, were found dead in their home.
[SPEAKER_00]: Both stabbed in their necks.
[SPEAKER_00]: Both Donna and Todd had been bound with cords, and Donna was sexually assaulted, prior to her murder.
[SPEAKER_00]: The connection was made to Shaw after his DNA was matched from a discarded cigarette but to the evidence left at the crime scenes.
[SPEAKER_00]: With hard evidence presented, Shaw had no choice but to plead guilty.
[SPEAKER_00]: Initially though, Shaw was only charged and convicted for the murder and rape of the couple and not of J.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was however convicted of that murder two years later and was sent to prison to serve out three life sentences.
[SPEAKER_00]: He told someone that he actually had killed probably a dozen more people.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whether that's true or not, no one really knows, because he never revealed the identity of these victims.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, how does all this tie-back to Jenny Lynn?
[SPEAKER_00]: In the year 2006, after Shaw sentencing, the Elameda County Sheriff's Office told a public that it was very possible that Shaw was a man who killed Jenny back in 1994, and that they had their suspicions about him ever since he was arrested back in 1998.
[SPEAKER_00]: They never made this public at the time because Shaw was being tried for the murders in Oregon, so they didn't want to risk interference, and in some way or another, affect the outcome of that trial.
[SPEAKER_00]: They waited, but Shaw never admitted to Jenny's murder, and never gave out the names of those supposed dozens of additional victims.
[SPEAKER_00]: The police also declined to charge Shaw for Jenny's murder, citing that quote, after several weeks of reviewing her reports, the district attorney's office, felt a jury, at this time, would not convict Shaw for the murder, unquote.
[SPEAKER_00]: In while disappointing, I can understand.
[SPEAKER_00]: If the evidence was lacking, it was likely that Shaw would not get convicted of this, but
[SPEAKER_00]: They never were able to compile a strong case against Shaw and he ended up dying in prison in 2021.
[SPEAKER_00]: So where does that leave us?
[SPEAKER_00]: I found a few letters between John and Shaw from the Dex website, a podcast that covers cases on the Cold Case playing cards.
[SPEAKER_00]: John Lynn sent Shaw various letters begging him to come clean, begging for answers.
[SPEAKER_00]: For the past 14 years, or more than 5,000 days, a woke up every morning, and the first picture came to my mind, was my daughter's brutal death, unquote.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some of the questions John asked included, why did you target my daughter?
[SPEAKER_00]: How did you get into my house?
[SPEAKER_00]: Why did you have to kill her?
[SPEAKER_00]: John seemed very convinced that Shaw was the killer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps surprisingly, Shaw did write back a few times, but the contents of his letters
[SPEAKER_00]: will actually boil your blood.
[SPEAKER_00]: In his letters, he referred to John as Jennifer Lin's quote-unquote father, yes, and quotations.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because he somehow didn't believe that the person writing him was her father.
[SPEAKER_00]: He spent a good chunk of his letter basically saying John is a liar, which is rich coming from a convicted killer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Shaw also proposed a face-to-face meeting with John, which John never agreed to.
[SPEAKER_00]: As his letter in April of 2009 stated, quote, I don't think I need to spend any more effort convincing you that I am Jennifer's father.
[SPEAKER_00]: You should have come to that conclusion yourself as you read through my letters, which could only come from a tireless father, continuing his quest for his daughter's killer, unquote.
[SPEAKER_00]: and Shaw just kind of blows him off, but in a very wordy manner.
[SPEAKER_00]: Quote, he is not a normal person.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have mixed feelings.
[SPEAKER_00]: We feel relieved that the suspect has been named, but we are still very hurt by this.
[SPEAKER_00]: We still feel very hurt that our daughter was killed, unquote.
[SPEAKER_00]: These were the comments made by Jenny's mom.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's now been 32 years since Jenny's murder.
[SPEAKER_00]: Every year, her parents, who now reside in Southern California,
[SPEAKER_00]: to hold a memorial for Jenny, remembering her and celebrating her life.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is also said that new DNA evidence has been submitted for analysis, and maybe one day we will have confirmation on the identity of Jenny's killer.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know that doesn't change what's been done, but if anything, knowing matters.
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like this case is not as widely known as it should be, and that is very unfortunate.
[SPEAKER_00]: The child, with hobbies, someone who had loving friends and family.
[SPEAKER_00]: She was normal, she was into music, and she was looking forward to the Lion King movie, which was set to release on June 15, 1994, just weeks after her death.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Jenny Lin Foundation was created in 1995 by Jenny's parents, which works towards
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for taking a time to tune into Jenny's story.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her murder does not define her as a person, and it is important to honor her for who she was when she was alive, and not just remembering her death.
[SPEAKER_00]: Please take care.
[SPEAKER_00]: Stay safe and stay vigilant.
[SPEAKER_00]: Till next time.