Wife, 2 kids of slain farmer appeal for swift justice

The wife and children of Cheng You Li, one of two Chinese farmers that were recently murdered, appealed for justice yesterday and they urged the Department of Public Safety and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to immediately arrest the suspect or suspects.

The family also disclosed that Cheng You Li, 47, was actually scheduled to go back to China this December to attend the wedding of his daughter.

The wife and children of murdered farmer Cheng You Li appeal yesterday for swift justice. The three arrived on Saipan last Saturday after learning about the murder of Cheng You Li and his brother-in-law, Hai Ren Li. (Ferdie de la Torre)

Cheng You Li came to Saipan in July 2001 and never went back to China. His scheduled return to China this December was supposedly for good.

Cheng You Li’s wife, Wu Zhi Lin, 44, and two children—Yan Ping Li, 23, and Ming Sheng Li, 19—flew to Saipan last Saturday after learning about the murders.

In an interview with Saipan Tribune yesterday, the wife and children appealed for swift justice, saying Cheng You Li’s murder has been so painful for them.

The family said they went to the Commonwealth Health Center’s morgue on Tuesday but police did not allow them to see the victim’s body.

The wife and her children want to cremate Cheng You Li’s body in Guam then bring the ashes to Fujian Province, China.

It was Cheng You Li’s Saipan-based brother who called them in China shortly after the bodies of Cheng You Li and Hai Ren Li were found at the old airport runway in Koblervilled last Nov. 2.

“I’m so angry. I’m so sad,” the 19-year-old son, Ming Sheng Li, said.

Ming Sheng Li was only 6 years old and his sister was only 11 years old when their father left China to come to Saipan and join Hai Ren Li to do farming.

Ming Sheng Li said although their father never went back home since leaving in 2001, he regularly called them. He said her sister’s wedding this December would be moved to next year because of their father’s death.

Ming Sheng Li said his graduation will be in 2017 and the family does not know now how he can continue his college studies.

Family and friends described victim Cheng You Li as a very nice person who does not drink.

“After working in the farm, he goes home and sleep,” said the brother.

According to the autopsy, Cheng You Li’s cause of death was due to multiple lacerations and wounds inflicted primarily on his neck.

Hai Ren Li’s cause of death was from a skull fracture due to blunt force trauma.

On Tuesday, DPS Commissioner James C. Deleon Guerrero disclosed that they have a person of interest who has been cooperating with investigators.