A California dermatologist has been indicted on felony charges after allegedly poisoning her husband’s tea with Drano.
Dr. Yue ‘Emily’ Yu was hit with one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury and three counts of poisoning during a hearing on Wednesday. The mother of two could face more than eight years in prison if convicted.
Last year Yu’s radiologist husband Jack Chen noticed his tea was tasting odd, so he set up a nanny-cam in the kitchen of their $2.7 million home to investigate.
What he caught was Yu pouring a mysterious liquid into his morning tea, which he took to the police who helped him determine it was the toxic drain cleaner. Only static images from the alleged poisoning video have been released.
Chen survived the incident, but was left with ulcers, according to the New York Post. He has since filed for divorce after 10 years of marriage.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement that Yu intentionally shattered her husband’s sense of security by intentionally torturing him with poison against his knowledge.
‘Our homes should be where we feel the safest,’ he said, according to the Post.
‘Yet, a licensed medical professional capitalized on her husband’s daily rituals to torment her husband by systematically plying his tea with a Drano-like substance intending to cause him pain and suffering.’
An attorney for Chen, Steve Hittleman, told the Post that the father had custody of the couple’s children, and he was pleased to hear about the indictment.
‘Making sure that there’s a chance for justice to be served,’ he said. ‘This is the next step in resolving this horrible turn of events. This is tragic on a number of levels.’
After his wife’s arrest in August, Chen claimed she had abused him and their children for years, with the dermatologist once shouting at the youngsters to ‘go die,’ according to court documents.
‘When Emily gets frustrated and yells at the children, she’ll commonly use a Chinese phrase that translates to “go die”,’ Chen wrote in a court statement as he sought a restraining order against his wife.
‘She also says to the children, “your head has a problem,” “your head is sick,” “go f**k yourself,” “f***ing idiot,” “stupid a**hole,” and “get the f**k out of my way,’ Chen wrote.
Yu was released on $30,000 bond after her arrest, and Chen filed for a restraining order against her.
No motive for the shocking crime has emerged. Yu, who works at the Providence Healthcare system in Mission Viejo, has had her work headshot removed from her employer’s website. A spokesman said they were cooperating with police.
Chen said he and Yu met in 2011 and the couple married a year later on July 4, 2012.
Chen claimed his wife’s behavior changed after their son and daughter, who are now aged seven and eight, were born in 2013 and 2014. He also claimed that Yu’s mother, Yuqin ‘Amy’ Gu, also verbally and physically abused their children.
‘As early as two-years-old Emily and Amy were verbally and then physically abusive to [our son and daughter] which intensified as they grew older,’ Chen said. ‘They are both verbally and physically abusive to me.’ He said the women would call the children “f***ing stupid.”‘
Chen claimed Yu spanked her daughter when she was three-years-old because she wet her bed. Yu also allegedly hit her son on his head and arms when he was two.
‘When the kids fall asleep without permission, even if after 11:00 p.m. she would wake them up, demand that [they] go to her room, shut the door, and make them cry,’ he said.
‘At the end sometimes she would tell the kids to get out and then slam the door behind them, making them cry outside her door.’
When the children would play piano after school, Yu would allegedly tell them they were ‘f***ing stupid’ until they cried.
Following the alleged poisoning, Bingham said Chen began to develop symptoms that worsened over the last month.
He said Chen did seek medical treatment once he became ill but was unable to provide details to whether a blood test revealed the poison in his bloodstream.
‘Due to the integrity of the case it appears the poisoning happened over a period of time,’ Bingham said.
