Freehold Borough murderers given life sentences

The former New York City men at the center of a brutal 2010 armed robbery and murder in Freehold Borough are sentenced to life terms in a New Jersey state prison.

Zeng Liang Chen, 25, a Chinese citizen, and Dong Biao Lin, 27, were sentenced Tuesday in Monmouth County Superior Court in connection with the robbery and stabbing deaths of Yao Chen, 28, and Yun Juan Chen, 39.

Under New Jersey's No Early Release Act, they'll be required to serve 63 years and nine months before parole eligibility. If they are released, they'll also be required to serve five years parole supervision.

The victims were brother and sister who operated a restaurant. They were stabbed to death on June 16, 2010. Zeng Liang Chen is not related to either victim.

According to details of the case provided by the office of acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Chris Grammiccioni, Lin pleaded guilty to two counts each of murder and felony murder, all first-degree charges, in January 2014. He also agreed to testify against Chen.

Chen was convicted in February 2015 of murder, felony murder, armed robbery, armed burglary, conspiracy to commit armed burglary, and a weapons-possession count.

A driver on South Street was the first to notify police after finding Yao Chen on the sidewalk in front of his dwelling, hands bound, and bleeding from dozens of slashes and punctures, especially in the neck and abdomen, investigators said.

While tending Yao Chen, Freehold Township police responded to a report of two young Asian men who appeared to have been in a fight. Zeng Lian Chen and Lin were taken into custody a short while later near Route 9, authorities said.

Yao Chen died shortly thereafter at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune. He was found to have been stabbed 74 times.

Investigators dispatched to his home found Yun Juan Chen's body, which was later determined to have received 80 stab wounds.

A joint probe by the Monmouth Prosecutor's and Sheriff's investigators and police from Freehold Borough, Tinton Falls, Piscataway and Freehold Township revealed that Zeng Lian Chen worked in a Freehold area restaurant owned by the Chen family.

Investigators said that the pair, believing that a large sum of money was in the home, broke in while the victims were inside. Other family members were working in a nearby restaurant they owned.

Lin admitted on the stand that Chen helped plan the escapade, and tied Yao Chen to a bed while Lin searched for money and valuables. He admitted killing the victims and testfied that his partner also brandished a knife and beat the helpless Yao Chen with brass knuckles.