Killer of 5 relatives with meat cleaver, including 4 children, gets 125 years

A man who pleaded guilty to the October 2013 murder of five relatives, including four children was sentenced to 125 years to life in prison on Tuesday October 20th. Mindong Chen, 27, butchered his cousin’s wife, Qiao Zhen Li, 37 and her four children aged 9, 7, 5 and 18 months with a meat cleaver during a frenzied attack at their home.

A state Supreme Court judge in Brooklyn handed down the term to Chen on Tuesday, October 20. He was sentenced to three terms of 25 years to life for murder and two terms of 25 years to life for manslaughter.

The 27-year-old pleaded guilty earlier this month to murder and manslaughter charges. His attorney declined comment.

"This defendant’s vicious and sadistic attack makes him completely unfit to remain in society, and he will now spend the rest of his life behind bars," Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said.

"While we will never know what drove him to commit these murders, I hope that this sentence will offer this grieving family some measure of comfort."

Chen was found dripping in blood after slashing his victims’ throats. The massacre happened around 10:45 p.m. on 57th Street in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Police responded to the home after receiving a report that one person was stabbed inside. But when officers arrived, they found the victims unconscious with stab wounds to their upper bodies.

Chen had been fired from restaurant jobs and told investigators he envied the success of his relatives, who were fellow immigrants from China.