Boyfriend strangled, killed pregnant girlfriend and hid her body, Chicago officials say
A man has been charged in the murder of his pregnant girlfriend who went missing a month ago, Chicago officials say.
Yaer Shen, 46, is charged with first-degree murder, intentional homicide of an unborn child and concealment of a homicidal death, documents from the Cook County State Attorney’s office said. Shen was taken into custody Nov. 1.
The charges come after the disappearance of 40-year-old Bilian Fang, CBS reported.
Fang was reported missing by her daughter on Oct. 10, prosecutors said. She was with Shen the night she disappeared.
During the investigation, officials say they learned that Fang worked at a restaurant owned by Shen in Lincolnwood. The two were dating and Fang was eight months pregnant with Shen’s baby. Shen lived with his ex-wife and children, and his ex-wife was unaware of his relationship with Fang or the pregnancy, officials said.
On Oct. 9, the two left Shen’s restaurant in his car and drove to his house, prosecutors said. While in the car outside Shen’s home, the pair got into a verbal altercation about finances before Shen left his girlfriend in the car. Fang then went to Shen’s front porch where his wife noticed her crying.
When his wife alerted him to the woman on the porch, Shen took Fang back to his car. Around 10:50 p.m., while still in the vehicle, Fang used Shen’s phone to call her 14-year-old daughter. Fang did not have her phone because Shen broke it during a previous argument, according to prosecutors.
On the phone, Fang asked her daughter to contact one of her friends to pick her up near 36th Street and California Avenue, prosecutors said. However, when the friend arrived to the pick-up spot, Fang was nowhere to be found.
Fang’s daughter called Shen’s phone twice more and spoke to Shen and Fang, but she was unable to get her mother to the pick-up spot, according to prosecutors. When the 14-year-old called a third time around midnight, there was no answer.
During this time, Shen continued to drive with Fang in the car. As the couple drove, another verbal conflict started, and Fang slapped Shen in the face, prosecutors said. Shen then wrapped his hands around his girlfriend’s neck and began to strangle her; he stopped before she fell unconscious.
Prosecutors said that shortly after this, Shen noticed there was bruising and swelling on Fang’s neck and face. Out of fear that she might go to the police, Shen strangled his girlfriend again. This time, she fell unconscious, officials said.
Upon realizing that Fang had stopped breathing, Shen began CPR, prosecutors said. He was unsuccessful, so he drove her body to a water reclamation area, threw her pink jacket into the woods and left her body covered with branches.
After her mother did not return home by Oct. 10, Fang’s daughter continued calling Shen to ask where she was. Shen told the teenager to “be patient,” according to court documents.
Using cell phone data, investigators located Fang’s body where it had been hidden, prosecutors said. In her jacket pocket, they found a note written in Cantonese and signed by Shen that said: “I am sorry. I am not a good person. I made you suffer. I got scammed. I know it is irresponsible for me to leave you. I hope we don’t meet in another life.”
In taking Shen into custody, investigators say they found a second note in his wallet, saying that he wanted to kill himself, but was unable to, and that he was planning to turn himself in but did not want to go to prison.
An autopsy concluded that Fang died of blunt force trauma consistent with strangulation and homicide. A separate autopsy was conducted on Fang’s unborn baby, and it was determined that the child could have survived if delivered at the time Fang was killed.
This story was originally published November 4, 2022 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Boyfriend strangled, killed pregnant girlfriend and hid her body, Chicago officials say."
