Man convicted of killing wife, another man at Palm Desert hotel

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) - A man was convicted of killing his wife and another man during a domestic violence dispute outside a Palm Desert hotel in 2022.

A jury found Kenny Wu, 37, guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, the Riverside County District Attorney's Office announced on Tuesday. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 17, court records show.

Deputies from the sheriff's Palm Desert station responded to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon in the parking lot of the SpringHill Suites hotel in the 72300 block of Highway 111 on the morning of July 15, Riverside County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Ben Ramirez said.

In the parking lot, deputies found a man and a woman, who were pronounced dead at the scene within minutes of the deputies' arrival, Ramirez said. Wu was found alive with blunt force trauma to his body and taken to a hospital.  

The dead woman was identified as Yaying Wu, 31, also of Palm Desert, the suspect's wife. Police said the male victim was Jesus Sanchez, 30, of Cathedral City.

"Evidence presented at trial showed that Wu committed the killings after his wife firmly declared she wanted a divorce. The prosecution detailed evidence of stalking, domestic violence, infidelity, and ongoing marital issues leading up to the fatal confrontation," reads a social media post by the DA's office. 

Defense attorney John Dolan described his client as mentally overwrought by his spouse's rejection of him.   

"This case is about Kenny's state of mind,'' Dolan told jurors at the outset of the trial. "It's an awful and ugly situation."  

He recounted how his client had been distressed to the point of a psychological collapse over YaYa's ongoing relationship with Sanchez in 2022.   

The affair was uncovered in the winter of that year, and Wu initially tried to forgive his spouse's behavior but it left him scarred and emotionally damaged, in need of professional help, Dolan said.

The defendant futilely hoped that his wife would abandon her connection to Sanchez and remain in the defendant's life. Wu had long conversations with relatives, seeking to resolve the conflict. Dolan said YaYa's own father tried to help, speaking with the defendant for more than two hours via telephone, listening to him plead for her fidelity.   

Testimony from Wu's preliminary hearing in October 2022 indicated that he had physically assaulted the woman on more than one occasion, stemming from her communications with Sanchez.  

YaYa's mother, Xue Jia, believed her daughter was in danger, having heard Wu express a desire "to kill them,'' a sheriff's deputy testified.

When Wu discovered the victim intended to meet Sanchez at the Spring Hill Suites on Highway 111 in Palm Desert on the morning of July 15, 2022, he went there, waiting for the victims and then confronting them in the parking lot, according to investigators.

"The rage just exploded,'' Dolan said.  

Prosecutors said Wu pulled a knife and stabbed his wife and Sanchez multiple times, killing them. The defendant did not attempt to flee afterward, instead inflicting superficial wounds to himself, apparently to make it appear there had been a struggle. He was arrested without incident.

"We are here for his choices, his decisions,'' Deputy District Attorney Samantha Paixao told the jury.  

Wu had no documented prior felony convictions.

Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing coverage.