Man slain, ex-wife charged in Montco shooting

When Chien-Kuo "Charles" Lin went to pick up some of his belongings from his ex-wife's home, according to police, he evidently was so concerned about what might await him that he asked an officer to accompany him.

Police complied with his request, but less than a half-hour after the officer left the premises and the possessions were out of the house, Lin lay dead in the garage of the two-story home on South Sixth Street in North Wales, Montgomery County.

Lin, 67, was killed by his ex-wife Sunday, police said Monday.

Hsiu-Chin "Linda" Lin, 63, was seated at the kitchen table with a revolver in front of her when officers responded to reports of the shooting just after 4 p.m.

She was arraigned Monday on charges of first-degree murder, and was held at the Montgomery County prison without bail.

In announcing the arrest, District Attorney Kevin R. Steele did not describe a motive. The couple's adult children told police that their parents were divorced, but no divorce records were on file in Montgomery County. Officials said they found no indication of a protection for abuse order against either spouse, and it was unclear how long they had been divorced or separated.

Hsiu-Chin Lin had been practicing firing her gun into the backyard in the last week, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.

As his father moved boxes out of the garage Sunday, their son told police, his mother came outside with a shotgun.

"Do you want me to kill your dad?" she asked, according to the criminal complaint.

"No," the son, Dennis, 33, told police he responded.

His mother had another question: "You won't blame me if I kill your dad, right?"

The son said he then heard his mother call his sister while still wielding the weapon.

"I'm going to kill him," she shouted repeatedly over the phone, according to the children's statements to police.

Dennis Lin said he heard gunshots before his mother walked inside and told him to call 911.

Steele said Hsiu-Chin Lin fired four shots at her ex-husband. The county Coroner's Office ruled the death a homicide, finding that Chien-Kuo Lin died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

The Lins bought their house in 1991, according to property records.

A neighbor told police that earlier Sunday afternoon, before a police officer escorted the man to the home, he had seen Hsiu-Chin Lin holding a hammer and a golf club as the couple argued outside the house.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 1.

lmccrystal@phillynews.com

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