A California man accused of killing his own wife and mother-in-law has been linked to a third murder, according to prosecutors.
Howard Wang, 43, has been charged over the deaths of his wife Linlin Guo and her mother, Beimin Cheng, on September 18, 2025.
The double killing took place at the couple’s residence in Walnut Creek, 25 miles east of San Francisco.
Prosecutors now claim Wang murdered another person almost a year beforehand.
On June 8, 2024, Wang and Demarques James Pearl allegedly shot Chengli Li, 41, to death in Los Angeles County.
According to prosecutors, the pair travelled up to L.A. County from the Bay Area a day before the shooting.
Pearl, 33, has also been charged with murder.
Li, who was killed outside of his apartment in San Gabriel, was the romantic partner of Wang’s girlfriend, Yan Wang, officials said.
Yan is also a defendant in the Walnut Creek case, in which she was charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor.
Prosecutors allege that Yan, who has no relation to Wang despite sharing a surname, aided her partner with the intent to help him avoid arrest. On that basis, she was charged with being an accessory after the fact.
Yan was also charged with first-degree residential burglary after allegedly entering Guo’s residence on September 19.
Prosecutors said Yan faced a charge of destroying evidence, after allegedly damaging cellphones related to the investigation.
Police were called to Guo’s residence at 11.45 p.m. on the night of her death. Inside the property, officers found both Guo’s body and that of her mother.
Prosecutors said Wang faced an additional charge of making criminal threats of death and great bodily injury against his wife, around August 2024.
He had also been charged for preventing Guo from reporting a crime to law enforcement officers on January 7, 2023.
“This tragic case is a stark reminder of the devastating toll domestic violence takes – not only on the victims whose lives were lost, but on families and the community as a whole,” Diana Becton, the Contra Costa district attorney, said at the time of Wang’s arrest.
“Our office is committed to aggressively pursuing justice in this case.”
The Los Angeles County murder will be joined with the Walnut Creek double murders to be prosecuted in Contra Costa County, according to officials.
Wang will be arraigned on April 14 in Martinez.
