LEXINGTON, Mass. — The husband of a Lexington woman found dead in a car last Thursday night has been arrested, according to the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office.
Officials have been investigating the homicide of Shen Cai, 50, who was found dead last week. On Wednesday evening, police announced Hongyan Sun, 49, had been arrested in connection with her death.
Lexington Police responded to Worthen Road around 12:30 a.m. on Thursday and found Cai unresponsive in a white Honda CRV. She was declared dead at the scene.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has ruled Cai's cause of death as "mechanical asphyxiation."
It was later discovered that Cai and Sun had been going through a divorce, according to the DA.
Police say they also learned of a physical altercation on May 28 and a history of physical and verbal abuse by Sun.
Friends of Cai say that she had concerns for her safety.
Lexington police went door to door to notify neighbors about arrest of a man on their street. Hongyan Sun was charged with killing his wife Shen Cai. Her body was found in a car last week down the street. What neighbors observed about the suspect since his wife’s death- at 10PM! pic.twitter.com/E5WfyffWEn
— Litsa Pappas (@LitsaPappas) June 6, 2019
Neighbors say they're relieved an arrest has been made, but it's unsettling to know someone accused of this lives right next door to them.
"You never know what’s going on behind people’s front doors, you never know," said neighbor Jane Kramer.
The victim's husband returned to their home on Baskin Road Friday evening wearing hospital clothes and had cuts on his hand. He was driving the same kind of car that the victim's body was found in.
When asked about what kind of woman his wife was, Sun had a simple answer.
"She's [a] great lady, that's it," he said. "She's my wife."
"The investigation suggests that after the struggle in their home, Ms. Cai’s body was allegedly staged and left in her vehicle on Worthen Road in an apparent attempt to mislead law enforcement," a release from the Middlesex County District Attorneys Office states.
On Wednesday, police went door-to-door notifying neighbors about the arrest in the case, putting many concerns at ease.
"I know the district attorney said that there's no reason for concern, but how can you not be concerned... there was a murder here," said neighbor Ken Kaitin.
The investigation is ongoing and being conducted by the Middlesex DA, Lexington PD and the State Police Detective Unit.
Sun was ordered held without bail on Thursday. He is due back in court on July 30.
Release: Middlesex DA, local police investigating the homicide of Lexington woman
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