New York Times employee killed in California: suspects already identified

Police in California have arrested 76-year-old Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen on suspicion of murdering their 40-year-old son-in-law, Jonathan McKinsey, a New York Times employee. They are also charged with illegal possession of a weapon, conspiracy and endangering children.

This is reported by the NYT, citing police data.

McKinsey was found dead on September 26 near a sports complex in Dublin, near San Francisco. The man had multiple gunshot wounds. One witness told police he heard about five or six shots and then saw the man fall to the ground. The other man and woman then calmly left the scene.

Police soon arrested Zhang and Chen, who live in Dublin and are the parents of McKinsey’s wife. Both are suspected of murder.

Investigators have not yet identified a motive for the crime. However, court documents indicate a long-standing conflict in the family. McKinsey and his wife lived separately, and last year both applied for restraining orders due to domestic violence.

McKinsey transitioned as a transgender man and claimed that his wife and her parents abused him because of it. He said his mother-in-law called him and one of his sons “perverts” and “monsters.” He also claimed that his father-in-law punched him in the chest while he was recovering from surgery.

McKinsey’s wife, for her part, has made allegations against him. She claims that during an argument, he grabbed her by the arms and threw her over the edge of a table, causing her to injure her spine. She also accuses McKinsey of emotional abuse against her mother.

Separately last year, McKinsey was charged with two counts of child abuse. In one case, police said he punched a six-year-old in the face. In another, he left his two-year-old son home alone for more than an hour. The man pleaded not guilty and claimed his wife was deliberately trying to frame him.

McKinsey filed for divorce in December 2025. In his statement, he also alleged that his wife beat him with a frying pan and a mirror, and once forced him to swallow a cockroach. The woman denied these allegations.

McKinsey has worked at The New York Times since 2023. He served as the CTO of the publication’s gaming division. Before that, the man worked at technology companies Splunk, Coursera, and Oracle.

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