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Pictures and a memorial outside house 14015 Fosters Creek Dr. in the Coles Crossing subdivision where a family of four was found dead in their home last week, Friday, Feb. 7, 2014, in Cypress. Cypress' 77429 zip code is one of the most affluent in Harris County, with nearly half of the people living there making more than $100,000 a year. But Cypress has a seedier side hidden behind its pristine cul-de-sac neighborhoods and school houses. Three multiple murders have occurred in the Houston suburb in as many months. ( Michael Paulsen / Houston Chronicle )
Mourners gather flowers to carry to the home of the family of four shot to death at their home in Cypress during a vigil held in their honor Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, in Houston. A vigil was organized by the Houston Chinese Alliance for victims Maoye Sun, 50, Mei Xie, 49, and their two sons, Timothy Xie Sun, 9, and Titus Xiao Sun, 7. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle )
Mourners gather around candles shaped in a heart at the home of the family of four shot to death in Cypress during a vigil held in their honor Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, in Houston. A vigil was organized by the Houston Chinese Alliance for victims Maoye Sun, 50, Mei Xie, 49, and their two sons, Timothy Xie Sun, 9, and Titus Xiao Sun, 7. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle )
Pictures and a memorial outside house 14015 Fosters Creek Dr. in the Coles Crossing subdivision where a family of four was found dead in their home last week, Friday, Feb. 7, 2014, in Cypress. Cypress' 77429 zip code is one of the most affluent in Harris County, with nearly half of the people living there making more than $100,000 a year. But Cypress has a seedier side hidden behind its pristine cul-de-sac neighborhoods and school houses. Three multiple murders have occurred in the Houston suburb in as many months. ( Michael Paulsen / Houston Chronicle )
Mourners gather around candles shaped in a heart at the home of the family of four shot to death in Cypress during a vigil held in their honor Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, in Houston. A vigil was organized by the Houston Chinese Alliance for victims Maoye Sun, 50, Mei Xie, 49, and their two sons, Timothy Xie Sun, 9, and Titus Xiao Sun, 7. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle )
Mourners gather flowers to carry to the home of the family of four shot to death at their home in Cypress during a vigil held in their honor Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, in Houston. A vigil was organized by the Houston Chinese Alliance for victims Maoye Sun, 50, Mei Xie, 49, and their two sons, Timothy Xie Sun, 9, and Titus Xiao Sun, 7. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle )
Candles are burned during a vigil for the family of four shot to death at their home in Cypress Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, in Houston. A vigil was organized by the Houston Chinese Alliance for victims Maoye Sun, 50, Mei Xie, 49, and their two sons, Timothy Xie Sun, 9, and Titus Xiao Sun, 7. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle )
Gan Yao carries a photo of the family of four shot to death at their home in Cypress during a vigil for them Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, in Houston. A vigil was organized by the Houston Chinese Alliance for victims Maoye Sun, 50, Mei Xie, 49, and their two sons, Timothy Xie Sun, 9, and Titus Xiao Sun, 7. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle )
Candles are burned during a vigil for the family of four shot to death at their home in Cypress Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, in Houston. A vigil was organized by the Houston Chinese Alliance for victims Maoye Sun, 50, Mei Xie, 49, and their two sons, Timothy Xie Sun, 9, and Titus Xiao Sun, 7. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle )
The brutal slaying of the Sun family in Cypress remained unsolved and concerned Houston's Chinese community for nearly a decade.
Some details of the 2014 case remain murky, but the recent arrest of suspect Feng Lu, 58, who has been charged with capital murder, has finally offered new information to law enforcement, friends and relatives of the family of four and the wider Houston community.
Harris County sheriff's deputies conducted a welfare check Jan. 30, 2014, after someone known to the family had not seen the father, Maoye Sun, for four days, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Harris County Clerk's Office on Wednesday morning.
A deputy approached the Sun family's home and knocked repeatedly but did not receive a response, the documents state. He noticed a "foul smell" coming from under one of the kitchen doors.
Deputies found Maoye Sun, 50; his wife, Mei Xie, 49; and their two sons, Timothy, 9, and Titus, 7, dead in separate bedrooms. Sun and his wife died from gunshot wounds to the head, Titus died from gunshot wounds to the head and neck and Timothy died from gunshot wounds to the head and torso, records show.
The belief from authorities is that the family was murdered days before deputies discovered their bodies.
Authorities had the bodies, but no suspect. A firearm was not found in the Suns' home and neighbors did not recall hearing gunshots.
Maoye Sun's immediate family, who resides in China, could not provide any information that might have led to a development in the case, officials said.
More than eight years passed before authorities got a break in the case.
The Sun family of four shot to death at their home in Cypress victims Maoye Sun, 50, Mei Xie, 49, and their two sons, Timothy Xie Sun, 9, and Titus Xiao Sun, 7. Family photo
Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection agents waited for the arrival of Lu, as he flew into San Francisco from China on Sunday. He was arrested Tuesday in connection with the slaying of the Sun family.
Lu will be extradited to Texas, where he has been charged with capital murder. He remains in the custody of the San Mateo County Jail without bail.
Investigators initially offered a $70,000 reward to anyone with information about the case. The reward increased to $75,000 in February 2015.
Court documents filed Wednesday morning shed a light on Lu's possible motivation for the murders.
When interviewed by an FBI special agent after the massacre, Lu said he worked with Maoye Sun at Cameron International Corporation, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Harris County District Clerk's Office. Sun was a mechanical engineer at the oil and gas company that is now a part of Schlumberger.
Lu was interested in transferring to the company's research and development section, so he asked Sun for a recommendation. Word got to Lu that Sun didn't provide the recommendation, so Lu called Sun on the phone to ask him why. Sun denied Lu's accusation and said he recommended him, the records show.
The next day, Lu said he was "treated differently" by his coworkers. He came to the conclusion that Sun had made some "derogatory comments" about him after their phone call which "may have been the reason he did not get the promotion."
Sun was last seen leaving his workplace at 7:37 p.m. on Jan. 24, 2014. His sons, who attended Sampson Elementary near the family's home, had not been seen since Jan. 23, 2014.
Theories circulated, including the family being murdered as a part of a contract killing orchestrated overseas and the deaths being a result of a domestic dispute. Investigators did not back either theory, but said broken windows at the family's home suggested foul play.
Lu told investigators he had no knowledge of where Sun's family lived and that he first saw their home on the news. DNA found on a purse at the house after the murders was tested but initially did not yield any conclusive results. Another test was done in January by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences and found mixtures containing Lu's and Mei Xie's DNA.
The new evidence contradicted Lu's statement that he had never been in Sun's home.
Crime scene tape surrounds a home at 14015 Fosters Creek Dr. Friday, Jan. 31, 2014 in Cypress where four people where found dead inside on Thursday. ( Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle )
Lu bought a handgun and ammo Jan. 23, 2014, at a gun store in west Houston, records state. He returned the same gun to the store without the barrel Feb. 4, 2014.
A receipt shows the store purchased the gun back from Lu, according to records. Lu's wife denied knowing that her husband bought a gun, but she did acknowledge the argument with Sun about the job promotion. She was in "disbelief" when Lu told the FBI agent that she took the gun's barrel and threw it away because she didn't want it in the house.
Lu's story to the FBI had "inconsistencies," particularly after he backtracked and said he lost the barrel while cleaning it outside a grocery store.
The documents did not indicate if authorities have the gun. But the ammo bought by Lu did match the bullets found at the family's home, records show.
Married in 2000, Maoye Sun and Mei Xie lived with their two young sons in their north Harris County home on Fosters Creek Drive as naturalized citizens.
Sun, who studied at the University of Texas at Austin, worked as a stress analyst. His wife cared for the boys at home and took them to their swim team meets, soccer games and local Cub Scout pack meetings.
Mourners carry flowers to the home of the family of four shot to death in Cypress during a vigil held in their honor Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, in Houston. A vigil was organized by the Houston Chinese Alliance for victims Maoye Sun, 50, Mei Xie, 49, and their two sons, Timothy Xie Sun, 9, and Titus Xiao Sun, 7. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle )
Members of the Houston Chinese American community gathered together at the Harris County community center in February 2014 for a vigil celebrating their lives. While many participated in the vigil hosted by the Houston Chinese Alliance, some did not, in fear of more violence.
Wendy Zhao, a Houston business woman, said she was too afraid to attend the vigil.
"Some of my Chinese friends said they were too scared to visit Houston," Zhao said.
State Rep. Gene Wu said at the time that he wanted to help strengthen a community with similar aspirations as the Suns and countless other immigrant families across America.
"All they wanted to do was be left in peace and raise their children," Wu said at the vigil.
Jonathan Limehouse is a federal court reporter for the Houston Chronicle.
A North Carolina native who grew up in Raleigh and graduated from UNC Charlotte, Jonathan previously worked at The Charlotte Observer as a breaking news reporter. He's covered everything from crime and education to public health and sports.
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