Updated

Updated · Los Angeles Times · Aug 3

Jianquan Bo Charged in 60-Year-Old Businessman's Kidnapping Murder as $20 Million Property Dispute Emerges

Updated

Updated · Los Angeles Times · Aug 3

Jianquan Bo Charged in 60-Year-Old Businessman's Kidnapping Murder as $20 Million Property Dispute Emerges

Q: Did the kidnapped victim in the trunk die from the initial attack, or were they caught in the deputies' fatal crossfire?

It has not been definitively established by investigators, but the strongest available reporting indicates the victim was alive in the trunk until the traffic stop and was fatally shot by the driver just before deputies opened fire. That account comes from San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokesperson Gloria Orejel, cited by multiple outlets, who said the victim had been shot earlier at the Monteverde Drive scene, kidnapped, placed in the trunk, and then shot again by the driver after he got out of the car, walked to the trunk, and fired into it. Deputies then returned fire, killing the driver. What remains unresolved is whether the victim could already have been mortally wounded from the initial shooting at Monteverde Drive. Authorities have explicitly said they have not yet confirmed whether the victim died from that first gunshot or from the later shot fired into the trunk during the stop. Based on the public facts so far, there is no official indication that the victim was killed by deputies’ crossfire. The available evidence points instead to the suspect’s gunfire as the likely cause, with the medical examiner, ballistic evidence, and body-camera or surveillance review expected to determine that formally.

Q: Why did the driver deliberately open the trunk during a tense police standoff before being gunned down?

The most supported explanation is that the driver opened the trunk to shoot the person inside it, not simply to reveal the body. That detail comes from later reporting and a sheriff’s department briefing cited in the additional material. Officials said the victim had been shot at the Monteverde Drive scene, kidnapped, placed in the trunk, and that when the pursuit ended, the passenger surrendered but the driver got out, went to the rear of the Nissan Altima, opened the trunk, and fired a shot into it. Deputies then opened fire, killing the driver. The victim in the trunk also died at the scene. If that account is accurate, the driver’s action appears to have been a deliberate attempt to finish killing the victim or silence a witness while surrounded by deputies. It also helps explain why deputies fired at that moment. What remains unresolved is whether the victim was still alive when the car stopped, whether the fatal injury came from the earlier shooting at Monteverde Drive or the shot fired at the trunk during the stop, and whether all surveillance footage and body-camera video fully match the preliminary law-enforcement account. Early TV footage only showed the driver opening the trunk before gunfire; the more specific claim that he shot into the trunk came later from investigators. So, based on the strongest available evidence, he opened the trunk because the victim was inside and he intended to shoot them again.

3 articles · Updated · Los Angeles Times · Aug 3

San Bernardino prosecutors charged Jianquan Bo, 66, with murder and kidnapping, alleging he helped abduct and shoot 60-year-old Shukur Aikebaer before the victim was found dead in a car trunk.
Authorities said Bo and his brother drove more than 30 miles from Irvine to Chino Hills, cut power at Aikebaer's home, confronted him outside and stuffed him into a silver Nissan Altima after shooting him.
During a police stop after a short chase, deputies focused on Jianquan Bo as he exited the car; prosecutors say Zhengfeng Bo then opened the trunk and shot Aikebaer before deputies killed him.
Investigators are examining whether a soured real estate relationship drove the attack: Aikebaer and Zhengfeng Bo were linked through Panshi Inc. and litigation over a $20 million Pasadena apartment complex tied to more than $2 million in loans.