Inside NYT newsroom’s ‘shock’ reaction to tech exec’s execution-style murder

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Staffers inside the New York Times newsroom were shocked to learn a top tech executive with the company had allegedly been gunned down by his in-laws in a brutal daylight slaying which may have been motivated by his trans lifestyle and child abuse claims against him.

Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, allegedly shot dead Jonathan McKinsey, 40, the newspaper’s head of engineering for games player experience, in the parking lot of Dublin Sports Grounds around 3.p.m Saturday.

McKinsey was in a vicious war with his elderly in-laws and his estranged wife, Candice Jang, for being transgender, according to court documents, and cops believe allegations of child abuse and domestic violence made by Jang could be additional possible motives.

The Gray Lady hasn’t commented on the matter publicly, except to confirm McKinsey worked there since 2023 and ran the engineering aspect of the newspaper’s lucrative gaming division.

But a source who works at the NYT’s award-winning newsroom told the California Post that staffers are all shook up, after one of their own was the victim of a horrifying family killing that came with a “wacky” backstory.  

“There was shock, definitely,” said the source, who said staffers were buzzing about the crime before the paper finally covered it on Monday.

“People are like: ‘oh my God,’” the source continued. “It’s definitely been a topic of a conversation for sure.”

“It happens to one of your own, and it’s just such a wacky story,” they added.

Jang and McKinsey had a violent history – and the tech exec also tangled with the in-laws accused in his killing.

During one alleged incident, McKinsey claimed Jang beat him with a frying pan in 2013, according to court filings in a request for a restraining order the tech exec made against his wife. He also accused Jang of abusing their children verbally.

McKinsey claimed Jang had tried to pull medical tubes out of his body when he was transitioning from a woman to a man in 2010, the restraining order records said. The two married in 2011.

McKinsey was charged with two counts of misdemeanor child abuse in 2025 by Alameda prosecutors after Jang called Dublin police to report McKinsey had hit her six-year-old son in the face with an open hand, according to court filings.

She also told investigators about a 2018 domestic violence incident, where McKinsey bruised her left arm, the documents say.

The NYT exec attempted suicide twice during his turbulent relationship with Jang, according to other court papers that say Jang told McKinsey before a 2010 attempt that “no one would want to be with someone f–ked up and transgender” like him.

McKinsey had also tried to take his own life under unclear circumstances months before in 2009, the papers claim.

After court and law enforcement records have emerged detailing allegations of child abuse against McKinsey, along with reports of domestic violence against Jang, investigators started looking at revenge as a possible reason for the bizarre murder.

Chen, who is accused of taking turns shooting McKinsey with her husband, Zhang, grew angry with McKinsey after her grandson began asking to wear his sister Alexis’ dresses, a “phase” he was going through, the restraining order filed by McKinsey against Jang said.

She then began allegedly berating him for the behavior, calling the young child a “disgusting queer” and a “pervert.” Chen also allegedly hit McKinsey’s young son in the back of the head when he asked.

Jang, for her part, first filed a restraining order against McKinsey last year, alleging he “threatened to kill me and my parents.”

Chen also accused McKinsey of inspiring her grandson to wear his sister’s dresses, court documents show.

Witnesses say McKinsey’s in-laws riddled him with bullets and left him for dead. Zhang and Chen were arrested moments later nearby and booked into Alameda County’s Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of murder.

Haunting mugshots show Zhang and Chen in custody at Santa Rita Jail, where they were booked early Sunday. Cops raided Jang’s house after the two were arrested.

Both arrestees face charges of murder, conspiracy, willful discharge of a firearm with gross negligence and child abuse. 

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