Wenwa Chao, 53 [Updated]

Died Jan. 19, 2010 at 8:11 p.m.

Wenwa Chao, a 53-year-old Asian man, was shot and killed Tuesday, Jan. 19, in the 200 block of North Chandler Avenue in Monterey Park, according to the Los Angeles County.

Jenny Sor, a 40-year-old Asian woman and Chao's girlfriend, was also killed in the shooting. At the time of the shooting, Chao and Sor were visiting a senior housing facility where Chao's father lived.

Detectives believe jealousy probably motivated the shooting, which happened just before 8 p.m. The alleged shooter, Richard Vithya Tauch, a 45-year-old man, was Sor's ex-boyfriend.

Tauch was taken into custody Wednesday, Jan. 20, around noon. He was booked on suspicion of double murder and held in lieu of $1-million bail at the Monterey Park jail, said Lt. David Dolson.

"We don’t know the entire circumstances. But the suspect is the ex-boyfriend of the woman and the other victim is her new boyfriend," Dolson said. "We believe [the suspect] followed her into the place." Dolson said the suspect followed the female victim in through a glass patio door and sometime after shot the two victims.

Tauch, according to state licensing records, has a permit to carry a firearm while working as a security guard.

[Updated Jan. 28 at 11:50 a.m.: Tauch was originally identified as a black man, but his race is officially listed as "other" by law enforcement.]

— Richard Winton