An Irvine man convicted of running over and fatally stabbing his estranged wife’s lover outside the victim’s dental office in 2015 was sentenced Friday to 26 years to life in state prison, prosecutors said.
The sentence was the harshest possible under the charges 43-year-old Hongli Sun was convicted of, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Prosecutors say Sun had been waiting in his Mercedes for the 54-year-old dentist, Dr. Xuan Liu, to return to his office on Barranca Parkway in Irvine before he killed him on July 18, 2015.
The murder occurred months after Sun found out Liu was having an affair with Sun’s wife, according to the DA’s office.
Sun was convicted of intentionally driving into Liu in the parking lot and stabbing him multiple times. Liu died at the scene.
Sun also stabbed Liu’s female friend who tried to intervene, but the woman survived, officials said.
Sun fled the scene but was later arrested. He was convicted earlier this month of first-degree murder with a felony enhancement for using a deadly weapon, and assault with a deadly weapon with a felony enhancement of inflicting great bodily injury.