Hitman Pleads No Contest in Murder of Chinatown Dentist

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Lili Xu's murder was initially believed to be a hate crime.

By AsAm News

A man will likely serve a life sentence in the murder for hire plot of a dentist in Oakland Chinatown.

Hasheen Bason July 10 pleaded no contest to the charges in the death of Lili Xu in 2022. Prosecutors believe Xu’s boyfriend Nelson Chia hired Bason to kill her in an attempt to win $12 – $14 million in life insurance and assets.

“Chia and Bason planned the day, time and place of the murder. Bason acquired a vehicle, recruited a driver, and waited to ambush Xu a block from the location of (her) appointment,” police said in court records obtained by the Mercury News. “Chia drove Xu to the agreed upon location.”

Chia was arrested two months after the shooting but died by suicide at Santa Rita Jail shortly after being arrested.

Xu’s murder was initially believed to be a hate crime. Read the full story at AsAm news here.