Posted on 02/01/2003 2:17:00 AM PST by quietolong
Chinese-American Political Figure Killed - Victim Was Active In New York Republican Partyhttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/832341/posts
Jan 29, 2003 11:55 pm US/Eastern (CBS) (NEW YORK)
A beloved Chinese-American matriarch who tapped new sources of money and votes for New York Republicans was found bound and suffocated with her husband in their Brooklyn apartment, officials said Wednesday.
Josephine and Shan Lin, 65 and 70, were discovered bound with duct tape and suffocated with plastic bags in their Williamsburg apartment, city officials said. The apartment, which Josephine Lin also used as an office, did not appear to have been broken into or ransacked, police said.
From Chinatown to Albany, Josephine Lin was remembered Wednesday as a prosperous businesswoman and a driving force behind Chinese-American New Yorkers' growing support for state and local Republicans.
"She actually touched many people's lives," said journalist and family friend Justin Yu. "Many people know her good heart."
Asian-Americans have been increasingly supportive of New York Republicans over the past decade, with party candidates spending more time mining Asian communities for votes and donations in an effort to broaden their political base.
"She was the grandmother of the Asian Republican Party movement," said John Johnson, director of constituent services for state Sen. Marty Golden, a Brooklyn Republican. "She was one of the reasons why the Republican Party recognized the Asian-American community as the powerhouse they were."
Police said investigators were weighing several theories on the killings, which their son said he discovered about 10:45 p.m Tuesday after Shan Lin missed a Monday doctor's appointment and he went to check on them.
The couple, devout Christians who emigrated from Taiwan in the 1970s, had been suffocated with plastic bags and strangled, according to the medical examiner's office. Shan Lin was found with duct tape over his nose and mouth. The couple had four children and many grandchildren.
The bags may already have been in the apartment and they had been taped over the heads of the victims, who were lying on the floor in the kitchen and living room, police said.
Officials did not say whether a leading theory had emerged in the killings.
The apartment was jumbled with the Lins' possessions and it was not immediately known if anything had been taken.
Josephine Lin, a retired insurance saleswoman, held many fund-raisers and donated tens of thousands of dollars over the years to Republicans including Gov. George Pataki.
"The governor is proud of the support he's received in the Asian-American community, and certainly Josephine Lin was part of that support," Pataki spokeswoman Lisa Dewald Stoll said Wednesday.
Lin was well-known as a facilitator for Chinese immigrants and Chinese-Americans, helping them find housing and sometimes using political contacts to ease immigration problems, acquaintances said.
"I would describe her as an individual who really made a lot of contacts for people," said Jerry Kasar, who met Lin as political director for state comptroller candidate John Faso. "She was a very, very good contact person who really just wanted to help out."
Police are looking for help from the public and have asked anyone with information to call the tip line at 1-800-577-TIPS.
Being a facilitator would appear to be a dangerous job.
Police sources said Josephine Lin was found in the kitchen of her co-op in Williamsburg's Lindsay Park Houses, her hands and feet bound with duct tape.
Her husband was on the living room floor, his arms taped to his sides and duct tape covering his mouth and nose.
There were no signs of forced entry, leading authorities to believe the Lins may have known the killer.
Detectives yesterday questioned their son, Samuel Lin, who used a key to get into the co-op after the couple failed to answer the phone. Samuel Lin told cops he last saw his parents at 3 p.m. Monday after taking his father to the doctor.
Cops said there were no suspects in the slaying of the Lins, who had four children and many grandchildren.
"We're looking at everyone," a high-ranking police official said.
The couple, immigrants from Taiwan, owned two co-ops in the federally subsidized 2,700-apartment complex, which has three Olympic-size pools.
The Lins were killed in their 20th-floor flat, which police sources said Josephine Lin, who retired two years ago as an insurance agent for Metropolitan Life in Queens, used for her private business. They lived in an apartment one floor above.
Josephine Lan, 65, found in dead in her
Brooklyn apartment along with her husband,
Shan Lin, 70.
(Photo/Handout)
Shan Lin, 70, found dead in his Brooklyn
apartment along with his wife, Josephine
Lan, 65.
January 29, 2003
I had wanted to find a picture of the couple, if possible. I did, and was able to come up with more links.
The son called 911. He has not been ruled out as a suspect. That may mean nothing, family seldom are.
LINK: Noted Couple Slain - Popular pair's son reports grisly find in B'klyn apartment (Newsday)
LINK: Victims Were Always Helpful (The Stamford Advocate)
LINK: Chinese-American political figure and husband killed in New York apartment (AP: CourtTV)
LINK: American Dream for Tragic Duo (New York Post)
LINK: Executed (New York Post)
LINK: Police rule death of Brooklyn couple a homicide (Time Warner's NY1 Cable News)
LINK: Republican fund-raiser and her husband murdered (The Straights Times)
It was a very nice complex however the area has been going downhill for 20 years.
Sad to know that someone got their apt. in possibly a shyster deal. It would have been one of the upgrades as it was a 2 bedroom corner unit overlooking NYC skyline.
We watched the WTC towers being built from their terrace.
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