Man gets 26+ year prison sentence for fatal stabbing of California dentist

An Orange County man received a prison sentence of 26 years to life Oct. 30 for the stabbing death of California dentist Xuan Liu, DDS, PhD, The Mercury News reported.

On July 18, 2015, Hongli Sun went to Dr. Liu's practice to see if the dentist was still having an affair with his wife, one of the staff members, according to police. Upon seeing an "out to lunch" note on the door in what he believed was his wife's handwriting, Mr. Sun tried to run Dr. Liu over with his Mercedes-Benz SUV and killed him by stabbing him 17 times, according to District Attorney Mark Birney.

Mr. Birney said Mr. Sun's acts stemmed from "anger, jealousy and ultimately desire for revenge." Mr. Sun was convicted of first-degree murder Oct. 1.

The Oct. 30 sentencing trial did not examine whether or not Mr. Sun killed Mr. Liu, but rather if Mr. Sun planned to kill Mr. Liu or acted in the heat of the moment.

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