25-year-old Mingdong Chen faces five counts of murder for cutting and butchering 9-year-old Linda Zhuo, 7-year-old Amy Zhuo, 5-year-old Kevin Zhuo,18-month-old William Zhuo and their mother, 37-year-old Qiao Zhen Li with a kitchen knife.
Chen, an unemployed drifter who had been bouncing between different homes, had been staying with the family in their Sunset Park apartment for about a week.
It's unclear what set off the killings, but according to investigators, Chen expressed disillusionment with his life since coming to the United States from China in 2004, and jealousy towards those who had found success.
