Log in to WRAL.com with one click using your favorite social network:
OR
Log in using your WRAL.com account:



Wrong email/password combination.

Forgot password?

Register with WRAL.com using your favorite social network:
OR
Register for a WRAL.com account using our web form.

6:15 p.m. • 5-25-13

Weather Forecast for Raleigh

  • Sun: Partly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 75° F
  • Mon: Partly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 80° F
  • Tue: Thunderstorm.
    • Hi: 85° F

Other Locations

> 7 Day Forecast

Doppler Image

Published: 2011-08-15 12:29:00
Updated: 2011-08-15 18:41:23

Former Duke doctor held in Seattle double homicide


Louis Chen
Louis Chen
print friendly

A judge in Seattle found probable cause Monday to hold a former Duke University doctor in the investigation of the stabbing deaths last week of a man and a child.

Authorities have until Tuesday to decide whether to charge Louis Chao Chen, 39, in the case, according to court records.

Chen completed a three-year residency at Duke University in the spring and had moved to Seattle about a month ago with his longtime partner, Eric Cooper, 29, and their adopted son, who was nearly 3, The Seattle Times reported.

According to a court document, a co-worker went to Chen's high-rise apartment last Thursday morning when he failed to show up for work. The woman called 911 when Chen answered the door nude and covered in blood.

When officers arrived, they found him slumped in the doorway and found Cooper dead inside the apartment and the child dead in a bathroom, according to the court document.

An officer administering first aid to Chen asked, "Who stabbed you and your partner?" Chen replied, "I did," court records state.

Prosecutors asked that Chen not be released during the aggravated murder investigation, noting that he has few ties to the Seattle area, has relatives overseas and is a risk to flee.

Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, said Chen would be booked when he is released from a local hospital.

Chen was named a fellow of the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Nutrition at Duke's medical school last year and, according to publications, had recently obtained a grant to study diabetes patients with gastric problems.

Duke officials have declined to comment.

State Department of Health records in Washington showed that he obtained a license to practice medicine there in January.

Chen and Cooper also lived together in Chicago, where Chen graduated from the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine in 2000, according to information published by the North Carolina Medical Board.


112 Comments


WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

View Comments VIEW ALL 112 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Latest Comments
"We don't know who stabbed the baby, do you?" fayncmike-

Well, Chen seems to know who stabbed the baby...did you miss that part?

"An officer administering first aid to Chen asked, "Who stabbed you and your partner?" Chen replied, "I did," court records state."

Domestic violence occurs at about the same rate in same sex partnerships as they do in heterosexual partnerships. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/06/lgbt_domestic_violence.html

Their orientation had nothing to do with the fact that there was violence. Domestic abuse can happen to anyone, and NO ONE deserves to be abused. Gay or straight doesn't make abuse and murder any less tragic.

"he stabbed his baby? I gotta stop reading the news. it disturbes me. i think i might just switch to be ignorate to things like this. I think i might be happier that way. ambergail1" We don't know who stabbed the baby, do you?

he stabbed his baby? I gotta stop reading the news. it disturbes me. i think i might just switch to be ignorate to things like this. I think i might be happier that way.

"I'd love to see a little of that, so called, Christian spirit directed toward people in situations like Dr. Chen's."

Christians aren't supposed to hate the person. But they CAN and DO hate their actions. Christ loves the person, NOT their actions. Every Baptist church I've EVER been affiliated with will allow a gay or lesbian to attend worship services. BUT, they cannot become members of the church as long as they openly engage in sin. Its not just picking on Gays or Lesbians. If you are an OPEN alcoholic, you also will NOT be accepted for membership. ANY open sin will keep you from being a member. Now, do Christians sin? Sure they do. They are human. But they should at least be trying to change.

View Comments VIEW ALL 112 COMMENTS