A suspected hitman in an alleged murder-for-hire plot with a $12 million motive in Oakland was expected in court Tuesday.
On Aug. 21, 60-year-old Lili Xu was shot and killed while getting out of her car in the 1000 block of Fifth Avenue in Oakland's Little Saigon neighborhood. Last week, police arrested her longtime boyfriend, Nelson Chia, and an alleged hitman in connection with the slaying.
Chia, 73, plotted to kill Xu and live off her estate, estimated to be worth $12 million to $14 million. Chia died by suicide in jail last Friday.
The alleged hitman, Hasheem Bason, 33, was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday. Chia had agreed to pay Bason a significant amount of money to kill Xu, according to court documents obtained by the East Bay Times.
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Chia and Bason planned the date, time and location of the hit. Bason allegedly waited in a car a block away and then ambushed Xu when she pulled over to the side of the road, the court documents show.
Xu was a highly respected dentist with offices in Oakland and Castro Valley.
