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In 2015, former Cornell University student Charlie Tan killed his father at the family's home in Pittsford, New York, in an attempt to escape years of abuse. He shot his father, Jim Tan, three times in the face and claimed that it was a necessary evil otherwise Jim would have killed his mother.
On Tuesday, Oxygen's Dateline: Unforgettable will revisit the murder case that interrupted Charlie's seemingly exceptional future and shocked the once-peaceful, tight-knit community of Pittsford.
The episode titled House of Secrets will air on August 23, 2022, at 8 pm ET and its synopsis states:
"When a star athlete at an Ivy League university goes on trial for murder, sparks fly in the courtroom; the trial ends with a stunning decision that Dennis Murphy will never forget, but the surprises in the case are just beginning."
The trial of the 015 murder case ended in a deadlocked jury and a mistrial. It revealed the Tan family's deep-rooted abuse, tensions and dozens of family secrets, hidden deep within the four walls of their suburban home.
The murder charges against him were dismissed in the initial trial. However, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison after a federal judge found him guilty on three accounts of illegal weapon purchase. The judgment came after he pleaded guilty into tricking a friend into buying him a shotgun.
Charlie Tan is currently detained in New York's Ray Brook federal prison in a medium security facility.
Trigger warning: This article contains information about graphic violence.
Charlie Tan believed his CEO father was going to kill his mother, Jean Tan
In 2019, the then 24-year-old Charlie Tan confessed to gunning down his father Liang "Jim" Tan, with a shotgun on February 5, 2015. He made the confession roughly four and a half years after the incident.
The confession came in a sworn affidavity in 2019 asking for his 20-year sentence to be reversed. Charlie never openly admitted to the killing after he was sentenced.
Tan reportedly admitted in an official affidavit in Syracuse's federal court and wrote:
"I entered my parents' home through the back door, walked upstairs, turned into my father's office and shot my father three times as he was sitting at his desk. I knew I had killed him."
In his statement, Charlie Tan claimed that his father had beaten and harassed his mother throughout his whole life. According to the affidavit that Charlie filed in court, Jim allegedly threatened to kill his wife on several occasions. He once allegedly choked her unconscious. The incident occurred after their son had left for university.
Charlie stated that in January 2015, his mother, Qing "Jean" Tan, contacted him and detailed the assault and claimed that she was left unconscious when it happened. Jean confided in the former Cornell University student that she believed she was "going to die" and alerted him that Jim would murder her "the next time." His mother reportedly called him once again on February 4, making similar claims.
Charlie wrote:
"I knew that in killing my father I would be throwing away my future, but I wasn't thinking of that after the February 4 call."
The confession came about a year after, in 2018 when Tan entered a guilty plea for persuading a friend into buying the shotgun he used to murder his father. Tan had already been given a 20-year prison term for the acquisition of guns by U.S. District Judge Frederick Scullin Jr.
According to Scullin's decision, the accused had unmistakably used the gun to murder his father, qualifying for the harshness of the sentence.
Where is former Cornell University student, Charlie Tan, now?
Charlie Tan, who murdered his CEO father at their Pittsford home, was given a 20-year sentence.
The ruling came after he pleaded guilty to three counts rooting from the from the illegal purchase of the shotgun allegation filed against him by the prosecution in 2017 although the murder charges were revoked in the first trial.
Tan's bid to have his sentence reduced in 2019 was denied by a federal judge. The petition stated that there was abundant evidence that the father was abusive towards his mother and posed a threat to her.
Joel Rudin, Charlie's current attorney, pleaded ineffectively for a lesser sentence, saying that this evidence should have been used more vehemently for conviction.
Charlie Tan remains detained in New York's Ray Brook federal prison, a medium-security facility that is roughly 7 miles to the west of Lake Placid.
Learn more about Charlie Tan, the alleged murderer of his father, and the 2015 case on Dateline: Unforgettable this Tuesday, August 23, 2022, at 8 pm ET.
