A farmworker charged with killing seven people last month in back-to-back shootings at two Northern California mushroom farms has pleaded not guilty. Chunli Zhao, 66, entered the plea on Thursday to seven counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
Prosecutors allege that on 23 January, Zhao opened fire at the Half Moon Bay mushroom farm where he worked, killing four co-workers and wounding another. He then drove to a mushroom farm from which he was fired in 2015 and shot dead three former co-workers.
Zhao admitted to the shootings during a jailhouse media interview days after the incident, telling KNTV-TV that he was bullied and worked long hours on the farms, and that his complaints were ignored. In court on Thursday, Zhao appeared in a red jail uniform behind a glass partition, head bowed, speaking only through a Mandarin translator.
Last week, the judge issued a gag order prohibiting prosecuting and defence attorneys, as well as Zhao and the county sheriff's office, from speaking to reporters about the facts of the case or sharing opinions. They may still discuss rulings made in open court and the procedural status of upcoming hearings. The judge also granted a defence request to restrict remote access to court records.
