B.C. woman with schizophrenia found not criminally responsible for stabbing, dismembering twin sister

New Westminster, B.C. -

Warning: This story contains graphic details.

A Port Coquitlam woman suffering from paranoid schizophrenia has been found not criminally responsible for stabbing her twin sister to death, then dismembering and burning her remains.

Pen Jung Tracy Chen faced trial Thursday in New Westminster Supreme Court, charged with first-degree murder and indignity to a dead body over the 2020 killing of her twin sister, Ivy Chen.

The court heard Tracy stabbed Ivy to death in the Port Coquitlam apartment they shared on March 8, 2020, believing her sister was not really her sister.

Quoting an expert assessment of Chen’s mental state, Crown lawyer Lauren Kristjanson said:

“(Chen) believed her sister had been taken over by other entity forces and was involved in a conspiracy by the Canadian government to kill her and use her body for experiments.”

Kristjanson added that Chen believed she was going to be killed herself on her birthday in May.

“She saw killing her sister as something justified to save her own life. She had to kill her sister before her birthday,” Kristjanson told the court.

Although Chen had no formal diagnosis of schizophrenia prior to her sister’s killing, two experts concluded that it was “likely present” at the time.

In the days after the killing, the court heard Chen purchased supplies to dismember the body. A chainsaw, hacksaw, and various other bladed instruments were later found in the home. The court heard Chen also attempted to “dissolve” the remains in acid, which was ultimately unsuccessful.

On March 10, 2020, Chen drove the remains to Coquitlam’s Minnekhada Regional Park and attempted to burn them. When first responders arrived on scene, they found various body parts inside two large cooking pots, which had been set on fire. Chen was at the scene when fire crews arrived, and when asked what she was doing there, she responded: "I just needed to get rid of this."

When asked what she was burning, she said: "Stuff I didn't want." She was arrested at the scene and has been in custody ever since.

Lawyers for both the Crown and the defence argued that Chen should be found not criminally responsible based on her mental disorder. Ultimately, Justice Michael Brundrett agreed. Her case will now go to a review board, which will determine whether she poses a risk to the public.

Outside court, Chen’s defense lawyer suggested she has since felt remorse for her actions.

“I think she has some understanding of what occurred and feels terribly about that, and she’ll have to deal with that for the rest of her life,” said Chris Johnson. “I’ve been doing this for almost 35 years and I would say the facts of this case are really up there in terms of tragedy and what the human mind is capable of doing.”