UPDATED: Teenage brothers found beaten to death in Arcadia apartment, uncle sought

ARCADIA >> Homicide detectives are seeking a man they say beat his two teenage nephews to death inside their Arcadia apartment Friday.
The bodies of the two brothers, ages 15 and 16, were discovered by their parents at about 12:40 p.m. at the family home in the 400 block of Fairview Avenue, just west of Holly Avenue, Lt. Eddie Hernandez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau said.
The suspect in the double slaying, the victims’ 44-year-old uncle by marriage, Deyun Shi, remained at large Friday night. Investigators said the suspect was believed to have boarded an airplane to China sometime Friday. The FBI was working with Chinese authorities.
Hernandez declined to discuss what type of weapon was used in the attack, but said both victims appeared to have suffered “blunt force trauma.”
One of the bodies was found upstairs and the other downstairs, Hernandez said. The two-story apartment sits on top of a parking garage.
Hernandez said that at the time the slayings were discovered, Shi was already being sought in connection with an attack on his wife Thursday night in La Cañada Flintridge.
“He found out his wife had filed a restraining order against him and began divorce proceedings,” Hernandez said. “That may have been a motive. We’re not sure,” Hernandez said.
Shi’s wife was treated for serious injuries suffered when her husband hit her with a tool of some sort, he said. The injury was not life-threatening.
Officials said the fugitive suspect was married to the sister of the slain boys’ father.
The parents of the victims, who lived at the Arcadia apartment with their sons, went to visit the victim of the domestic assault late Thursday.
They arrived home late at night and didn’t notice anything wrong before going to bed, Hernandez said. When they awoke the following day, they discovered their sons dead.
It was unclear exactly when the killings took place.
There were signs of forced entry to the home, Hernandez said. It appeared the killer may have forced his way through the apartment’s front door.
Deputies recovered Shi’s GMC Yukon SUV Friday, but the alleged killer himself remained at large.
“Detectives have recovered the suspect vehicle and have learned that the suspect has boarded a plane to Beijing, China,” according to Deputy Lisa Jansen of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
Sheriff’s investigators were working with the FBI and law enforcement officials in China to apprehend the international fugitive, authorities said.
Shi is Chinese, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 155 pounds, with black hair and black eyes, according to a sheriff’s department wanted flier.
He is known to frequent the Santa Anita Inn, 130 W. Huntington Drive in Arcadia, stays with a friend in Alhambra and conducts business in San Gabriel, officials said.
Several residents said they didn’t see or hear anything unusual prior to officers swarming the neighborhood Friday.
Hari Gampala, 45, said he was home all day and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. The apartment complex appeared calm and quiet when he walked by it about 11:45 a.m., he said.
Many neighbors expressed shock to see a homicide investigation unfolding in their normally sedate suburb. And even more so once they learned the victims were two teenage boys.
Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau are assisting Arcadia police in the investigation, and Arcadia police officials deferred comment to their counterparts in the sheriff’s department.
Anyone with information is asked to contact homicide detectives at 323-890-5500. Tips also may be submitted anonymously to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.