Background: News footage of the January house fire in San Marino, Calif. (KTLA). Inset: Dr. Irene Gaw-Gonzalo (Facebook).
A California doctor who was found dead in her home suffered a brutal attack, allegedly at the hands of the husband she was trying to leave.
Yoon “Kevin” Lai, 62, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and arson on Tuesday and was ordered by a judge to be held without bail until his next court appearance. Lai is accused of killing his estranged wife, 56-year-old Dr. Irene Gaw-Gonzalo, who was found dead in their San Marino home on Jan. 6, 2025. As Law&Crime previously reported, Gaw-Gonzalo had filed for divorce for a second time in August 2024; the first time was in 2003, just months after the couple got married. They reconciled and welcomed twin sons who are now teenagers.
In court documents obtained by The Los Angeles Times, police said the scene was grislier than what was initially shared with the public, including the discovery of a bloody frying pan and a metal baseball bat.
Detectives previously said that Gaw-Gonzalo may have sustained additional physical trauma in addition to being burned, a find that led to a homicide investigation. A death investigation report obtained by The Los Angeles Times stated that Gaw-Gonzalo suffered burns over 60% of her body, but also had broken bones in her face and bruises all over her body. Her cause and manner of death were both listed as undetermined.
According to courtroom reporting by a local Patch outlet, Gaw-Gonzalo”s relatives testified in court that the beloved endocrinologist wanted out of the marriage for good, saying that she believed Lai was having an affair. Gaw-Gonzalo’s sister, who is now the legal guardian of the couple’s teenage twin sons, said that the doctor wanted to nullify the couple’s premarital agreement and make sure her name was on a number of properties they both owned.
The premarital agreement was ultimately revoked in September 2024. Lai reportedly believed that agreeing to add Gaw-Gonzalo’s name to the properties would make her reconsider the divorce. Instead, she moved forward with ending the marriage.
Fast forward to Jan. 6, 2025, when Lai came to the home to pick up his sons and take them to baseball practice at 7:06 a.m. Lai allegedly told the boys that he would be going to work after dropping them off. Court documents stated that a Ring camera in the neighborhood caught a car that resembled Lai’s car returning to the area near the home at 8:19 a.m.
Gaw-Gonzalo’s next-door neighbor, Connie Morris, stated in a court filing that she reported smoke coming from Gaw-Gonzalo’s home at 9:46 a.m. and called for help. She also testified in court that she saw Lai at Gaw-Gonzalo’s home, “peering out the door.” Morris said Lai asked, “What’s going on?” She responded, “Your house is on fire.” She told the court that Lai appeared to be “bewildered.”
Morris also stated that Lai told her Gaw-Gonzalo was not in the home, that she was picking up their sons from baseball practice. However, Morris testified that Gaw-Gonzalo’s car was still in the home’s driveway.
When it came to the fire, arson investigators said the damage was limited to one room in the house, where Gaw-Gonzalo’s body was found, and that the fires were “intentionally set.” Police said two indoor surveillance cameras that covered the den where the body was found had been “manually disabled.”
Prosecutors allege that Lai killed his wife for financial gain and set the fire to cover up the murder.
Lai’s attorney told The Los Angeles Times in an email, “We look forward to defending these false allegations in Court.”
Lai pleaded not guilty to murder with special circumstances and arson. He was ordered to be held in custody without bond until a bail hearing on Feb. 9.
