A California kidnapping case has taken on a startling personal twist: the accused gunman and the man who was killed had been close friends for about 20 years before the relationship ended in violence. Friends and relatives say Shukur Aikebaer, 60, and Zhengfeng Bo, 67, first met in China and later built separate lives in Southern California, where authorities say the deadly chain of events began at Aikebaer’s Chino Hills home on July 29.
According to people who knew them, the two men’s bond stretched back to a public works project in China’s Xinjiang region, where Bo was overseeing the work and Aikebaer was a local bureaucrat. Bo later hired Aikebaer as an assistant, and Aikebaer helped identify investment opportunities, longtime acquaintance Tony Lu told the LA Times. Lu, a neighbor and friend of Bo, said the families were once close and insisted there had been no open conflict between them. Bo’s nephew, who was not named, also described Aikebaer as his uncle’s “brother.”
Lu said Bo moved to the United States in 2019 so his children could attend American schools. He described Bo as a man who had made a fortune in construction and investments, saying Bo once told him his assets were worth about $20 million. Even with that wealth, Lu said, Bo lived modestly and spent much of his time gardening and looking for real estate deals. Lu recalled telling him to step away from work and enjoy the life he had built.
The trouble, Lu said, centered on a Pasadena apartment development that Aikebaer had helped bring to Bo’s attention. What began as a business opportunity turned into a disappointing project marked by delays, rising costs and debt. Lu said Bo became convinced that project manager Jason Chiyuan Wang had cheated him by inflating construction costs. Bo later sought an accountant to review the project and, according to Lu, said Wang had refused to turn over records. Lu said Bo wanted Wang jailed if the audit showed fraud, but he never heard Bo threaten anyone or say he planned to hurt them.
