Behind closed doors: Fresno man on trial for father's murder

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- What happened behind closed doors could determine whether a Fresno man goes to prison for killing his own father.

Foung Yang was armed with nothing more than a bag of apricots as his son blew him away. The elder Yang had just returned from a trip to the grocery store when his son shot him six times, then left him to die in the courtyard of the Clovis apartment complex. A neighbor we won't identify was the first to spot the victim.

"I kind of pushed him over a little bit or tapped him to see if he was ok and I asked him if he was ok and he moaned," the neighbor said.

Peter Yang admits this is no whodunit. He killed his father. But his attorney says it's more complicated than just what happened that night 14 months ago.

"This case is about drugs and violence, pain and privacy," said defense attorney Scott Baly. "It's about things that have happened behind closed doors."

The Yangs had a tense relationship. Foung didn't live in the apartment, but he used a sparsely furnished closet as a sort of opium den. And Peter's attorney says he knew his dad had abused family members. So when he told his father not to come back, and saw him just a little while later, the showdown was on.

"He realized it wasn't going to be nice and he had this bag and sure it had apricots in it, but he didn't know what his father was capable of," Baly said.

Prosecutors say Peter Yang clearly thought out the shooting. He got his legally registered gun, loaded it, and when his dad came back, there was no argument -- just gunfire. And he gave investigators no explanation.

"You may never know or be entirely satisfied at the end of this case of exactly why this defendant shot his dad," said Gabriel Brickey.

The trial should only take a couple days. Peter Yang is facing life in prison if he's convicted and he is expected to testify in his own defense.