As a Columbia man was charged yesterday with killing his wife and critically wounding her daughter Thursday outside the Howard County Circuit Courthouse, an image began to emerge of someone who was troubled and had faced complaints of violent behavior.

Court documents show that problems for the couple began in early 1995, when So Shan Chan -- a seamstress in an East Baltimore uniform shop -- filed for a protective order against her husband, Tuse S. Liu. By February 1995, Chan had received a protective order in Baltimore District Court requiring her husband to stay away after several calls to police reporting assault and battery, according to court documents.

Joseph F. Gaffigan, Chan's lawyer, said that is when Liu began threatening to kill her.

Some neighbors remember Liu as a pleasant, quiet man, but a supervisor at the place where he has worked for about three years said Liu appeared to have psychological and other medical problems.

Yoschiaki Hirata, the branch manager at JFC International, a Japanese-owned food wholesaler in Savage, said Liu sometimes had bumps on his head, face and neck and told him he would try to "squeeze out" whatever was "moving" underneath the skin.

"He's been shaving off his head a lot and using a knife to cut his head," Hirata said.

During a bail hearing yesterday, Howard County District Judge Neil E. Axel agreed to grant a state-requested psychological evaluation for Liu, 49. The suspect -- who appeared wearing a mask over his mouth and nose for what police said were health reasons -- rejected legal help and waived a preliminary hearing.

"I don't need attorney," Liu said in a sullen voice.

"As I have told you, an attorney could be helpful to you in these proceedings," Axel said.

"I don't need attorney," Liu said.

Five charges

Liu faces five charges, including first- and second-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder in the death of his estranged wife and the wounding of her daughter Wing Sau Wu, 26, both of Baltimore, as they walked through the court's parking lot in Ellicott City after Chan and Liu's divorce proceeding.

Officials have determined that Chan was struck four times and Wu twice, all by shots from a handgun, Sgt. Morris Carroll, a Howard County police spokesman, said.

Stable condition

Police said they believe Liu aimed a shotgun and then a .380-semiautomatic handgun at Chan, who died Thursday at Howard County General Hospital. Wu was in serious but stable condition last night at Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

Alex Chan, 31, no relation to So Shan Chan but a friend of the family, was visiting Wu at Shock Trauma yesterday. He said he was still trying to notify Wu's family about the situation.

Hirata said Liu told him that whatever was under his skin would also get into his nose, ears and mouth. At work lately, Hirata said, Liu would gargle water often and spit it out, prompting complaints from some co-workers.

He said yesterday that Liu saw doctors often and that Liu told him he was taking medication.

Divorce granted

Hirata said he suggested on several occasions that Liu see a psychiatrist, but he refused. "He doesn't accept what the doctor is saying, to see a psychiatrist," said Hirata. "He doesn't think he's crazy.

"He reported to me that every doctor he's seen recommended him to see a psychiatrist instead," he said.

During Thursday's hearing, Judge Lenore R. Gelfman granted a divorce and ordered Liu to pay Chan $350 a month in alimony for two years. The divorce had not been made final, however. Liu's attorney, Leo J. Keenan, said the judge suggested that Chan -- who needed a Cantonese interpreter -- use part of the money for English classes.

'Couldn't settle'

Keenan would not say if Liu was contesting the amount of the payments or having to make payments at all.

"We couldn't settle the case, and it had to go to trial," said Keenan. "After the hearing, [Liu] seemed fine. Nobody could have anticipated this."

He said Liu suggested to him ways of settling further issues related to the divorce out of court after the proceeding: Liu said he would consider letting Chan keep their house on Lyndale Avenue if the $350 alimony payments were waived.

Although Gaffigan, Chan's lawyer, was not aware of any recent "overt" threats, he said he believed the shooting was a long-calculated event that no one could have predicted.

"Once you decide to get a gun, put it in your car to kill someone at any cost, who can stop that?"

Pub Date: 3/13/99