Google engineer beat his wife to death, Santa Clara police say

It's just supposed to add shock value that it's not someone you'd typically think of as a murderer. The news does stuff like this all the time. I think I saw one that was something like "PTA president sent to jail for...".

Most people assume that most crime is carried out by poor people desperate for money or by gangsters. So a well-off person committing a violent crime is surprising. I wouldn't expect a JP Morgan front desk employee to have their employment mentioned in a headline, but if they were a manager or senior trader, I absolutely would.

I submitted this particular story because it corrected some inaccurate speculation that was making the rounds here the other day.

Because obviously "Google engineer" is going to be more interesting/clickable than "Costco cashier" or "man beat his wife to death"

It's not what people typically expect

And then throw in

> Chen and Yu purchased their house last April for $2.05 million, according to property records

"wow, a wealthy google engineer?"

Because outliers attract eyeballs. People also find it very interesting what people do for a living in the United States.

This man also held an elite job, and it is a reminder that everyone puts their pants on one leg at a time , so to speak.

it increases the click rate of the article by 3%

You’re exactly right. It matters only for one thing: peddling trash rage bait thinly disguised class warfare bullshit, with the only concern being clicks. More of the same:

> Chen and Yu purchased their house last April for $2.05 million, according to property records.

More of the same indeed. No relevance whatsoever. Stoking outrage so they can get those clicks.

> Written by Kevin Truong, Michael Barba, and Joshua Bote

These people are garbage. They should be ashamed.