Who Killed Teen Viola Player Jenny Lin?

The day that teenage violist Jenny Lin was brutally murdered in her family’s upscale Northern California home is the day the music stopped for her devoted parents, John and Mei-Lian Lin.

“Jenny loved playing music,” her mom, Mei-Lian, tells A&E Crime + Investigation. “She loved her family, her friends; was always very happy.”

“And she was an outstanding student,” her dad, John, adds with a beaming smile. “Straight A’s.”

On May 27, 1994—just two days after Jenny celebrated her 14th birthday—an unknown assailant sexually assaulted and stabbed her to death while she was home alone, according to investigators.

John found her lifeless body when he came home from work.

“It’s very hard for me to describe,” he admits.

Thirty-two years later, Jenny’s murderer has never been brought to justice.

“She was such an innocent girl,” John says. “Something like this happening to her is really unthinkable. And her killer needs to be apprehended.”

From a very young age, Jenny was musically gifted.

“She played multiple instruments: piano, viola, whatever instrument she could get her hands on, she would play,” John says. “She was just natural in music.”

Mei-Lian adds, “When she was in middle school, she was invited to [join] the chamber orchestra.”

It’s how she connected with her peers.

“She would be on the phone with her friends, and they would play piano, viola, different instruments over the phone,” John explains. “They really enjoyed doing that as an after-school activity.”

So, on that fateful evening in May 1994, when John entered the front door of the family’s upscale, Castro Valley, Calif., home after work, that’s what he expected to find Jenny doing.

Instead, he was confronted with every parent’s worst nightmare.

“As soon as I walked in, I noticed things were different,” John says, his voice trailing off.

He found Jenny’s bloodied body in the master bathroom.

According to authorities, she was bound with duct tape, sexually assaulted and stabbed multiple times.

Det. Patrick Smyth with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office says he thinks the teen was being watched by her killer.

“I certainly believe that Jenny was targeted,” Smyth, who has been investigating Jenny’s case since 2018, tells Crime + Investigation. “This was a one-way in, one-way out, nice upscale neighborhood—not even fully developed. They're [the Lin’s home] at pretty much the farthest away you can get from the entrance in this housing development.”

Smyth explains that the murder took place during the day “and there was forced entry into the house through a window.” “In all likelihood, the suspect was inside the house before she came home,” he adds.

Whoever murdered Jenny knew she would be alone and vulnerable at the time of attack, he surmises. Smyth believes the killer was lying in wait, armed with a knife and a roll of duct tape, prepared to strike when Jenny least expected it.

"The crime scene itself—it all speaks to someone who went there with a purpose,” Smyth continues. “It’s clear that this was sexually motivated.”

Still, authorities have not recovered a murder weapon or identified a suspect.

Just one month before their beloved daughter’s death, the family traveled to the East Coast for spring break.

“The last vacation we took her to was Disney World, and we had a very fun time over there,” John remembers.

They also made a stop in Washington, D.C., before returning to the Bay Area.

On May 25, 1994, Jenny’s sister came home from college to celebrate Jenny’s 14th birthday.

It was the final time the Lins would be whole.

“We had a nice dinner, we opened gifts and it was the last time we took a family picture together," Mei-Lian recalls, “and it was the last time her sister saw her, and that was only two days prior.”

When the morning of May 27 came, the unsuspecting parents went about their routines per usual.

“My husband took her to school, and I still remember clearly—she hugged me, and she said, 'Bye, Mommy,’” Mei-Lian says. “That was the last thing.”

Their worlds came crashing down later that evening when Jenny was murdered.

“It hasn't been easy,” John admits. “However, we’ve transformed our anger and sadness into doing things that we think will turn out more positive, and that's how we started the Jenny Lin Foundation. We carry on the spirit of her loving music and friendship."

For more than 30 years, the Jenny Lin Foundation has sponsored a free, roughly five-week-long summer music program open to Bay Area music students. At the end, students perform a culminating concert.

The nonprofit also funds music scholarships and safety awareness education.

Now retired, the Lins spend their days reminiscing about the time they were once a family of four, but they remain committed to helping crack their daughter’s case.

“There's no justice by losing Jenny—period,” John says.

“But we made a promise to her that we will find whoever the monster is who did this to her and give him the justice that he deserves,” Mei-Lian adds.

The case remains active with Alameda County Sheriff’s Office cold case unit.

And while Smyth won’t elaborate on the clues collected and analyzed from the scene, he remains “optimistic that we will find the evidence to solve this case. We’re putting our best foot forward and trying to use every available technique.”

The Lins say they maintain ongoing communication with Smyth through bimonthly conversations.

“They [investigators] feel there are still opportunities with the advancements of science and technology, and with all the preservation of the evidence, we all feel confident that one day this case will be solved,” John says.

In the meantime, the grieving parents often wonder what Jenny would be up to today had her life been spared.

“The sky was the limit for her,” Mei-Lian says. “She could do anything that she wanted to do, and I think most importantly, she would be helping a lot of people. She would be doing a lot of good.”

The Jenny Lin Foundation is offering a $200,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Jenny’s killer.