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Emails from a California doctor to his wife, whom he is accusing of abuse after she allegedly poisoned him with drain-cleaning fluid, reveal a tumultuous relationship and an "inability to communicate," according to court documents.
Dr. Jack Chen, a 53-year-old physician, is accusing his 45-year-old wife, Dr. Yue "Emily" Yu, of spiking his drinks on multiple occasions with household chemicals, leaving Chen with what he says are internal injuries as a result of the drain cleaner fluid.
Judge Thomas Lo on Thursday granted a temporary restraining order separating Yu and her children.
"We're obviously extremely disappointed," Yu's attorney, David Whol, told Fox News Digital of the ruling. "We feel there at least should have been supervised visitation. If the judge wanted to exercise caution, we could have provided supervisors to ensure that there would be no issues."
Dr. Yue Yu seen in a screengrab from video opening a bottle of Drano in the kitchen. (Orange County Superior Court)
Whol also noted that the day after Yu was arrested based on Chen's claims, earlier this month, Chen filed for divorce.
Emails
Chen also accuses Yu's mother of abuse in a declaration for domestic violence restraining orders that Chen filed in Orange County on Wednesday.
CALIFORNIA DOCTOR MADE ‘DEFAMATORY’ POISONING CLAIMS IN BID TO GET CUSTODY OF KIDS: LAWYER
"[M]y children and I suffered from the abuse by Emily and her mother, Amy," the court filing states. "Because of the abuse and our inability to communicate, during our marriage [I] would write emails to Emily to try to get her to calmly discuss issues in our marriage and raising the children. More often than not, my emails were complaints of her abuse of the children or of me from earlier that day, or from just the day before."
The series of emails included in the declaration reveal what seems to have been a tumultuous relationship with financial strain and months of resentment built up between the couple, who have two young children.
In one such email, Chen writes to Yu: "You can't stand me as a person, everything about me causes you anger."
In another, Chen writes: "As usual, you are treating me as a house servant, not our kids [sic] father."
Whol said his office is still trying to confirm the authenticity of the emails but will be responding to allegations made in the emails "very soon."
Poison allegations
Chen's allegations against his wife made national headlines after Chen shared video footage showing Yu allegedly poisoning his drink with Drano.
The doctor's declaration for restraining orders states that he and Yu had a security system installed in their home in 2013 "to be able to monitor" their nanny, but he goes on to allege that Yu cut the cameras' wires.
"We set up cameras with microphones throughout the home including the living room and children’s rooms with the feeds sent to our computer in the master bedroom," Chen states in the declaration. "Emily knew about the cameras because she would ask me to show her the video of who the nanny was talking to at certain time [sic], or something that happened with the children that day. Around January 2021, Emily went around the house and cut the wires to the cameras, making them useless. I am reviewing the videos that were saved to see which ones captured Emily’s and Amy’s treatment of the kids and me."
Chen further alleges that on July 8, he put a camera in the kitchen, and on July 11, he "caught Emily taking the bottle of Drano from under the sink and pouring it into" his lemonade.
"After adjusting the camera’s height, caught Emily on July 18, 2022 and again on July 25, 2022, poisoning my lemonade with the Drano from under the sink," Chen states in the court filing.
Defense
Authorities arrested Yu on July 4, but no charges have been filed against her. A spokesperson for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office previously told Fox News Digital that it is reviewing the case and will determine if charges should be filed.
Yu's attorney says he has not received the full video from Chen's counsel yet, but he alleges that Yu was simply pouring Drano from a large container into a smaller container to make it easier to pour down the drain, as she is "a small woman."
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Whol also alleges that Chen's allegations are untrue and a setup to divorced Yu and get custody of their children, and that his client knew about the cameras in their kitchen.
"We expect to present far more evidence and get far more favorable rulings in the near future," Whol said Friday.
Court proceedings will continue in the case on Sept. 16.
Fox News' Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
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