Charges Denied in Killings of Mother, Infant : Courts: Wife of Taiwanese executive pleads not guilty of fatally stabbing her husband’s lover and suffocating the woman’s 5-month-old son.

SANTA ANA —  The wife of a wealthy Taiwanese businessman pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of first-degree murder in the slayings of her husband’s lover and a 5-month-old child allegedly produced by the affair.

Li-Yun (Lisa) Peng, 44, of Rancho Santa Margarita, entered her plea in Orange County Superior Court, where she has been ordered to stand trial in the Aug. 18, 1993, fatal stabbing.

Authorities say Peng stabbed Ranbing (Jennifer) Ji 18 times in Ji’s Mission Viejo apartment. Also killed was Ji’s son, Kevin, who authorities say was suffocated in his crib.

Prosecutors contend that Peng killed the mother and son because she was jealous of the victim’s relationship with Peng’s husband, Tseng Peng, 51. He is chief executive officer of San Diego-based Ranger Communications, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of citizens band radios.

Peng could face the death penalty if convicted of killing Ji and her son, but Orange County prosecutors have not decided whether they will seek the maximum sentence.

Genetic fingerprinting is expected to play a major role in the case. Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Molko argued during a preliminary hearing that DNA evidence links Peng to saliva found in a bite mark on Ji’s left arm.

Peng’s preliminary hearing spanned three months to allow Municipal Judge Arthur Koelle to read volumes of DNA research presented by both sides. Koelle ruled last month that the DNA evidence was admissible and ordered Peng to stand trial.

Defense attorney Marshall M. Schulman, however, has denounced the high-tech testing as unreliable “voodoo.” Schulman said in court that there is evidence that Ji attacked Lisa Peng with a knife on the day of the murder, a factor Schulman said could clear his client of first-degree murder charges.

He also claimed there was no evidence linking Peng to the baby’s death.