Silicon Valley: Jing Hua Wu, a Chinese-origin test engineer, has been formally charged with murdering Indian American CEO Sid Agrawal and two other top officials of SiPort Inc, the company that fired the assailant Nov 14, the day of the killings.

Jing, 47, was brought before the Santa Clara County Superior Court Wednesday. During the brief hearing, the assailant, arrested by police within 24 hours of his shooting down the three top officials, did not utter any word, except for saying "Yes" to confirm his name.

Kept in the mental ward of the prison, Jing now faces either life imprisonment without parole or death penalty, the prosecutors said. His judicial custody has been extended till Dec 18.

Neither the immediate family members of the assailant nor those of the three victims were present during the court hearing.

"They (victim's family) were occupied with the sad business of arranging or attending funerals," the Bay Area newspaper Mercury News reported.

Besides Agrawal, 56, the other two officials of SiPort Inc, maker of mobile chips, who were shot dead by Jing last Friday were: Marilyn Lewis, 67, head of human resources, and Brian Pugh, 47, vice-president of operations. Agrawal was the co-founder and CEO of SiPort Inc, which was established a few years ago.

Jing was fired apparently due to his "poor performance".

The police have not yet disclosed the motive for the murder.

Meanwhile, the local media reported that a huge crowd of mourners gathered at Agrawal's funeral even though his family had requested that the funeral service would be private.