SAN FRANCISCO — A California appeals court has upheld a double-murder conviction against a Fisherman’s Wharf business owner who killed rival merchants at the adjacent store.

Hong Ri Wu, 66, was convicted in 2014 of two counts of murder in the shooting deaths of Qion Han Chu and Fen Ping Ou, both 30. On appeal, he argued that prosecutors attempted to shift the burden of proof to the defense and that the trial judge gave improper instructions.

The 16-page decision by the First District Appellate Court rejects these arguments. The unanimous, 3-0 decision says “the burden was on the People was especially clear given the instructions to the jury, both before and during argument.”

Wu killed both victims because he was angry their shop’s signage blocked his. The shooting occurred around 8:30 p.m. on January 30, 2011, while there were still hundreds of tourists in the area. Wu argued at trial not that he was innocent, but that he was in the “heat of passion” and guilty of a lesser manslaughter charge. Court records say that after the shooting he told a woman nearby, “I killed them,” and asked arresting officers, “Can you watch my gun for me?”

The legal proceedings were held up for years after Wu’s lawyer declared a doubt to his mental competency.

Wu is in Valley State Prison in Chowchilla. Media reports at the time of his sentence say he received life without the possibility of parole, but prison records say he’ll be eligible for a parole date in 2036, when he’s in his early 80s.