LOS ANGELES — A Glendale man owed an Orange County couple $80,000, so he shot the husband, kidnapped and killed the wife, set their bodies on fire and returned to their home to steal almost $250,000 worth of luxury goods, authorities allege.

It is under these extreme and violent circumstances that Huangting Gong, 30, could face the death penalty, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

Gong was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport by Brea police on Nov. 5 and faces a long list of charges, prosecutors say.

They include two felony counts of murder, one felony count of kidnapping, two felony counts of arson of property, and two felony counts of first degree burglary. His arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 2.

The D.A.'s office will convene a committee to determine whether to pursue the death penalty. Otherwise, Gong faces a maximum sentence of life without parole.

He is accused of murdering Kuanlun Wang, 37, and his wife, Jing Li, 37, in two separate, vicious attacks.

He allegedly met Wang in the desert on Oct. 12, shot him in the head and put the body in Wang's Tesla before returning to the victim's home in Brea, prosecutors said.

Then, he allegedly attacked Li with a hammer and forced her into her own Telsa. Prosecutors said he then drove Li to the San Bernardino County desert, where he shot her and burned her body.

Next, he returned to the Brea home to retrieve Wang's body and burn it in a desert area in Riverside County before proceeding to take the two Teslas to two different desert areas and set them each on fire, prosecutors said.

But the alleged crime rampage didn't end there.

Prosecutors say Gong then returned to the home again on Oct. 14 and made off with nearly $250,000 worth of luxury watches, shoes, handbags and clothing.

"Depravity does not adequately describe the callousness involved to kill a human being and then drive around in the victim's own car with his body inside in order to carry out the rest of his plan," O.C. Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said in a statement. "No one deserves the fate of being executed and then set on fire in the middle of the desert in a desperate attempt by a killer to cover up his crimes."

One of Wang's family members reached out to Gong on Oct. 12 after she was unable to get in contact with Wang. Prosecutors said Gong told the family member that Wang and Li had failed to show up to a meeting in New York to pick up the $80,000 he owed them.

But Wang's family said they had no knowledge of any such meeting, according to the D.A.'s Office.

On Oct. 14, the day Gong allegedly robbed the house, the family member contacted him after observing a man on Wang's patio in surveillance camera footage. Gong denied that he was the man in the footage. Then, the family member mysteriously lost access to the footage, prosecutors said.

The following day, on Oct. 15, the family member told the Brea Police Department about Wang's disappearance and disclosed that Gong owed Wang $80,000.

A police investigation led detectives to arrest Wang at LAX as he was returning from a trip to Seattle, prosecutors said.

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.