A California man allegedly shot a couple and set their bodies and Teslas on fire in the desert

A man from Southern California does accused of killing a couple, setting their bodies and cars on fire in the desert and stealing luxury watches, handbags and clothing worth nearly $250,000 from their home, prosecutors said.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday that Huangting Gong, 30, of Glendale, has been charged with 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. .

“Depravity does not adequately describe the callousness involved in killing a human being and then driving around in the victim’s car with his body inside to carry out the rest of his plan,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. said in a news release Tuesday.

“No one deserves the fate of being executed and then set on fire in the middle of the desert in a killer’s desperate attempt to cover up his crimes,” Spitzer continued. “We are committed to pursuing justice for the victims and their loved ones. those.”

As of Wednesday, it is unclear whether Gong has legal representation.

What is Huangting Gong accused of?

Authorities learned of Gong’s alleged crimes on Oct. 15, when a relative of 37-year-old Kuanlun Wang contacted Brea police after not hearing from him for several days, which was “very unusual,” the office said from Spitzer. The relative told police that Wang revealed that Gong, a business associate, owed him $80,000. The state government release continued.

Unable to reach Wang, the relative contacted Gong on October 12, who told her that Wang and Wang’s wife, 37-year-old Jing Li, did not show up for a trip to New York City to attend another meet. business partner who could pay Wang the $80,000 he owed, the district attorney’s office said. According to the publication, Wang’s family was unaware of a planned trip to New York.

After surveillance footage from Oct. 14 showed a man on Wang’s patio, the relative again contacted Gong, who denied it was him in the footage, the district attorney’s office said. When the relative contacted Gong, her access to the security video system was suddenly cut off, the government agency said.

Huangting Gong arrested at Los Angeles International Airport

Prosecutors allege Gong met Wang in the desert on Oct. 12, shot him in the head, placed the body in Wang’s own Tesla and then drove the car to Wang’s home in Brea, according to the release from the prosecutor’s office.

Once at Brea’s home, authorities accuse Gong of attacking Jing Li with a hammer and beating her while forcing her to reveal her phone password, the district attorney’s office said. After allegedly attacking Li, Gong placed her in her own Tesla, took her to a desert area in San Bernardino, shot her there and then burned her body, the Spitzer’s office said.

After burning Li’s body, Gong retrieved Wang’s body from the couple’s home in Brea and dumped it in a separate desert area in Riverside County, the district attorney’s office alleges. Gong then burned Wang’s body, took the couple’s Teslas to a third desert area and set them on fire, the government agency said.

After disposing of the bodies and two Teslas, Gong is accused of returning to the couple’s home on Oct. 14 and stealing nearly $250,000 worth of luxury items, according to the release. Brea police arrested Gong on Nov. 5 at Los Angeles International Airport as he returned from a trip to Seattle, Spitzer’s office said.

DA: Huangting Gong could face the death penalty

In addition to the initial offenses, Gong has been charged with two special circumstances enhancements for committing multiple murders, another penalty for killing while committing a kidnapping and two final penalties for discharging a firearm causing death, the Public Prosecutor said Ministry.

In special circumstances murder cases, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office appoints a committee after the preliminary hearing is held to determine whether the death penalty should be on the table. Spitzer will make the final decision on whether to pursue death after the trial, his office said.

If Spitzer decides not to pursue the death penalty, Gong’s maximum sentence would be life in prison without the possibility of parole, the news release said. He will be arraigned on December 2 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, California.

The last execution that took place in California was of Clarence Ray Allen on January 17, 2006, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Allen was sentenced to death in 1982 for plotting the murders of Bryon William Schletewitz, Douglas Scott White and Josephine Linda Rocha while behind bars for the 1974 murder of Mary Sue Kitt.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Huangting Gong accused of fatally shooting a CA couple and burning bodies