Man ‘executed’ couple to escape debt and burned bodies in desert, CA officials say
A man accused of “executing” a couple and setting their bodies and cars ablaze in a desert to escape an $80,000 debt he owed has been charged, California prosecutors say.
Huangting Gong, 30, of Glendale, was charged with multiple felonies, including murder, kidnapping, arson of property and first-degree burglary, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a Nov. 12 news release.
“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,” District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the release.
Couple goes missing
After Kuanlun Wang, 37, hadn’t contacted family for several days, “which was very unusual,” a family member reported him missing to Brea police Oct. 15, prosecutors said.
The woman told police a business associate, Huangting Gong, owed Wang $80,000, according to prosecutors.
When the family member couldn’t reach Wang, she contacted Gong on Oct. 12, prosecutors said.
The family member was told Wang and his wife, Jing Li, 37, missed a planned trip to New York, according to prosecutors.
Gong told the family member the trip was meant for him to get money from another business associate to cover the debt he owned Wang, prosecutors said.
The family, however, had not heard of any planned New York trips, prosecutors said.
Then, while monitoring Wang’s Brea home on video surveillance Oct. 14, the family member noticed a man on his patio, prosecutors said.
She again contacted Gong, but he “denied that it was him and then her access to the video surveillance system was cut off,” according to prosecutors.
Three weeks after family reported Wang missing, detectives arrested Gong at the Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 5 as he returned from Seattle, prosecutors said.
Police said its detectives found evidence in “rural areas of California” that showed the couple had been killed and identified Gong as a suspect, according to a news release from the department.
Desert meetup
Days before he was reported missing, Wang met Gong in the desert Oct. 12, prosecutors said.
Gong is accused of “shooting (Wang) in the head.”
He put Wang’s body in his Tesla and drove back to Wang’s Brea home, prosecutors said.
At the home, Gong is “accused of attacking Li with a hammer and hitting her while forcing her to give him her phone’s password,” according to prosecutors.
Gong put Li inside her Tesla and drove her to a San Bernardino desert area, prosecutors said.
He is accused of shooting her and burning her body, prosecutors said.
Afterward, Gong returned to the couple’s home to get Wang’s body, prosecutors said.
He drove to a desert area in Riverside County, where he is accused of burning Wang’s body, prosecutors said.
“Gong is also accused of taking the couple’s two Teslas to different desert areas and setting them on fire,” prosecutors said.
After officials said he set the couple’s bodies and cars ablaze, he then returned to their home Oct. 14 and is accused of “stealing nearly $250,000 worth of watches, shoes, handbags and clothing,” prosecutors said.
“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,” Spitzer said.
Gong was also charged with multiple felony special circumstance enhancements, prosecutors said.
With the special circumstances, Gong could potentially face life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty, according to prosecutors.
Gong is expected to appear in court Dec. 2, prosecutors said.
Brea is about a 30-mile drive southeast from Los Angeles.
This story was originally published November 13, 2024 at 12:14 PM with the headline "Man ‘executed’ couple to escape debt and burned bodies in desert, CA officials say."
