A California man has been charged with murdering a husband and wife, then setting their bodies on fire in the desert.

Tuesday, November 12, Orange County Prosecutor’s Office announced that Huangting Gong, 30, of Glendale, was charged with murder under special circumstances in the deaths of Kuanlun Wang, 37, and his wife, Jing Li Wang, 37 years.

Gong was also charged with kidnapping, two counts of arson and two counts of first-degree burglary. If convicted, he is eligible for “a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole” or “the death penalty “, added the Prosecutor’s Office.

Kuanlun was first reported missing by a family member on Oct. 15, who told the Brea Police Department they hadn’t heard from him in several days, which was “very unusual,” according to the district attorney’s statement.

The family member added that Kuanlun also told them that Gong owed him $80,000 from a business, according to the release, and that Gong told them on Oct. 12 that the husband and wife were supposed to “meet a other business associate”. in New York to receive the $80,000 owed, but they did not show up.

Two days later, on October 14, the family member said she tried to contact Gong again “after seeing a man on Kuanlun’s terrace on surveillance video,” however, he “denied that it would have been him.” After that, “their access to the video surveillance system was cut off,” according to the statement.

According to the district attorney’s office, Gong allegedly met Kuanlun in the desert on Oct. 12, where he shot him in the head before putting his body in his Tesla and driving back to the family’s home in Brea. He is also accused of “attacking” and “hitting” Jang Li “with a hammer” while “forcing her to give him her phone password”.

Gong then allegedly put Jang Li in her own Tesla car and drove her to a desert area in San Bernardino where he “shot her and then burned her body.” He allegedly did the same to Kuanlun’s body, burning it and dumping it in a desert area in Riverside County.

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The district attorney’s office said that after Gong “dumped” the two bodies and the Tesla, he returned to Wang’s home on October 14 and stole “almost $250,000 worth of watches, shoes, bags and clothing.”

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

“No one deserves the fate of being executed and then burned in the middle of the desert in a killer’s desperate attempt to cover up his crimes. We are committed to justice for the victims and their loved ones,” he added. .

Gong’s arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 2.