photo by Lee Traynor

The person suspected of killing two Chinatown women last month was apprehended Monday while on an afternoon JFK flight headed to Hong Kong.

Updated name: Song Fei Li, 34, a “hardcore gang member”, as described by the New York Post,  was purportedly fleeing after officials impounded his car off a Chinatown street on Saturday. The cabin doors were shut and the plane was prepping take-off when the man’s 1:45 p.m. Delta flight was stopped and a combination of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, NYPD, and PAPD took the man off the plane, the Post reports.

The two women the man is connected to are Xia L. Li, 70, and Hua Chen, 36. The women were found shot dead on June 29 by fire-fighters after the NYFD responded to a call at 83 Henry St.

Police do not have incriminating evidence yet, but that the man is to remain in custody, the Post says.

There was initial speculation that the killings were prostitution-related, but no links have been reported.

According to the Post, the kill could have been retaliation to Chen purportedly stealing money from an underground Chinatown loan business.

-Nick Gallinelli