Arrest at JFK over possible link to Chinatown deaths

NYPD detectives arrested a man at Kennedy Airport Monday who they believe played a role in the slaying of two Chinatown women discovered shot to death last month by firefighters responding to a building fire, said a law enforcement official who was briefed on the matter.

The suspect, who has not been charged in the homicides, was preparing to board a flight to China when he was taken into custody, said the official.

The suspect came to the attention of police last week when he allegedly menaced a cabdriver, the official explained.

Last week an NYPD spokesman said detectives were looking into the possibility that both women, Xiao Ling Li, 70, and Yong Hwa Chen, 36, were killed because of their connection to a traditional underground credit system commonly used by Chinese immigrants.

Their bodies were found at 83 Henry St. on June 29. A spokesman for the Lin Sing Association, of which Li was a member, said Monday that detectives had also been inquiring in the community about life insurance policies the two women may have had.

A funeral for Li, who was a baby-sitter for Chen's children, is set for Friday in Chinatown, said Edward Chiu, an adviser to the Lin Sing Association. Funeral arrangements for Chen were not known, said Chiu.

Chen was planning to return to China for a visit when she was killed, said Chiu.

The underground rotating credit system known as "Hui" involves members who contribute a set amount of money into a common investment pool. Each member then has a chance to take some money out of the pool with the understanding that it will be replaced.