Eviction sparked murders

The grisly double murder of a Queens couple was sparked when a tenant — possibly the killer — was being forced to move out, police said Friday.

A possible motive for the murder of Deyu Zhai, 64, and Chunfu Lu, 67, was disclosed as cops continue to search for Sai Chun Lam, a person of interest in the double homicide.

The NYPD released a picture of Lam on Friday, and asked anyone with information about his whereabouts to come forward.

“This is a terrible incident,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said Friday. “We are asking for the public’s help. If somebody sees him, please call.”

Police sources said Lam (photo) and Lu got into a fistfight at the apartment they all shared on 37th Ave. near 147th St. in Flushing a few days before the killing. Both were charged with misdemeanor assault.

Lu was trying to get Lam evicted from the second floor apartment, which was subdivided into multiple units, sources said.

On Wednesday morning, Lu and Zhai were found dead, repeatedly stabbed in the chest, cops said. Another neighbor found the bodies and called 911.

Investigators believe the couple were killed about 9 p.m. the night before they were discovered, sources said.

Zhai and Lu lived in one of the subdivided units together, police said. Their bodies, however, were found in different parts of the apartment.

Neighbors told police they often engaged in loud arguments with themselves and Lam, who disappeared right before Zhai and Lu’s bodies were found.

An NYPD spokesman acknowledged that police have been to the building several times in the past, typically responding to “verbal disputes.”