Canada Court Convicts Three Indian-Origin Men of First-Degree Murder

A BC Supreme Court judge ruled on Friday that Gurkaran Singh, Abhijeet Singh, and Khushveer Toor were guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of 77-year-old Arnold De Jong and 76-year-old Joanne De Jong, who were found dead in their Abbotsford home on May 9, 2022. The judge agreed with prosecutors that the murders were planned in advance and carried out for money.

The victims were found dead in separate bedrooms, with Joanne tied up and stabbed, and Arnold bound and asphyxiated. The three accused, who were known to the couple, had planned a home invasion to rob them and then killed them, using the victims' stolen credit cards and identification to make purchases and pay debts.

DNA evidence linked all three men to the crime, and internet searches made by Abhijeet Singh after the deaths became public were deemed 'exceptionally damning' by the court. Defence lawyers had argued that the killings were not planned, but the judge rejected this argument, stating that the accused knew the victims could recognize them and therefore left them dead.

Family members of the victims expressed relief at the guilty verdict, but said the pain of losing their parents remained overwhelming. The sentencing for the three men is scheduled for May 28, with a conviction for first-degree murder carrying an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.