Joanne and Arnold De Jong in 2022
Three Indian-origin men in Canada have been found guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of an elderly couple inside their home in Abbotsford, British Columbia. It has been nearly four since the crime, reports CBC News.BC Supreme Court Justice Brenda Brown ruled on Friday that Gurkaran Singh, Abhijeet Singh and Khushveer Toor were all guilty in the deaths of Arnold and 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 courtroom was packed with relatives and friends of the De Jong family.77-year-old Arnold and 76-yeaar-old Joanne De Jong were found dead in separate bedrooms of their home on Arcadian Way in east Abbotsford. Court proceedings revealed disturbing details of the killings.Joanne was found tied up on her bed with blood surrounding her body. A pathologist determined she died from stab wounds to the neck and blunt-force injuries to the head, believed to have been caused by a screwdriver and hammer.Arnold was found in another bedroom with his hands and feet bound. His head and face had been tightly wrapped in duct tape. The court heard he died from asphyxiation caused by smothering. The three accused were known to the couple before the killings. Abhijeet Singh owned a cleaning company and the other two men worked for him. The business had carried out work at the De Jong residence on several occasions before the murders.The trio planned a home invasion to rob the couple and then killed them. The men later used the victims’ stolen credit cards, cheques and identification to make purchases, withdraw money and pay debts.DNA evidence also linked all three men to the crime. Investigators found DNA at the house, on rope used to tie Arnold De Jong, and on a metal baseball bat recovered from the suspects’ vehicle.Some internet searches were also made by Abhijeet Singh after news of the deaths became public. The searches were “exceptionally damning”, including queries about how murderers are punished in Canada.Defence lawyers argued throughout the trial that the killings were not planned and said the incident as a robbery that went out of control. They claimed there was no direct evidence proving their clients intended to kill the couple.Justice Brown rejected that argument.The judge said the accused knew the De Jongs could recognise them because they had worked at the house before, and that was why the couple were not left alive.Family members expressed relief after the ruling but said the pain of losing their parents remained overwhelming.“[It] felt like my heart was going to come out of my chest,” said daughter Sandra Barthel after hearing the verdict.She added: “I think there was joy in that, knowing that the judge saw this for what it was and that she was able to act upon it.”Another daughter, Kimberley Coleman, said: “They were people that could never be replaced … They had so many things about them that were so special to us that we miss every day.”Sentencing for Gurkaran Singh, Abhijeet Singh and Khushveer Toor is scheduled for May 28. Under Canadian law, a conviction for first-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.
