ABBOTSFORD — Three men have been found guilty of first-degree murder in the home-invasion killings of Abbotsford, B.C., couple Arnold and Joanne De Jong.
Abhijeet Singh, Gurkaran Singh and Khushveer Toor had pleaded not guilty earlier this year, claiming there was no intent or plan to kill the couple, who were found dead in their home, bound with ropes and duct tape, in May 2022.
But British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Brenda Brown said evidence showed the three acted together to plan the murders to “eliminate” the De Jongs as witnesses to the home invasion.
“I’m satisfied that the murders of both victims were carefully planned, deliberated and executed,” she said.
Family and friends packed the courtroom and three overflow rooms were needed to accommodate them as they listened to Brown’s verdict, just shy of four years after the De Jongs were found dead.
The trial heard that 77-year-old Arnold De Jong died by asphyxiation, with his entire head and face wrapped in duct tape, while 76-year-old Joanne De Jong was bludgeoned and had her throat slashed.
Prosecutors told the trial the suspects had done cleaning work at the property before the home invasion, and the men killed the couple before stealing cheques, credit cards and a power washer.
Brown said the Crown portrayed the murders as “not the work of one of the accused or two accused,” rather as committed by all three as a team.
She said the prosecution argued that “no matter who in fact inflicted the mortal injuries” the three men shared “equal culpability.”
The three men, prosecutors told the trial, “hastily” fled from B.C. after the killings, with phone data evidence showing Abhijeet Singh conducted “exceptionally damning” internet searches after reading news articles about the deaths, making queries about how murderers are punished in Canada.
The three worked together for a cleaning company owned by Abhijeet Singh, which had done work at the couples’ home on more than one occasion.
The trial heard that evidence recovered from their phones included videos captured of the De Jongs’ property from the roof of the home during one of the cleaning jobs.
Prosecutors also laid out how DNA from all three men was found. Some was at the crime scene, some on rope used to tie up Arnold De Jong and some on a metal baseball bat found in the suspects’ vehicle.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2026.
Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press
