The man accused of fatally beating two men in Chinatown nearly four years ago says he was having a sexual relationship with his court-approved roommate before the killings happened. Justin Bone is charged with second-degree murder in the deaths of Ban Phuc Hoang, 61, and Hung Trang, 64, in Edmonton’s Chinatown in separate incidents on May 18, 2022. Bone had been released from custody on an unrelated matter on conditions to stay at the home in Alberta Beach. He was also under court order not to be within the corporate limits of the City of Edmonton. On May 15, 2022, Bone was dropped off by an RCMP officer in Edmonton after the surety called police and asked that he be removed from his property. On Wednesday, Bone testified that he had committed sexual acts with the man that lived at the Alberta Beach property in exchange for funds. He told the court he and the man got into an argument on May 15 because he didn’t want to be involved in any more sexual acts and that he felt trapped in the home He said the argument escalated when the man refused to buy him marijuana, which ultimately resulted in police being called to the property. An hour-long video was played in court, documenting the interaction between Bone and the police officers. During the video, Bone was argumentative with police. The man can be heard at one point in the video asking about a restraining order. Bone was ultimately dropped off in west Edmonton by an RCMP officer. He told the court he asked to be dropped off in the west end instead of downtown near a shelter because he was hoping to get a place to stay with an aunt. He said that when his aunt wasn’t home he went to a drug dealer he knew, who gave him a place to stay to return a favour. He also testified that the dealer gave him methamphetamine, which he said he used all night. Bone said he contacted his probation officer on Monday, assuming she would find him emergency housing. He said the probation officer offered to fast track him into a recovery program instead. The testimony was part of one of several applications made by his lawyer arguing Bone’s charter rights were violated, and did not address the day of the killings. That application will be argued on Friday. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson
