Warning: Some readers may find the content of this story disturbing Prosecutors in a double murder trial for three men accused of brutally killing an elderly Abbotsford couple in their home say their motivation was greed. The supreme court trial opened today in Abbotsford for Gurkaran Singh, Abhijeet Singh and Khushveer Singh Toor, all charged with first degree murder. “They were all motivated by debt, financial pressure and greed,” Crown prosecutor Dorothy Tsui alleged in her opening statement to the court. On May 9, 2022, Arnold De Jong, 77, and Joanne De Jong, 76, were found dead in their home. Court heard their hands and feet had been tied up with rope. Arnold De Jong’s entire head and face was tightly wrapped in duct tape. Tsui said a pathologist will testify that Joanne De Jong died of blunt force trauma and her husband from asphyxiation. “The fact that this could happen to them…is unbelievable and is shocking and I think everybody should take notice that the world we live in, there’s evil,” said Sandra Barthel, one of the De Jongs’ three daughters. “The way they were tragically taken is abhorring, but their faith in God, we know where they are and we have comfort in that,” said the victims’ son-in-law, Brian Barthel. The Crown alleges the three accused, who have all pleaded not guilty, acted as a team and violently confined the De Jongs in their separate bedrooms and murdered them. Tsui also alleges the accused stole Arnold De Jong’s credit cards, cheques and a power washer, which was later sold. The prosecution claims that Abhijeet Singh’s cleaning company had done work at the victims’ home twice, including in the months before the murders. The Crown told the court that Gurkaran Singh was in Canada on a student visa, arriving less than a month before the killings. He was supposed to be at college in Dawson Creek, but it’s alleged he never got there. Sandra Barthel said it’s difficult to see the men accused of killing her parents in court. “Sitting in the courtroom today is hard. Our brains comprehend that our parents are gone, but our hearts have just had a really hard time understanding the circumstances, understanding how this could happen to such loving parents,” she said. “Our parents were a blessing. Not only to us, but to everybody who knew them.” Her sister, Kimberley Coleman, described their parents as “wonderful people.” “They were caring. They were loving. They gave so much to us. They were honorable,” she said. The De Jongs’ children are frustrated it has taken so long for the case to get to court, but they are hoping there will be justice. The trial is expected to last eight weeks and hear from at least two dozen witnesses.
