Abbotsford, three Indian-origin men have been found guilty of first-degree murder by a Canadian court in connection with the killing of an Abbotsford couple, local broadcaster CBC News reported.
In May 2022, Arnold De Jong and Joanne De Jong were found dead in their Abbotsford residence.
Four years later, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Brenda Brown ruled Friday that Gurkaran Singh, Abhijit Singh and Khushwar Toole played a voluntary and integral role in the couple’s murders, the broadcaster reported.
The judge agreed with prosecutors that the murder was financially motivated and rejected the defense’s argument that the death was caused by a robbery gone wrong, the report said.
Prosecutors told the court the three men worked together to plan to rob and kill the couple, stealing credit cards, checks and a washing machine from the home.
The trio worked together at a cleaning company owned by Abhijeet Singh, which had previously worked at De Jong’s home.
The defendants, all in their 20s, pleaded not guilty at the start of their trial to two counts of first-degree murder.
The couple were found dead in separate bedrooms, with Arnold’s head and face wrapped in duct tape while Joanne was found with blood around her. Their hands and feet were tied with ropes.
CBC News said prosecutors presented circumstantial evidence linking all three defendants to the killings, including DNA found at the crime scene, rope allegedly used to bind Arnold DeJong and a metal baseball bat found in the suspect’s vehicle.
Prosecutors also cited phone data evidence showing Abhijit Singh conducted internet searches after reading news reports about the killings, including searches related to how Canada punishes murderers, the report said.
Sentencing for the three men is scheduled for May 28.
This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.
