3 PIOs convicted of couple’s murder in Canada

Abbotsford: Three Indian-origin persons have been found guilty of first-degree murder by a court in Canada in the killing of a couple in Abbotsford, according to local broadcaster CBC News.

Arnold and Joanne De Jong were found dead in their Abbotsford residence in May 2022. Four years later, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Brenda Brown on Friday ruled Gurkaran Singh, Abhijeet Singh and Khushveer Toor played a willing and integral role in the couple’s murder, the broadcaster reported. The judge agreed with prosecutors the murders were financially motivated and rejected de­fence arguments the deaths resulted from a robbery that went wrong, the report said.

Prosecutors told the court the trio had jointly planned to rob and kill the couple, and they stole credit cards, cheques and a power washer from the house. They worked together for a cleaning company owned by Abhijeet Singh, which had previously carried out work at the De Jongs’ home. The accused, in 20s, had pleaded not guilty to two counts each of first-degree murder at the start of the trial. The couple were found dead in separate bedrooms, with Arnold’s head and face wrapped in duct tape while Joanne was found with blood. Their hands and feet were bound with rope.

Prosecutors presented evidence linking the accused to the killings, including DNA, rope allegedly used to tie up Arnold De Jong and a metal baseball bat. —PTI