As the trial of three Indian men accused of killing an elderly couple in British Columbia gets underway, prosecutors have said the alleged motive was “debt, financial pressure and greed.”
The victims, Arnold and Joanne De Jong, were found dead in their home on May 9, 2022. According to Crown prosecutor Dorothy Tsui, the accused — Gurkaran Singh, Abhijeet Singh, and Khushveer Singh Toor — had previously worked at the couple’s home, cleaning rooms and gutters, before allegedly plotting the murders.
Prosecutors said Abhijeet Singh ran a cleaning company that serviced the couple’s property in July 2021 and again in April 2022. After the killings, the accused allegedly took the victims’ credit cards, cheques, and a pressure washer.
Financial records presented by the Crown show that Gurkaran Singh and Khushveer Singh Toor deposited cheques for more than $5,000 into their bank accounts shortly after the deaths. The cheques were purportedly signed by Joanne De Jong.
The court was also told that Gurkaran Singh had arrived in Canada on a student visa less than a month before the murders. He was reportedly enrolled at Northern Lights College in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, but never attended classes.
Following the alleged murders, the three men are said to have fled British Columbia and rented a basement apartment in Surrey, where they lived together until their arrest later in 2022. All three have pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charges.
The trial, which began on Monday, is expected to last about 40 days. The Crown plans to call at least 24 witnesses and present extensive circumstantial evidence, including fingerprints, DNA found on a weapon discovered in the trunk of a car allegedly used by the accused, cellphone and financial records, and data from electronic devices.
