A crucial clue in the form of a message left on an answering machine about suspicious credit card activity helped investigators connect three young men to the brutal murders of an elderly Abbotsford couple, a British Columbia court heard this week.
A Fateful Message During a Grim Task
According to testimony in Abbotsford Supreme Court, the pivotal moment occurred on May 10, 2022, a day after the bodies of Arnold and Joanne De Jong were discovered. Constable Derek Mealings, a crime scene photographer, was documenting the couple's bedrooms when a phone in the home began to ring.
The call went to an answering machine, and the photographer heard a person leave a message alerting the homeowners about "suspicious credit card purchases." This recorded message would eventually become a key piece of evidence, helping Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) detectives link the crime to the accused.
Chilling Details of the Crime Scene Emerge
Constable Mealings described the harrowing scene to the court. He found 77-year-old Arnold De Jong lying in his bed with duct tape wrapped around his face. Two receipts and a business card were discovered underneath his body. The prosecutor, Dorothy Tsui, stated evidence would show he died of asphyxiation due to smothering.
His wife, 76-year-old Joanne De Jong, was found in her own bed surrounded by blood, with three pieces of duct tape nearby. The Crown alleges she died from sharp and blunt force trauma. Both victims had their hands and feet bound together with rope.
The couple had celebrated a joyful Mother's Day with their children and grandchildren just one day before their bodies were found on May 9. Joanne played hide-and-seek with her three grandchildren, while Arnold visited with his family. Arnold's sister was the last known person to see them alive, leaving their home around 10 p.m. that night.
The Accused and the Alleged Motive
Three men were arrested and charged with two counts each of first-degree murder in December 2022: Khushveer Toor, 22, Gurkaran Singh, 20, and Abhijeet Singh, 22.
In her opening statement, prosecutor Dorothy Tsui alleged the murders were motivated by "debt, financial pressure and greed." She told the court the accused knew the De Jongs lived alone and owned a successful trucking business that Arnold had built from the ground up starting in 1970.
The court heard that Abhijeet Singh operated a company that had cleaned the roofs and gutters of the De Jong home about a month before the killings, and another time roughly a year prior. Tsui said evidence would show the men stole a Visa card, cheques, and a pressure washer from the home, later selling the pressure washer. She characterized the deaths as "senseless."
The prosecutor also revealed that Gurkaran Singh had arrived in Canada as an international student less than a month before the murders. He was expected to study at Northern Lights College in Dawson Creek but never attended.
A Long Road to Trial
The path to trial has been protracted, spanning three and a half years since the murders. The accused initially chose a trial by judge and jury before switching to a judge-alone trial. An adjournment was granted in 2023. The trial was scheduled for May 2024, but the two Singhs applied for a delay.
Khushveer Toor's trial was severed from the other two. He later applied to return to a trial by judge and jury, a request that was denied. He also fired his lawyer, resulting in further delays. The trial for all three men is now proceeding.
The community of Abbotsford and the De Jong family continue to seek justice for the beloved couple, whose lives were tragically cut short in their own home.
