Three men convicted of first-degree murder in 2022 Abbotsford couple killing

Nearly four years after Arnold and Joanne De Jong were found dead in their Abbotsford home, a British Columbia Supreme Court judge has ruled that three men—Gurkaran Singh, Abhijeet Singh, and Khushveer Toor—murdered them together, each bearing equal responsibility for the crime. Justice Brenda Brown delivered her verdict on Friday, May 3, 2026, finding all three guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. The ruling came almost exactly four years to the day after the couple's bodies were discovered in their house on Arcadian Way, in the rural north end of the city.

The De Jongs were found in separate bedrooms, their bodies bearing signs of deliberate restraint and violence. Arnold lay on a bed with his head and face entirely wrapped in duct tape. Joanne was on another bed, blood visible around her. Both had their hands and feet bound with rope. The scene suggested not a moment of chaos but a methodical act. The three men, all in their twenties when arrested, had initially pleaded not guilty to all charges. Throughout the trial, their defence lawyers argued the evidence was circumstantial and that what occurred was a robbery that spiraled into violence—not a premeditated killing.

The Crown's case rested on a different narrative. Prosecutors told the court that Gurkaran Singh, Abhijeet Singh, and Khushveer Toor had plotted together to rob and murder the couple, motivated by financial gain. The three men had a connection to the De Jongs through work: they were employed by a cleaning company owned by Abhijeet Singh, and that company had serviced the couple's home on multiple occasions. During the trial, the Crown presented DNA evidence recovered from all three men—some found at the crime scene itself, some on the rope used to bind Arnold De Jong, and some on a metal baseball bat discovered in the suspects' vehicle. Phone records showed that after the killings, Abhijeet Singh conducted what prosecutors described as "exceptionally damning" internet searches, querying how murderers are punished in Canada after reading news articles about the deaths.

Justice Brown accepted the Crown's framing entirely. In her ruling, she stated that she found each of the three men to be "a willing, knowledgeable and integral participant in the murders." She rejected the defence argument that the evidence was merely circumstantial or that the crime was unplanned. The judge emphasized that the Crown had portrayed the murders not as the act of one or two men, but as the work of all three acting as a coordinated team. She agreed that regardless of who physically inflicted the fatal injuries, all three shared equal culpability. The court also heard that the three men fled British Columbia hastily after the killings.

The courtroom was filled to capacity on the day of the verdict, with family and friends of the De Jongs occupying not only the main seating but three overflow rooms as well. Sandra Barthel, one of the couple's daughters, described the moment the judge announced her decision. "It felt like my heart was going to come out of my chest," she said. "I think there was joy in that, knowing that the judge saw this for what it was and that she was able to act upon it." Her sister, Kimberley Coleman, spoke to the complexity of the moment. "They had so many things about them that were so special to us that we miss every day," she said. "It's so bittersweet that, you know, we have this first-degree conviction for all three suspects on both counts, but yet we still grieve."

The court heard that the De Jongs had spent the day before their deaths with family—a final day of ordinary life before the violence that would end it. Sentencing for Toor, Gurkaran Singh, and Abhijeet Singh is scheduled for May 28, 2026. In Canada, a conviction for first-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence with no possibility of parole for at least twenty-five years.