‘Robbery gone wrong’. Defence begins arguments for trio accused of murdering Abbotsford couple
Abhijeet Singh, 22, is charged with first-degree murder along with 22-year-old Khushveer Toor and 20-year-old Gurkaran Singh, two students from India who worked for his Surrey cleaning company
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Abhijeet Singh purchased the rope that was used to bind the hands and feet of an Abbotsford couple, but there is no proof he was present at the scene of their violent murder in May 2022, his lawyer said Monday morning.
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Speaking in front of a full courtroom, Andrew Cochrane said the prosecution’s entire case against Singh, who is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Arnold and Joanne De Jong, “collapses” because there isn’t evidence he was at their home that night. His DNA on the rope that was used to bind the couple in their beds could have been left there when he purchased it at Home Depot the afternoon before.
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“Mr. Singh does acknowledge some degree of moral culpability,” said Cochrane, explaining that Singh accepts that the evidence may establish he knew about the planned home invasion and later possessed property taken from the couple’s home, but his cellphone location that night “points away from his presence at the crime scene.”
Singh, 22, is charged with first-degree murder along with 22-year-old Khushveer Toor and 20-year-old Gurkaran Singh, two students from India who worked for his Surrey cleaning company. The company had cleaned the roof and gutters at the De Jong’s house about a month before the murders.
The prosecution alleges the three men broke into the couple’s home while they were sleeping. They bound Joanne and beat her with a bat before using a sharp object, possibly a screwdriver, to slash her throat. They then moved on to Arnold’s bedroom, wrapping his face with duct tape, before stealing his credit cards and cheques.
Experts testified that Joanne, 76, died of sharp and blunt force trauma. Arnold, 77, died of asphyxiation due to smothering.
During the two-month trial, court heard that Abhijeet Singh purchased rope, a screwdriver and a softball bat, among other items, from a hardware store the afternoon before the home invasion. A video from Home Depot showed him with his purchases.
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Police would later find the bat in the trunk of a car associated with the three men, who lived together in a rental unit in Surrey. A swab taken from the bat handle would reveal Joanne’s DNA.
The prosecution suggested the men kept the bat, which was also visible in a video clip taken by one of the accused three months after the killings, as a “treasured” murder weapon.
But Cochrane said it is in doubt if the bat or screwdriver were used in the crime at all, arguing the DNA on the handle of the bat could have been “secondary,” or transferred there somehow.
The defence lawyer also addressed the cellphone evidence presented at trial.
He questioned why Singh’s cellphone “pinged” off a tower near his home in Surrey within the “window of opportunity” when the murders most likely happened. He also said the meaning of several Google searches made by Singh after the couple’s deaths — about the penalty for “third-degree murder” and immigration consequences — were ambiguous and did not indicate he was present for the murders, which he suggested may have been the result of a “robbery gone wrong.”
Cochrane said the creation of a fraudulent money-transfer Remitly account in Arnold De Jong’s name the same night as the murders could have been done by anyone with access to Singh’s tablet. Cochrane also questioned that a later use of De Jong’s Visa card did not establish that Singh committed the murders, only that he may have possessed stolen property.
Over the course of the trial, evidence was presented to show Singh bought a new iPhone with De Jong’s credit card, sent his sister $3,000 to help with her student visa, and sent $7,000 to his father.
The prosecution argued the three men worked together to commit the two murders “no matter who inflicted the mortal injuries.”
Toor’s defence lawyer also began her closing arguments Monday, calling into question “suboptimal” DNA samples linking her client to the crime. She is expected to continue her remarks on Tuesday, when Gurkaran Singh’s lawyer is also expected to deliver his closing arguments.
As it has been throughout the trial, the Abbotsford courtroom was packed with over 50 family and friends of the victims, with an overflow courtroom opened to accommodate more than a dozen others.
The couple’s three daughters spoke to journalists outside the court on Friday.
“Most of these people have been here day after day for our parents and also for us, and that’s really what has kept us going,” said Kimberley Coleman. “It just speaks to who our parents were.”
Heather Hoogland said her father was the kind of person who would help others.
“(He) would give anybody a chance to work for him,” she said.
Sandra Barthel said her parents loved being grandparents, and helped with child care.
“I just think about what our kids are missing out on,” she said. “And I know the joy that our kids brought our parents. I’m so sad that they don’t get to see them grow up.”
The family had celebrated Mother’s Day together the day before the murders. The next morning, they were unable to reach them by phone. Their bodies were discovered by their son-in-law.
