WARNING: This story contains disturbing details. Discretion is advised.
Closing arguments continued Monday in the trial of three men charged in the 2022 grisly deaths of an Abbotsford couple.
The lawyer for one of the three accused in the deaths of Arnold and Joanne De Jong told the court on Monday that while his client admits some responsibility, the bar for a murder conviction cannot be met.
Andrew Cochrane, who is representing Abhijeet Singh, said the evidence may establish that his client had advance knowledge of the plan, it may establish that he may have been a party in the break-in, and it may establish that he received some stolen property — but it cannot prove murder.
Abhijeet Singh’s DNA was found on a rope used to bind Arnold De Jong’s feet, but Cochrane said his client had purchased and handled it the day before.
Also, cell phone data shows Abhijeet Singh’s phone was 57 kilometres away from the De Jong’s home when the couple was killed in May 2022.
Evidence shows Abhijeet Singh also purchased the baseball bat later found in the possession of his co-accused, Khushveer Toor, which containing Joanne De Jong’s DNA.
But Cochrane says his client was at the highest “a planner and provider of materials,” in what he described as a “robbery gone wrong which resulted in homicide.”
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
Although Abhijeet Singh received stolen property, Cochrane says the Crown has not proven he was in the De Jongs’ home at the time of the killings.
“Benefitting from the proceeds of robbery cannot ground a conviction for murder or manslaughter,” Cochrane said.
“Crown’s entire case for murder collapses if presence is not established.”
Arnold and Joanne De Jong were found dead in their home in the early morning hours of May 9, 2022.
Half a year later, Gurkaran Singh, Abhijeet Singh and Khushveer Toor were arrested in December 2022, with all three pleading not guilty in the case.
On Friday, the court heard how the three men allegedly entered the home and worked together to trap the couple in separate rooms, tie them up and inflict mortal injuries.
Prosecutors said that DNA, cellphone and bank records link all three suspects to the double homicide and they have proven their case against all three men.
The Crown claims the trio targeted the seniors in a planned home invasion robbery, with their main motivation being greed.
The three accused stole credit cards and bank cheques, the Crown claims, and worked immediately to “financially capitalize on the De Jongs’ deaths” by cooperatively spending the victims’ money.
Crown said more than $10,000 was stolen from the De Jongs’ bank account and some of the money was used to secure a new Surrey rental unit.
Abhijeet Singh also sent news articles on the double homicide to an acquaintance and Googled queries on “punishment of murderers in Canada.”
Cochrane said his client is an immigrant from India and it was “a search for someone looking for the lowest tier of homicide liability in a foreign legal system,” adding that his client could have been probing defences “for others.”
Defence closing arguments will resume on Tuesday, beginning with Toor’s lawyers, who are challenging the reliability of a DNA sample.
After the Crown has a chance for rebuttal, the trial is expected to conclude until Justice Brenda Brown delivers a verdict.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
