A coroner’s inquest started on Monday into the deaths of 4 individuals who had been discovered lifeless in a Prince Rupert residence in 2023.
Within the early morning hours of June 10, 2023, Prince Rupert RCMP discovered a Mercedes SUV deserted, full of suitcases and a considerable amount of money.
Its homeowners, Janet Nguyen and Christopher Duong — each of their 30s — later returned to the scene. They informed police they had been being adopted and a success, or assassination, had been ordered in opposition to them.
Police informed the inquest Duong was identified to native officers and was alleged to have been concerned within the Prince Rupert drug commerce.
He was taken into custody below the Psychological Well being Act, whereas Nguyen and the couple’s two kids, aged 4 and two, had been returned to the household residence.
Three days later, all 4 had been discovered lifeless inside that home.
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The circumstances round how they died are nonetheless to be decided.
The coroner’s inquest into the deaths of the Duong–Nguyen household heard starkly completely different accounts of the occasions main as much as their deaths.
Jurors heard from a health care provider who described a critical automotive crash involving Duong in 2022 and stated the collision left him with a big mind harm.
However the inquest additionally heard from cops who handled the household simply days earlier than they had been discovered lifeless and that testimony launched allegations of felony exercise.
Court docket filings entered into proof present Duong and Nguyen had been additionally the topic of a civil forfeiture declare — proceeds of crime proceedings launched by the B.C. authorities in 2016 — with Duong described in these paperwork as a violent drug trafficker.
Counsel on the inquest questioned RCMP officers about why the youngsters had been left within the care of their dad and mom, given the potential of violence.
Const. Jason Kettle testified there was no proof the menace was actual past the household’s personal claims.
The coroner’s inquest is anticipated to listen to this week from officers who investigated the deaths, in addition to employees from the Ministry of Youngsters and Household Improvement.
Proceedings are scheduled to proceed by way of Friday.
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