BURST
Lawyers for two men accused of killing an Abbotsford couple have asked a judge to delay their trial for a third time in the almost three years since they were arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
Gurkaran Singh and Abhijeet Singh are scheduled to be tried on two counts each of first-degree murder on Jan. 12, 2026, in connection with the deaths of Arnold and Joanne De Jong in May 2022. A third man, Khushveer Toor, is also charged with two counts of first-degree murder, but has not applied to delay his trial.
On Wednesday, the judge in the case reserved judgment on the adjournment application until later this month. A publication ban prevents Postmedia from reporting on any submissions made in court apart from the nature of the appearance.
In a statement, the family of the couple said the delays have been “incredibly difficult.”
“Every time another delay occurs, our lives are again placed on hold as we wait for justice and closure,” they said. “We come here to the courthouse for every hearing because Arnie and Joanne were — and still are — so loved. And we come here to support each other.”
Arnold, a retired truck driver, was 77. Joanne was 76. The couple, along with their children and grandchildren, celebrated Mother’s Day together the day before the couple’s bodies were found in their home in the 33600-block Arcadian Way, a semi-rural part of Abbotsford dotted small acreages and woods. Joanne played hide-and-seek with her three grandkids, while Arnie visited with his daughters and their husbands.
The couple’s bodies were found the next morning in their house by a family member, who called police.
Homicide investigators arrested Toor, 22, Gurkaran Singh, 20 and Abhijeet Singh, 22, on Dec. 16, 2022. They said at the time that one of the men was known to the family. All three men lived in the same home in Surrey at the time of the murders.
The men, who remain in custody, first chose to be tried by judge and jury, before switching to judge alone, according to the Abbotsford News. An adjournments was granted in 2023. All three were then scheduled to go to trial in May 2024, but the two Singhs applied for a delay. Toor’s trial was severed from the other two, and he later applied for a return to judge and jury. The request was denied. He also fired his lawyer, resulting in another delay, according to the Abbotsford News.
Pending the outcome of Wednesday’s hearing, all three men were scheduled to go to trial in January 2026.