Three men stand trial in B.C. for the 2022 murder of a senior couple, accused of killing them for money.

A murder trial began in Abbotsford, B.C., on January 12, 2026, for three men accused of killing senior couple Arnold and Joanne De Jong in May 2022. Prosecutors allege the killings were motivated by financial gain, citing debt and greed, with the suspects connected through a cleaning company that had serviced the victims’ home. Evidence includes forensic findings of bound victims, blunt and sharp force trauma on Joanne, and asphyxiation on Arnold, along with suspicious cheques deposited into two suspects’ accounts, stolen credit cards, and a weapon with their fingerprints and DNA. The accused, including one who arrived in Canada on a student visa weeks before the murders, fled to Ontario before returning to B.C. and living in a Surrey basement suite until their arrest in December 2022. The trial, expected to last 40 days and involve at least 24 witnesses, is ongoing at B.C. Supreme Court.