3 men charged in homicide of Abbotsford seniors

Three Surrey, B.C. men have been charged with murder in the deaths of Abbotsford couple Arnold and Joanne de Jong in May.

The couple was found dead in their home on Arcadian Way, a rural area in the north of the city,on May 9. Police had said at the time that 77-year-old Arnold and 76-year-old Joanne were the victims of homicide.

On Friday, three men were charged with two counts of first-degree murder 20-year-old Gurkaran Singh, 22-year-old Abhijeet Singhand 22-year-old Khushveer Toor.

Sgt.Timothy Pierotti, with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), said at a news conference Friday that the three men knew each other and the killings were not random.

"One of the suspects was known to the family," he told reporters. "All three arrests happened [Friday] morning in Surrey."

Pierotti said that none of the men had criminal records and that he believed the three men had lived in the same house.

"Arnold and Joanne were very well known in our community," said Abbotsford Chief Const. Mike Serr at the news conference. "I know this impacted our community greatly.

"I hope this, today,brings some level of comfort that those parties [allegedly] responsible are in custody."

Police did not immediately provide the date of thenext court appearance for the three suspects.