Photos of Arnold and Joanne De Jong outside the Abbotsford, B.C., law courts in May, after a judge's guilty verdict against three men for their murder in 2022.Darryl Greer/The Canadian Press
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge says a section of the Criminal Code restricting multiple murderers from applying for early parole under the so-called “faint-hope” clause is unconstitutional.
Justice Brenda Brown ruled on Monday that the section of the code prescribing 25 years of parole ineligibility infringes upon the Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ guarantees against cruel and unusual punishment.
Her decision has delayed sentencing again for Abhijeet Singh, Gurkaran Singh and Khushveer Toor, who were found guilty of first-degree murder in May for the home-invasion killings of Arnold and Joanne De Jong.
The De Jong family said outside court that they were frustrated and disappointed sentencing had been delayed again by the decision, believing the killers would hear their ultimate sentence more than four years after the slayings.
The trial heard that 77-year-old Arnold De Jong died by asphyxiation, with his entire head and face wrapped in duct tape, while 76-year-old Joanne De Jong was bludgeoned and had her throat slashed.
The De Jong’s daughters, Heather Hoogland, Sandra Barthel and Kimberley Coleman were at the hearing with their spouses, along with dozens of other supporters of the family.
“I think we’re just shocked. (It) just took the wind out of our sails. I don’t think it makes sense to us,” Barthel said outside court after the hearing. “How can people murder two people and then apply for reduced sentence? It’s mind boggling, it’s infuriating, and it just reiterates that we’re the only ones with a life sentence here.”
Hoogland said the delay in the sentencing was “like a gut punch.”
Coleman said it had been frustrating dealing with years of delays in the trial of the three men.
“It would certainly be nice to have the sentencing and move on from the court proceedings,” she said.
“We remain fighters and we will still fight for our parents’ name and justice that is due for this crime.”
Helen Leusink, Joanne De Jong’s sister, said after the hearing that the family and its supporters were expecting the men to be sentenced, and the decision “just prolongs the fact that we wait and we wait, and we think that this should come to a conclusion, and it doesn’t seem to happen.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that this has gone on for many, many years and it’s time we come to the conclusion and it just makes me more and more disappointed in our justice system and how it operates,” Leusink said outside the courthouse.
The three men had done work around the De Jong’s home in the months prior to the killings, and their lawyers argued it was a “botched robbery” that led to the murders.
Singh, Singh and Toor, the court heard, stole cheques, credit cards and a power washer from the home, paying off cellphone bills and cashing cheques into their own bank accounts shortly after murdering the couple.
The judge found the men knew they’d be recognized by the De Jongs, and planned to kill them to ensure the success of the home invasion.
“Because of this, they could not leave the De Jongs alive at the conclusion of the home invasion,” Brown wrote in her conviction judgment.
“Even if the invaders were masked, police would likely be able to learn of their identity in short order after asking the De Jongs about recent activity at their house. Again, they would be arrested. If the De Jongs were left alive, the time to use any stolen property may be limited and police investigation may start sooner.”
A first-degree murder conviction carries a life sentence without chance of parole for 25 years, but lawyers for the trio wanted their clients to be able to ask for the right for early parole, through the faint-hope clause in the Criminal Code.
The section of the code ruled unconstitutional by Brown seeks to exclude multiple murderers from the faint-hope clause allowing some other criminals to seek judicial review of their parole ineligibility period once they have served more than 15 years.
The judge did not give reasons for the decision on Monday, but lawyers will be back in court for another argument that will involve whether the infringement can be justified under Section 1 of the Charter.
Further arguments in the case have now been scheduled for November, and the sentencing of the men now set for February 2027.
The federal government under former prime minister Stephen Harper abolished the faint hope rule for multiple murderers sentenced after December 2011.