Prince Rupert man feared a ‘hit’ had been ordered before his family’s death, inquest hears

A coroner’s inquest began on Monday into the deaths of four people who were found dead in a Prince Rupert home in 2023.

In the early morning hours of June 10, 2023, Prince Rupert RCMP found a Mercedes SUV abandoned, packed with suitcases and a large amount of cash.

Its owners, Janet Nguyen and Christopher Duong — both in their 30s — later returned to the scene. They told police they were being followed and a hit, or assassination, had been ordered against them.

Police told the inquest Duong was known to local officers and was alleged to have been involved in the Prince Rupert drug trade.

He was taken into custody under the Mental Health Act, while Nguyen and the couple’s two children, aged four and two, were returned to the family home.

Three days later, all four were found dead inside that house.

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The circumstances around how they died are still to be determined.

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4 bodies discovered in Prince Rupert home

The coroner’s inquest into the deaths of the Duong–Nguyen family heard starkly different accounts of the events leading up to their deaths.

Jurors heard from a doctor who described a serious car crash involving Duong in 2022 and said the collision left him with a significant brain injury.

But the inquest also heard from police officers who dealt with the family just days before they were found dead and that testimony introduced allegations of criminal activity.

Court filings entered into evidence show Duong and Nguyen were also the subject of a civil forfeiture claim — proceeds of crime proceedings launched by the B.C. government in 2016 — with Duong described in those documents as a violent drug trafficker.

Counsel at the inquest questioned RCMP officers about why the children were left in the care of their parents, given the possibility of violence.

Const. Jason Kettle testified there was no evidence the threat was real beyond the family’s own claims.

The coroner’s inquest is expected to hear this week from officers who investigated the deaths, as well as staff from the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

Proceedings are scheduled to continue through Friday.

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