Accused Chinatown killer Justin Bone takes stand after 1,500 days in custody

Justin Bone took the witness stand Wednesday wearing black pants and a collared shirt, his mohawk freshly shaved. In cuffs and accompanied by two sheriffs, he stood to the judge's left — more than 1,500 days after his arrest for the murders of Hung Trang and Ban Phuc Hoang, who were beaten to death on May 18, 2022.

Over three hours of testimony, Bone recounted the days leading up to the killings. He portrayed himself as a man trying to get his life back on track after being released from jail, insisting he had called his probation officer seeking emergency housing. Instead, he spent days bouncing around Edmonton, using drugs and meeting people he described as a "strange cast of characters."

The critical moment came when Bone said he smoked what he thought was marijuana but lost almost all memory before waking in a police cell. He claimed RCMP officers brought him to Edmonton in breach of his bail conditions — a release order that banned him from the city — and that he'd warned them about this violation.

Bone's trial began in January after repeated delays stemming from his decision to fire a succession of lawyers during pre-trial proceedings. He spent time pursuing a rare court application for public funding of a lawyer outside legal aid, before settling on defence counsel David Wolsey. Justice Paul Belzil dismissed an earlier abuse-of-process motion from Bone arguing the RCMP had set the stage for the killings by bringing him to the city.

Bone, 40, has spent a significant part of his adult life in and out of custody. On April 29, 2022, he was released on bail to a home in Alberta Beach, where he stayed briefly while awaiting a spot at Recovery Acres, a drug rehab facility. Tensions escalated when the homeowner approached him for sexual favours, Bone claimed — an argument that erupted after the man refused to buy a joint at a nearby cannabis store.