SLAIN COUPLE FACED DRUG CHARGES

Couple Found Slain

A couple arrested by Peel Regional Police last week for heading a
pot-growing operation in a Streetsville home were found beaten and shot to
death near Barrie on the weekend.

The bodies of Bong Thi Bui and Dung That Ton, both 44, were discovered by a
truck driver in a field Saturday morning, according to Barrie and Orillia
Ontario Provincial Police.

An autopsy that concluded in Toronto yesterday found the man died of blunt
force trauma and gunshot wounds to the head, while the woman died of blunt
force trauma.

Last week, the two were before the courts answering marijuana charges after
Peel police drug squad officers raided a Stillriver Cres. home and found a
sophisticated hydroponics lab with more than $450,000 worth of marijuana.

Detective Superintendent Dennis Moore of the OPP Criminal Investigation
Branch said investigators will be checking for a possible connection
between their drug involvement and their deaths, such as a drug deal gone bad.

"We'll be looking at all possibilities," he said yesterday. "You don't want
to stigmatize violence with drugs, but it does show up in that area sometimes."

Officers will also be questioning neighbours of the the home, Moore added.

"We have a lot of areas to look at including any connections the murder
victims had to that area (Mississauga)," he said. "They've known each other
for a long time, but have separate residences."

OPP homicide investigators, who yesterday said a murder weapon has yet to
be retrieved, haven't ruled out the possibility of the suspect being a
Mississauga resident.

The seemingly-quiet Streetsville street is no stranger to hydroponics labs.
Just before Christmas last year, police stormed another Stillriver Cres.
home and seized 713 pot plants along with 23 pounds of dried marijuana
totalling more than $1 million. Two people were charged.

Susan DiMatteo, who lives on the street with her husband and 14-year-old
son, said the drugs -- coupled with the violence -- frightens her.

"All the drugs are bad enough infesting this street, but when there are
people being killed, it's a whole new level," said DiMatteo, 39. "I guess
it all comes with being involved in criminal activity, but it's too close
for comfort."