The trial for a Toronto couple accused of murdering their neighbour in Liberty Village last year entered its third day on Thursday, with the Crown attorney calling a woman from Vietnam who was staying with the couple at the time of the incident to testify.
Khoa Tran, 36, of Toronto, is facing second-degree murder charges and his wife, Quynh (Isabelle) Nguyen, 30, is charged with being an accessory after the fact and doing an indignity to the body. Both have pleaded not guilty.
The charges stem from the death of Toronto filmmaker Reeyaz Habib, whose decomposing body was found in a trash compactor in a Liberty Village condo complex on June 8, 2025. He lived in a condo unit above Tran and Nguyen’s townhouse at 26 Western Battery Road.
Linh Hua, who was staying with the couple, testified in court that she heard screaming on the night of June 6, 2025 and thought it was coming from the unit above. Habib’s body was found two days later.
As police were canvassing the neighbourhood following the discovery of the body, they paid a visit to Tran and Nguyen’s unit. Following that visit, Hua said the couple told her several times not to speak with the police if they came back.
“They didn’t want the police to be suspicious because they [said they] are innocent – they didn’t know or do anything,” she said in court.
She added that they told her she has the right to remain silent, but if pushed, she should say that the three of them – Tran, Nguyen and Hua – were sleeping in the same bedroom that night. However, she told the court that in reality, only she and Nguyen were in the bedroom.
Hua said she felt “weird” about their request but agreed because she had “no choice.”
“I was living under their roof,” she said, adding that she had nowhere else to live or any other friends and family in the country.
Following Tran’s arrest, Hua moved out of the couple’s townhouse at the end of June because she felt uncomfortable living there, temporarily moving in with her employer, who offered her space.
When asked what she believed Tran was arrested for, she said she didn’t know, but Nguyen told her they arrested the wrong person, and they might mistakenly arrest Hua as well.
In chat conversations that were read in court, that occurred in the days after she moved out, Nguyen repeatedly asked Hua to promise not to speak with police about Tran’s case and asked her to “just keep silent.”
In addition, Nguyen told the woman that police might threaten her or manipulate her psychologically, and she might “blurt out” something that might lead to her arrest, so she advised her to speak to a lawyer. She also asked her to record any phone conversation she might have with the police.
In the weeks leading up to the murder, there was a growing dispute between the neighbours. Habib was complaining to the accused about BBQ smoke that was wafting up to his unit. During cross-examination by Tran’s defence, the witness was asked about the victim’s demeanour during one of those interactions.
“I felt he was angry when he slammed the door so hard,” Hua testified.
In another incident, the victim’s glass was broken by Tran. The couple’s friend told the court that he accidentally kicked it over.
The case is being tried by a jury, and the trial is expected to last about four weeks.