Full Breakdown
Toronto Couple Sentenced for Murder and Body-Disposal After Barbecue-Smoke Dispute
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event
On June 6, 2023, Khoa Tran, 36, entered the upstairs unit of neighbour filmmaker Reeyaz Habib, 53, and killed him. The body was discovered on June 8 in a trash-compactor at the Liberty Village condo complex (East Liberty St. & Western Battery Rd.).
At a sentencing hearing in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Justice Kenneth Campbell imposed a life sentence with no parole eligibility for 16 years on Tran for second-degree murder. His wife, Isabelle Nguyen, 30, received a six-year term for accessory after the fact to manslaughter and for committing an indignity to a human body. Both defendants declined to speak.
Background & Context
Tran and Nguyen lived on the main floor of the complex at 26 Western Battery Way. Their upstairs neighbour, Habib, repeatedly complained that smoke from Tran’s balcony barbecue entered his unit and warned that he would report the couple’s violation of condo rules for housing a third-party guest, Linh Hua.
Data & Statistics
- Sentences: Tran – life imprisonment, parole in 16 years; Nguyen – six years (5 years 4 months remaining after credit for 146 days pre-sentence custody).
- Ages: Tran 36; Nguyen 30; Habib 53.
- Injuries: Autopsy identified 35 external injuries, including 24 prior to death, and internal injuries consistent with beating or strangulation.
- Body handling: The victim’s body was wrapped in blankets, duct-taped with “handles,” and placed in an underground dumpster; surveillance captured Tran disposing of Habib’s bike and computer in the same dumpster.
Official Statements & Responses
Justice Campbell called the murder “senseless and selfish,” noting Tran “callously decided to kill” Habib and then attempted to distance himself by cleaning the scene and discarding the body. He emphasized the defendants’ silence as removing any mitigating factor and described Nguyen’s role in fabricating an alibi and assisting with disposal as “callous and selfish.”
The judge warned that, had the body not been found by a trash-compactor operator, it likely would have been compacted and sent to a landfill, potentially never to be recovered.
Verbatim Quote
> “The killing of Mr. Habib was a senseless and selfish act by Mr. Tran that had devastating consequences for his family and friends,” — Justice Kenneth Campbell
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
The autopsy could not determine a definitive cause of death because the body was significantly decomposed. No surveillance footage captured the exact moment of the killing, and no eyewitnesses directly saw the homicide.
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*All information is drawn from court proceedings and reporting by Global News and CBC.*