Parents, brother charged in 4 canal deaths
Last Updated: Thursday, July 23, 2009 | 3:17 PM ET
A Montreal couple and their son have been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder in the deaths of three sisters and an older female, police said Thursday in Kingston, Ont.
Zainab Shafia, 19, Sahar Shafia, 17, and Geeti Shafia, 13, were found with another woman, Rona Amir Mohammed, 50, in a car submerged in water at a Rideau Canal lock near Kingston last month.
Speaking during a news conference at Kingston Police headquarters, Insp. Brian Begbie said Mohammad Shafia, Tooba Yehya Mohammad and Hamid Mohammad Shafia have each been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of conspiracy to murder. They are being held while waiting for bail hearings.
The submerged black Nissan Sentra was discovered on June 30, the same day Mohammad Shafia went to the Kingston Police station to report his missing daughters, a woman he said was his 52-year-old cousin and his vehicle. He was accompanied by his wife and 18-year-old son, said police.
Begbie said investigators have "cause to believe" the older woman found in the car, Rona Amir Mohammed, was Mohammad Shafia's first wife.
The father told police he discovered his car was missing after the family had stopped at a Kingston motel following a trip to Niagara Falls, Ont. The family had been travelling in two vehicles.
When they were told about the discovery of the submerged car, police said all three spoke about their trip to Niagara Falls and Zainab's habit of taking the car without consent and without a driver's licence, a claim police say is untrue.
"Our investigation to date reveals that this allegation is false and that on the night in question, the Nissan was operated by a combination of the three accused persons," said Begbie.
Police also said the son drove the family's second vehicle to Montreal in the early morning hours of June 30 and returned to Kingston to accompany his parents to the police station.
Both vehicles — the submerged Nissan and a Lexus SUV — are being examined by police, said Begbie.
Kingston Police Chief Stephen Tanner said he was saddened at the "needless and senseless loss of innocent human lives."
Father, mother, son charged in killing three daughters and ex-wife in Ottawa
Quote
