The Shafia Family Murders

On June 30, 2009, a car was found submerged at the Kingston Mills locks in Ontario. Inside were Zainab Shafia, 19, Sahar Shafia, 17, Geeti Shafia, 13, and Rona Amir Mohammad, the first wife of Mohammad Shafia. What initially appeared capable of being explained as a vehicle accident became a homicide investigation. Mohammad Shafia, Tooba Yahya and their son Hamed Shafia were eventually charged and convicted of killing all four victims.

The four victims

The victims were three sisters and Rona Amir Mohammad, who lived within the same extended household. The criminal proceedings focused heavily on family conflict, control and the treatment of the girls before their deaths. The Crown argued that the killings were motivated by a rigid concept of family “honour.” That term is included here because it formed part of the prosecution theory and the trial judge's discussion of motive; it should not be read as a description of any religion, nationality or immigrant community.

From submerged car to homicide case

The bodies were discovered after the family had travelled through Ontario and stopped in the Kingston area. Police later rejected the family's account that the deaths were an accident. Investigators examined vehicle evidence, the movements of family members, statements made after the deaths and the wider family history.

Mohammad Shafia, Tooba Yahya and Hamed Shafia were arrested in July 2009. The prosecution's position at trial was that the four victims were killed deliberately and that the vehicle in the canal was used to make the deaths appear accidental. The defence disputed the Crown's theory and maintained that the deaths were accidental.

The trial

The trial began in Ontario Superior Court in 2011. A jury heard weeks of evidence concerning the physical scene, family communications, prior conflicts and the defendants' conduct before and after the deaths. The case drew national attention, but the legal question remained specific: whether the Crown had proven that each accused participated in four planned and deliberate killings.

On January 29, 2012, the jury found Mohammad Shafia, Tooba Yahya and Hamed Shafia guilty of four counts each of first-degree murder. First-degree murder in Canada carries a mandatory life sentence with no parole eligibility for 25 years. The verdict therefore produced life sentences for all three accused.

Appeals and the age issue

The convictions were challenged in the Ontario Court of Appeal. One major issue concerned Hamed Shafia's age at the time of the offences. Before trial he and his parents had acknowledged that he was 18. On appeal, Hamed sought to introduce fresh evidence claiming that he had actually been 17, which would have raised jurisdictional issues under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

On November 2, 2016, the Ontario Court of Appeal refused to admit that fresh evidence and dismissed the appeal from conviction and sentence. Hamed then sought permission to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. On April 13, 2017, the Supreme Court granted an extension of time but dismissed the application for leave to appeal. The convictions therefore remained intact.

What the courts established — and what this page does not generalize

The criminal verdicts established that the three accused were guilty of four first-degree murders. The prosecution and trial judge described the motive through the language of a distorted concept of honour. This archive treats that finding as case-specific. It does not attribute the crimes to Afghan identity, Islam, migration, or any other broad community characteristic.

The victims' lives are also not reduced to disagreements over clothing, dating or family rules. Those details mattered because prosecutors used them as evidence of motive and control. They do not transfer responsibility away from the convicted offenders.

Timeline

1. June 30, 2009
   Four bodies are found

   Zainab, Sahar, Geeti and Rona Amir Mohammad are found in a submerged car at Kingston Mills.

2. July 2009
   Three relatives are arrested

   Mohammad Shafia, Tooba Yahya and Hamed Shafia are charged in connection with the deaths.

3. 2011
   Trial begins

   An Ontario Superior Court jury hears the prosecution and defence cases.

4. January 29, 2012
   Four first-degree murder convictions each

   The jury convicts all three accused on all four murder counts.

5. November 2, 2016
   Ontario appeal dismissed

   The Court of Appeal refuses Hamed's fresh-evidence application and dismisses his appeal.

6. April 13, 2017
   Supreme Court leave denied

   The Supreme Court of Canada declines to hear Hamed Shafia's proposed further appeal.

Current status

The case is solved and adjudicated. Mohammad Shafia, Tooba Yahya and Hamed Shafia remain convicted of four counts each of first-degree murder. The Supreme Court of Canada's refusal of leave in 2017 left the Ontario appellate result in place.