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1:33

bar 20. In June of

1:36

2009, a Nissan Central

1:38

with four bodies in

1:41

it was pulled from

1:43

a canal near Kingston,

1:45

Ontario. In part one, we discussed the

1:48

backstory of the family at the center

1:50

of this case, and now in part two,

1:52

we are going to discuss the crime

1:54

scene, the changing stories, and the final

1:56

resolution. I'm Charlie and welcome to Crime

1:58

Lines. Hello

2:07

and welcome back to Crime Lines, just

2:09

to catch us up to where we

2:11

left off with Part 1. Three of

2:13

the Shafia's seven children were

2:15

found drowned in a

2:17

car, 19-year-old Zaneb, 17-year-old

2:20

Sahar, and 13-year-old Giti.

2:22

Alongside them was their father's

2:24

first wife from his polygynous

2:26

marriage, Rona Amir Muhammad. Though

2:29

Rona was not the biological mother

2:31

of any of the children, She

2:33

did help raise all of them

2:35

and she was the primary caretaker

2:38

for Sahar, so I would characterize

2:40

her as a mother figure to

2:42

most of them, but to Sahar

2:44

she was her mother. The biological

2:46

parents of the girls,

2:49

Muhammad and Tuba, along

2:51

with their 18-year-old son Hamid,

2:53

tried to say that this was a

2:55

joy ride gone wrong. They claimed that

2:57

Zainab had asked for the keys to the

3:00

Nissan under the guise of getting her clothes

3:02

out of the trunk, and then she took

3:04

off in the car with the others. But

3:06

the investigators came to believe

3:08

that Zainab did not drive the car

3:10

into the canal where it was found.

3:12

For one thing, like I mentioned in part

3:15

one, this was not exactly an

3:17

easily accessible part of the canal.

3:19

No one could have driven in there

3:21

unintentionally, no matter how bad of a

3:23

driver of a driver they were. But

3:25

the police did not believe

3:27

that anyone drove the car

3:29

into the canal intentionally

3:32

either. And that's because while the

3:34

keys were in the ignition and

3:36

the car was in gear, the

3:38

ignition was in the off position.

3:41

The car could have at most

3:43

rolled into the water, unless it

3:45

was pushed. Near the area where

3:47

the Nissan went into the

3:49

canal, they found seven pieces

3:52

of plastic from a head-to-light

3:54

cover. In looking at the Nissan it was

3:56

easy to see that the broken pieces did not

3:59

come from that vehicle. But one of the

4:01

tail lights of the Nissan was

4:03

broken and there was rear bumper

4:05

damage on that same side as

4:07

though the Nissan had been hit

4:09

from behind. The other strange

4:11

thing was that there were no indications

4:14

that any of the four women

4:16

tried to exit the car when

4:18

it went into the water. No

4:20

one was wearing seat belts and

4:23

the driver's window was open.

4:25

Under those circumstances, in the

4:27

experience of these divers,

4:30

they would have expected that

4:32

at least one person, even

4:34

if they weren't much of a

4:36

swimmer, would have gotten either out of

4:38

the window or maybe even halfway

4:40

out, like if they got caught

4:42

up on the steering wheel or a

4:44

seat belt. But it didn't

4:46

look like anyone even tried

4:48

to get to that window. So were

4:51

they even alive when they went

4:53

into the water? The autopsies, unfortunately,

4:55

could not answer this

4:58

question definitively. It was

5:00

determined that all four had drowned,

5:03

but the pathologist could not say

5:05

if they were conscious when they

5:07

drowned or unconscious at the time.

5:09

He couldn't say whether they were in

5:11

the car when they drowned or if

5:14

they were drowned first, placed into the

5:16

car, and then the car was pushed

5:18

into the water. He did find

5:20

that Rona, Zainab, and Getty all

5:23

had fresh bruising to the tops

5:25

of their heads, and this bruising

5:27

was fairly substantial with Rona and

5:30

Getty. So was that from someone striking

5:32

them on the heads, or was

5:34

it from the impact as the

5:36

car went into the water? No one

5:38

could say for sure. There were no other

5:41

significant injuries, and the toxicology report

5:43

was clear. No drugs or alcohol

5:45

in their systems. So it's not

5:48

like they had been drugged or

5:50

they drank to the point of

5:53

unconsciousness. Basically, during the

5:55

early part of the investigation,

5:57

there was enough here to

5:59

suspect. aside, but there was not

6:01

yet enough to prove it. So

6:03

when the news broke about

6:06

the deaths, the community largely

6:08

rallied around the Shefia family.

6:11

They just lost four family

6:13

members in what looked to

6:15

the public, like a tragic

6:18

but unintentional event. They even

6:20

did some tearful media

6:22

interviews, which I'm sure

6:25

the investigators watched with interest,

6:27

because we know now the

6:29

Muhammad and even Tuba were

6:31

suspects from day one. While

6:33

those new segments were airing

6:36

and the community was rallying

6:38

around this family, the investigators

6:40

were gathering evidence and

6:43

building a case. And like we

6:45

see so often in these modern

6:47

cases, it ended up being a

6:49

mix of a digital footprint and

6:51

witnesses coming forward that

6:53

built out the timeline of this

6:56

case. And we're going to get

6:58

into that timeline now, but to

7:00

avoid backtracking too much and making

7:02

this episode unnecessarily longer than it

7:04

needs to be, I will point

7:06

out how the information would later

7:09

fit into the crown's eventual theory

7:11

of the crime as we go. We

7:13

need to start back before this trip

7:15

even happened. We are going to

7:17

start with the time of Zenab's wedding,

7:19

since that seems to be the

7:22

first major event on the timeline,

7:24

the catalyst of what would come.

7:26

During the time period after Zainab

7:28

moved back home after she had gone

7:30

to the woman shelter, and during the

7:33

time Tuba was still trying to talk

7:35

her out of going through with the

7:37

marriage, so about a two-week block,

7:39

Tuba reached out to her brother Fazel.

7:42

He lived in Sweden, but he

7:44

was trying to mediate the situation

7:46

over the phone the best he

7:48

could. When he talked to Zainab,

7:50

he came to the conclusion that

7:52

she wasn't ready for marriage. but

7:54

that she really wanted out of her

7:57

father's house. Fozle told the family

7:59

that he won... to go to Montreal

8:01

and meet with Ammar Zenab's intended

8:03

husband. If Zenab was going to

8:06

marry him for love or just

8:08

to get out of the house,

8:10

he needed to know that Amar

8:13

was ready to support a wife.

8:15

But as to not overstep too

8:17

much as an uncle, he called

8:20

Muhammad who was in Dubai at

8:22

the time to ask for permission.

8:24

According to Fazal, Muhammad did not

8:27

approve of him going to Montreal

8:29

because he did not approve of

8:31

Amar under any circumstances and he

8:34

really didn't care about Fazal's assessment

8:36

of the situation. Muhammad instead gave

8:38

Fazal a counter-proposal. He suggested that

8:41

Fazal invite some of the family,

8:43

including Zainab, to Sweden for a

8:45

vacation. Muhammad would meet them over

8:48

there. and while out for a

8:50

picnic at the beach or along

8:52

a river, Muhammad would push Zainab

8:55

into the water and drown her

8:57

for dishonoring the family. Fazel was

8:59

appalled, cursed at Muhammad, and hung

9:02

up on him. He then called

9:04

Tuba and their other brother who

9:06

happened to live in Montreal to

9:09

tell them what Muhammad had said

9:11

and to warn them that he

9:13

might be dangerously angry over the

9:16

situation. Before Zainab ended up drowning

9:18

in a canal, you can see

9:21

how this statement may have been

9:23

brushed off as an angry outburst

9:25

and not an actual plan or

9:28

a proposal for murder. But knowing

9:30

that is where we're headed, it

9:32

does look like this may have

9:35

been the start of the planning.

9:37

And we will see more of

9:39

this during the month of June

9:42

where there were several searches done

9:44

on a family laptop. for things

9:46

related to bodies of water, things

9:49

like boat rentals, areas of the

9:51

Ottawa River, and mountain spots with

9:53

water. This included the Utaway Reed

9:56

where the family went out of

9:58

their way to visit prior to

10:00

heading to Niagara Falls. This area

10:03

has lakes, a river, and even

10:05

a reservoir. This area really had

10:07

the investigators' attention because according to

10:10

Hamid's cell phone records, he had

10:12

driven up there on June 20th,

10:14

three days before the family left

10:17

for their road trip vacation, and

10:19

then he came home later that

10:21

same day. This is a nearly

10:24

seven-hour round trip, so it seems

10:26

like he went up there for

10:28

a very specific reason. After Hamid

10:31

got back to Montreal from this

10:33

trip, there were more searches on

10:35

the laptop related to that area

10:38

and a search for, quote, where

10:40

to commit a murder. One of

10:42

the hard things with computer evidence

10:45

like this is putting a specific

10:47

person behind that keyboard. particularly when

10:49

we're talking about a household that

10:52

has 10 people living there. It

10:54

appeared that the laptop had been

10:57

purchased by Muhammad, but it was

10:59

used primarily by Hamid based on

11:01

what people said, and the digital

11:04

evidence also supported this. When Hamid

11:06

was in Montreal and Muhammad was

11:08

in Dubai, the computer connected to

11:11

the internet in Montreal. It was

11:13

only after Hamid went to Dubai

11:15

that the laptop was used there.

11:18

So this definitely seems to be...

11:20

Hamid's laptop. We also have one

11:22

more clue as to which of

11:25

the two men were using this.

11:27

The searches were all conducted in

11:29

English. Mohammed did not generally use

11:32

English outside of situations where it

11:34

was necessary, even when he was

11:36

being interviewed by the police. Mohammed

11:39

used a Farsi interpreter. Hamid, however,

11:41

was completely fluent in English, having

11:43

attended English-speaking schools. McLean's magazine called

11:46

the searches and Hamid's trip out

11:48

to the Utaway region a quote

11:50

full-blown reconnaissance. And is there any

11:53

other way to put it? Hamid

11:55

started re- researching this to the

11:57

point that he did a seven-hour

12:00

trip in one day just to

12:02

check it out. The police came

12:04

to believe that the murders were

12:07

initially supposed to happen while they

12:09

were up there, but something stopped

12:11

them and they had to pivot.

12:14

So they got a hotel for

12:16

the night and then kept driving

12:18

on toward Niagara Falls, stopping for

12:21

40 minutes in the area of

12:23

the canal where the car would

12:25

eventually be found. And it turned

12:28

out that this wasn't the only

12:30

visit to that area prior to

12:32

the deaths. In the middle of

12:35

the trip to Niagara, on June

12:37

27th at around 8.30 at night,

12:40

Sahar's phone called Hamid's phone. Sahar's

12:42

phone pinged near the falls, but

12:44

Hamid's phone pinged off a tower

12:47

just about 15 minutes or so

12:49

away from the locks. Why did

12:51

Hamid drive nearly four hours to

12:54

Kingston Mill locks? three days before

12:56

the murders. It looked like another

12:58

reconnaissance mission. The family then checked

13:01

out of the hotel at Niagara

13:03

Falls around 8 p.m. on June

13:05

29th and started driving back towards

13:08

Montreal. This was a pretty late

13:10

start for a road trip and

13:12

the police think that was also

13:15

on purpose. Someone wanted to make

13:17

sure Rona, Zaneb, Sahar, and Gidi.

13:19

were all tired and possibly even

13:22

sleeping in the car as they

13:24

drove. As they traveled through Kingston

13:26

late at night, there were multiple

13:29

places they could have exited the

13:31

highway to pick hotels. But instead

13:33

of choosing an area where there

13:36

were several hotel options, they passed

13:38

all that. They got through town

13:40

and got off the highway at

13:43

the exit that would take them

13:45

to the canal locks. The rest

13:47

of the timeline, the rest of

13:50

what we're gonna talk about right

13:52

now, is in the realm of

13:54

just a theory. And it would

13:57

have to be tried out in

13:59

court. But what the government believed

14:01

happened was that the two cars

14:04

stopped near the canal and Mohammed

14:06

and Hamid took the surviving children

14:09

to the motel where they booked

14:11

two rooms. Even telling the night

14:13

manager there would be six people

14:15

staying, not the ten people they

14:17

had in their family. Tuba claimed

14:20

she and the other four drove

14:22

until they found the motel, but

14:24

that made no sense. What made

14:26

more sense. was that Mohammed and

14:28

Hamid left the three kids, aka

14:31

the potential witnesses, at the

14:33

motel, while they went back

14:35

to where Tuba, Rona, Zenab, Sahar,

14:37

and Gidi were waiting. This

14:39

would have been around 1.30

14:41

in the morning, based on

14:43

Sahar's phone records. Her cell phone

14:46

last pinged at 1.36 a. And

14:48

it pinged off a tower near

14:50

the canal. While the authorities could

14:52

not prove this forensically, they

14:54

believed that when Muhammad and

14:56

Hamid arrived, the four women

14:59

were drowned at least to

15:01

the point of unconsciousness. They were

15:03

then placed into the Nissan and the

15:05

car was driven up to the lock

15:08

that it would eventually go into.

15:10

And this is the point where

15:12

things first went wrong in this

15:14

plan of theirs. The driver of

15:16

the Nissan got out of the

15:19

car and reached through the open

15:21

driver's side window, shifted it into

15:23

first gear, and took a step

15:25

back to watch the car creep its

15:27

way into the water. But based

15:29

on damage done to the underside

15:32

of the Nissan, the police believe

15:34

it got stuck with just the

15:36

front wheels over the edge. Now, they

15:38

had to pivot. At some point, someone

15:41

reached through the window to turn

15:43

off the engine. which would later

15:45

be one of the first things

15:47

that told the investigators the car

15:49

had not been driven into

15:51

the canal. Someone then got behind

15:54

the wheel of the Alexis SUV

15:56

and used it to push the Nissan

15:59

into the water. which led to the

16:01

smashed headlight on the Lexus and

16:03

the smashed tail light on the

16:05

Nissan. Though someone picked up most

16:07

pieces of the headlight, they did

16:09

miss a few small ones in

16:12

the dark, and these were found

16:14

at the scene by the investigators.

16:16

Muhammad Tuba and Hamid now had

16:18

an unanticipated issue. One of their

16:20

cars was in the canal, and

16:22

the other had damaged to the

16:25

front of it. To throw the

16:27

police off, they decided that Hamid

16:29

had to bring the Lexus back

16:31

to Montreal, stage a wreck in

16:33

a parking lot there, and then

16:35

come back to Kingston in the

16:37

undamaged minivan, which is what he

16:40

did. The police ended up seizing

16:42

the Lexus SUV, and they found

16:44

that the broken headlight pieces at

16:46

the canal matched the SUV. They

16:48

also found green paint transfer on

16:50

the Lexus that was consistent with

16:52

the paint on a garbage drum.

16:55

near the canal and both of

16:57

these things, put that Lexus at

16:59

the crime scene. Everything we just

17:01

went over took an entire investigation

17:03

to unravel, but they had enough

17:05

of these pieces by mid-July 2009

17:07

that a judge signed off on

17:10

a wiretap on the family's home

17:12

and their minivan. To get access

17:14

to the vehicle on July 18th,

17:16

the investigators had to Bahamid and

17:18

Muhammad come to Kingston for an

17:20

update on the investigation. They had

17:23

to drive the minivan there because

17:25

that was the only vehicle they

17:27

had left, so the police installed

17:29

the bugs while the family was

17:31

inside the station. And before they

17:33

headed back to Montreal in the

17:35

now bugged minivan, the investigators planted

17:38

a little seed. They bluffed and

17:40

told the family that they learned

17:42

there was a security camera at

17:44

the canal, and they were going

17:46

over the footage. They did this

17:48

to stir up a conversation between

17:50

the family and it worked. From

17:53

the wiretap in the minivan, they

17:55

heard Mohammed say that the police

17:57

were... lying about the camera. And

17:59

Tuba said she knew there wasn't

18:01

one there because she had, quote,

18:03

looked around and didn't see any.

18:05

But if there was, all three

18:08

of them would have been recorded.

18:10

Haman chimed in that it was

18:12

so dark that night that there

18:14

didn't seem to be electricity in

18:16

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want to miss out. Then

19:01

the police kept listening in on

19:04

conversations that happened in the home

19:06

and in the minivan and these

19:08

were a rough listen or for

19:10

most of us, a tough read

19:12

because they did have to be

19:14

translated. The worst of it was

19:16

Muhammad absolutely ranting about his daughters

19:19

and talking about what a great

19:21

father he had been only to

19:23

have been betrayed by them. A

19:25

lot of it was directed at

19:27

Zainab. He called her a horror.

19:29

He said she dishonored the family

19:31

and Islam. And of all four

19:33

victims, he said that if they

19:36

came back to life a hundred

19:38

times and he had a cleaver

19:40

in his hand, he would cut

19:42

them into pieces. He even said

19:44

something about the devil shitting on

19:46

their graves. Tuba was not entirely

19:48

silent in all of this. She

19:51

made a comment on July 20th

19:53

that Zainab was already done, but

19:55

she wished Sahar and Giti were

19:57

not. But Muhammad reassured her that

19:59

there was quote no other way

20:01

and he called them treacherous. He

20:03

said when he saw pictures of

20:06

the girls and in this context

20:08

he meant pictures of them with

20:10

boyfriends and wearing bikinis and such.

20:12

He said he was consoled. Quote,

20:14

I say to myself you did

20:16

well. Would they come back to

20:18

life a hundred times for you

20:21

to do the same again? end

20:23

quote. In another statement in the

20:25

middle of another rant, Muhammad said

20:27

quote. I am telling you now,

20:29

and I was telling you before,

20:31

that whoever plays with my honor,

20:33

my words are the same. There

20:36

is no value of life without

20:38

honor." End quote. Concerned for the

20:40

welfare of the remaining minor children

20:42

in the home at this point,

20:44

they were removed the following day

20:46

July 21st. The authorities believed that

20:48

Muhammad Shafia was a specific type

20:51

of family annihilator, and this is

20:53

something that I have done quite

20:55

a bit of reading on over

20:57

the years. For a period of

20:59

time, mostly during the COVID lockdowns

21:01

when I had nowhere else to

21:03

be, I was doing live streams

21:05

where I talked about true crime.

21:08

And I did a couple videos

21:10

on the different types of family

21:12

annihilators because the psychology of family

21:14

annihilators interests me. We say, why

21:16

do people do this? And the

21:18

truth is the answer varies depending

21:20

on the circumstances, but most of

21:23

them fall into a few categories.

21:25

In a UK study that looked

21:27

at 71 family annihilation cases from

21:29

1990 until 2012, they found that

21:31

half of them were motivated by

21:33

a family breakdown, like a divorce.

21:35

Twelve percent were motivated by financial

21:38

stress, and 38 percent were motivated

21:40

by, quote, mercy. And not mercy

21:42

in the way we think of

21:44

it, but in the sense that

21:46

the killer justified their actions by

21:48

believing it was saving the victim

21:50

or the family from something. Honor

21:53

killings motivated to save the family,

21:55

the victim, or even just the

21:57

parent, from shame would fall under

21:59

this category. I am using the

22:01

honor killings because these are much

22:03

more about shame and control. However,

22:05

some are proposing that we change

22:08

the name of these types

22:10

of killings because calling them

22:12

honor killings is not clear

22:15

communication. Some propose that we

22:17

call these shame killings or

22:19

shame-based killings rather than honor

22:21

killings because these are much

22:24

more about shame and control

22:26

than they are about actual

22:28

honor. Honor or shame killings are

22:31

often associated with Muslim communities,

22:33

even though Islam does not

22:35

support the death penalty for

22:38

honor-related misconduct. And honor-related killings

22:40

have been documented in multiple religions,

22:43

and sometimes they don't have a

22:45

religious backing at all, but rather

22:47

a personal one. So it's really

22:50

important to remember that as far

22:52

as victimology and risk assessment goes,

22:54

we have to view this as

22:56

more cultural than religious than religious.

22:59

According to Sharzad Mohab,

23:01

the co-author of the 2004

23:03

book, Violence in the Name of

23:05

Honor, the root of these

23:07

murders is the control

23:09

of women in patriarchal societies.

23:12

So applying that to this case,

23:14

if Muhammad could not control

23:16

his own daughters and their

23:19

behaviors and their dress, how

23:21

could he be trusted to do

23:23

anything else in the world?

23:25

to be a businessman, to

23:27

be a respected community leader,

23:29

his daughter's behaviors, and

23:31

his inability to control

23:33

those reflected poorly on

23:36

him within this mindset. So

23:38

that brings up the question,

23:40

why Rona? Well, there are

23:42

indications that she wanted to leave

23:44

Muhammad and was only staying for

23:47

the children and because of the

23:49

issues with her visa. But that

23:51

was starting to wear thin as a

23:53

motivation for her to stay. The children

23:56

were getting older and they didn't need

23:58

her as much. Plus they would be...

24:00

leaving the home themselves within the

24:02

next few years. She talked to

24:04

a niece who lived in the

24:06

US about maybe she could meet

24:08

at the border and Rona could

24:10

basically sneak into the United States.

24:12

She really was actively looking for

24:14

ways to leave at the time

24:16

of her murder. And maybe Muhammad

24:19

knew that. Maybe she even told

24:21

him she wanted a divorce. Or

24:23

maybe he knew that Rona's loyalty

24:25

was not to him, but to

24:27

the children. and she would never,

24:29

ever stay quiet in the aftermath

24:31

of their deaths. Maybe she was

24:33

just too dangerous to leave alive.

24:35

It is hard to know the

24:37

individual motivation of why Rona was

24:39

included in this, and it is

24:42

possible that murder was more about

24:44

getting rid of a witness than

24:46

it was about honor or shame.

24:48

And I think this plays into

24:50

something else I learned about honor

24:52

killings. They're not all family annihilations

24:54

as we know. Oftentimes only one

24:56

person is killed. But something that

24:58

is interesting is that even when

25:00

there is only one victim, there

25:02

is often family complicity in the

25:05

crime. A single daughter may be

25:07

killed, but it's common for multiple

25:09

family members to know that the

25:11

murder is going to happen and

25:13

participate in it in some way,

25:15

even if they're not there for

25:17

the actual event. They will help

25:19

set it up or cover it

25:21

up. Muhammad had to know that

25:23

Rona would not go along with

25:25

that, but according to the police,

25:28

others would. They believed that Muhammad

25:30

was the driving force behind this,

25:32

but Tuba and Hamid were just

25:34

as complicit in the planning, execution,

25:36

and cover-up of a quadruple murder.

25:38

And believing this, that left the

25:40

three surviving minor children with zero

25:42

safe adults in that house, and

25:44

that is why they were removed.

25:46

It was also beneficial to get

25:48

them out of the house when

25:51

the authorities knew an arrest was

25:53

coming very... soon. If these three

25:55

people would kill four others because

25:57

a couple of them were quote-unquote

25:59

rebellious, what would their end game

26:01

be if they were cornered? So

26:03

on July 22, the day after

26:05

the kids were taken into foster

26:07

care and were safely out of

26:09

the home, Muhammad, Tuba, and Hamid

26:11

were all arrested without incident. As

26:14

the authorities looked into the family

26:16

while they were building this court

26:18

case, all of the child services

26:20

calls came up. They learned that

26:22

Rona wasn't a cousin, but rather

26:24

a wife, and family members told

26:26

the police about the threats Muhammad

26:28

had made again zenap. Not just

26:30

Tuba's brother, but also Rona's sister

26:32

as well. Rona had confided in

26:34

her that she heard Muhammad say

26:37

to Tuba and Hamid that he

26:39

was going to prepare documents. Go

26:41

to Afghanistan to sell some property

26:43

and then kill Zaneb. Either Tuber

26:45

or Hamid asked, what about the

26:47

other one? And Rona thought the

26:49

other one was referring to her.

26:51

Her sister said Rona was truly

26:53

frightened and she tried to calm

26:55

her down thinking that this was

26:58

not a real threat that they

27:00

were safe. They were in Canada.

27:02

But now that Zaneb and Rona

27:04

and Sahar and Gidi were all

27:06

dead... It definitely seems that there

27:08

was something to Rona's fear. With

27:10

the three in custody, they were

27:12

all interviewed again and initially stuck

27:14

to the original story, but that

27:16

wouldn't last. Tuba was the first

27:18

to change her story admitting that

27:21

she was there when the car

27:23

went into the water, but she

27:25

was very vague on what she

27:27

witnessed. She said, Mohammed was near

27:29

the Nissan while it was parked

27:31

alongside the canal, but she and

27:33

Hamid were across the road at

27:35

that time. They heard a splash

27:37

and they ran over, but Tuba

27:39

said she fainted and woke up

27:41

in the motel with no idea

27:44

what happened and initially had assumed

27:46

that Muhammad would have seen the

27:48

others. Tuba would later recant this

27:50

version saying that she only said

27:52

it after hours of interrogation and

27:54

she had gotten worn down, but

27:56

this would not be the last

27:58

time she changed her story, but

28:00

we'll get into that later because

28:02

it comes down the road a

28:04

bit. Muhammad stuck to his story

28:07

the whole time through, but we

28:09

know in these interviews he outright

28:11

lied to the police. He told

28:13

them that he wanted the person

28:15

who killed his family punished and

28:17

that his kids were pure and

28:19

sinless. But we have all these

28:21

recordings of him saying the complete

28:23

opposite, using words like treacherous, to

28:25

describe them. He also lied when

28:27

they told him that they knew

28:30

Rona was his wife. He said

28:32

she wasn't, she was just a

28:34

cousin. When they showed Muhammad, a

28:36

wedding photo that a family member

28:38

had sent to them, he still

28:40

lied and said it wasn't taken

28:42

at a wedding. It must have

28:44

been her birthday or something. And

28:46

you guys, this is a photo

28:48

of the two of them. Dressed

28:50

to the nine standing in front

28:53

of a three-tier cake as Rona

28:55

is slicing it. It was clearly

28:57

a wedding photo. So we have

28:59

Tuba with a changing story. We

29:01

have Muhammad telling obvious lies. And

29:03

when it came to Hamid, he

29:05

initially said very little just that

29:07

he didn't know what happened and

29:09

he wanted to go back to

29:11

his cell. But then, months later,

29:13

he spoke with a private investigator

29:16

and his story changed. How this

29:18

investigator started working on the case

29:20

is a little weird. He was

29:22

initially acting as a translator for

29:24

Muhammad and his defense attorneys, and

29:26

it seems like he came to

29:28

believe Muhammad was innocent, so he

29:30

was trying to do some investigative

29:32

work on his own to prove

29:34

it. He interviewed Hamid in jail

29:36

and gave the recording of this

29:39

interview to the police since it

29:41

exonerated Muhammad. Hamid's news story was

29:43

that Zainab Sahar and Gidi decided

29:45

to go joyride in the Nissan

29:47

after their parents were asleep and

29:49

Rona went with them because she

29:51

needed to buy a phone card.

29:53

Hamid around the same time was

29:55

heading back to Montreal and he

29:57

realized what they were doing. was

30:00

worried because Zainab didn't have a

30:02

license and as far as he

30:04

knew she didn't really know how to

30:06

drive very well. So he decided to

30:08

follow them to make sure they were okay.

30:10

Hamid followed them to a gas station

30:12

where Rona could have bought a phone

30:14

card but the station was closed. So

30:17

Zainab tried to turn around and

30:19

somehow ended up on Kingston Mills

30:22

Road where Hamid continued to follow

30:24

them. He said he rear-ended the Nissan

30:26

at some point and they stopped. But

30:28

that part of the road was

30:31

too narrow for them to just

30:33

turn around. So Zena Abbott drove

30:35

forward while Hamid was outside of

30:37

the Lexus picking up the broken

30:39

plastic. While he was doing that,

30:41

he heard a big splash. Not sure

30:43

what was going on, he ran to the

30:45

edge of the water. Hamid said he

30:47

saw the headlights of the car

30:49

underwater, and he dropped the headlight

30:51

pieces that were in his hand and

30:54

ran back to the SUV. So this

30:56

is his explanation for how those pieces

30:58

got to where they were found. He

31:00

said he tried to alert for help by

31:03

honking, but no one responded. So he

31:05

grabbed a rope and he threw it

31:07

into the water so that the women

31:09

would have something to grab onto and

31:11

he could pull them up out of

31:13

the canal. According to Hamid, no

31:16

one grabbed onto the rope and

31:18

he waited about eight minutes before

31:20

he decided to just leave and

31:22

drive back to Montreal. As for

31:24

why he didn't call the police or

31:27

his parents or anyone else, he said

31:29

he was scared that the police would

31:31

blame him for what happened and he

31:33

was scared of his parents' reaction. He

31:36

then staged hitting the pole in Montreal,

31:38

even leaving some of the headlight pieces

31:40

that he still had with him in

31:42

the parking lot to make it look

31:45

legit. Hamid admitted that he had lied

31:47

to the police and did not tell

31:49

them everything he knew before this point,

31:51

but he was adamant about two things

31:53

now. One, his parents had no knowledge

31:55

of what happened, and two, no one caused

31:57

the car to go into the water, other...

32:00

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20. honest,

42:02

he was liberal when it came

42:04

to women's rights, that sort of

42:07

thing. But I'm not sure that

42:09

it countered the family members who

42:11

testified against him. Tuba's uncle,

42:13

who called Muhammad to tell him

42:15

about Zainab and Amar's annulled

42:18

marriage, testified that on that

42:20

call, Muhammad called Zainab a

42:22

whore, he called her dirty, and said

42:24

she was a curse to him. He said

42:26

if he was there, he would have killed

42:28

her. Tuba's brother flew to

42:30

Montreal from Sweden to testify

42:32

about Muhammad threatening to drown

42:35

Zainab and Rona's sister came

42:37

from France to testify about

42:39

Rona overhearing talk about killing

42:41

Zainab and quote the other one.

42:43

All three of these witnesses

42:45

experienced threats due to their

42:48

cooperation with the investigation and

42:50

Tuba's brother and uncle were

42:52

ostracized by the family and

42:54

some friends even for testifying

42:56

against her. The fallout from this

42:58

was very hard on them, and

43:01

it's a reminder why it

43:03

can be so complicated for

43:05

family members to come

43:07

forward with information they

43:09

have. Thankfully, these three did,

43:11

though of course the defense painted

43:13

them as liars. And then

43:16

in closing statements, the defense

43:18

attorneys said there were just

43:20

too many questions of what

43:22

actually happened here. And it was

43:24

most likely that it did happen the way

43:27

Hamid said it did. The explanation

43:29

that made the most sense was that

43:31

Zainab had been driving. Muhammad and

43:33

Tuba were completely innocent and Hamid

43:36

was guilty of being, quote, stupid,

43:38

morally blameworthy, but other than that,

43:40

he is not responsible for the

43:42

girl's deaths, end quote. The defense

43:44

attorneys also dismantled the idea of

43:47

this being an honor killing, saying

43:49

that the family wasn't even that

43:51

conservative or religious. and the accusations

43:54

of abuse made by the

43:56

victims, they made them up. Rather

43:58

than being oppressed... Zainab was

44:00

actually spoiled and she was just

44:03

not used to not getting her

44:05

away so she ran away from

44:07

her parents when they opposed her

44:10

marriage. And Sahar wanted more freedom

44:12

and used accusations of abuse to

44:14

manipulate the situation. But the crown

44:17

went over all of the evidence

44:19

in their long closing statement to

44:22

say otherwise. It wasn't just that

44:24

they had physical evidence that the

44:26

Lexus pushed the Nissan into the

44:29

water. It was the evidence given

44:31

through witnesses, Rona's journal, the computer

44:33

searches, and the wiretaps all put

44:36

together that proved what happened here.

44:38

Their theory was that Muhammad decided

44:40

to kill his daughters and Rona,

44:43

with Hamid helping him find locations,

44:45

and Tuba keeping the four women

44:47

where they needed to be and

44:50

feeling safe, so they wouldn't run

44:52

away or try to get help.

44:54

All three knew what was going

44:57

to happen that day, and they

44:59

were equally culpable. Over the course

45:01

of two days, the jury deliberated

45:04

for 15 hours going through each

45:06

bit of evidence. At the end

45:08

of their deliberations, they found 59-year-old

45:11

Muhammad, 42-year-old Tuba, and 21-year-old Ahmed

45:13

guilty of first-degree murder. And they

45:15

were sentenced to life sentences with

45:18

parole eligibility after 25 years. They

45:20

appealed, of course, and a big

45:22

part of the appeals was the

45:25

evidence presented about honor killings. claiming

45:27

that that prejudiced the jury. The

45:29

crown argued that their expert wasn't

45:32

actually the one who brought up

45:34

on her killings, the police did

45:36

not bring it up, the prosecutor

45:39

didn't bring it up. The person

45:41

who was speaking about honor and

45:43

dishonor, that was Muhammad Shafia on

45:46

those wiretaps. These appeals were denied

45:48

largely because the court found that

45:51

even if they excluded the honor

45:53

killing evidence, there was still enough

45:55

evidence for a conviction. Hamid also

45:58

launched a appeal of his own

46:00

that argued he had some new

46:02

evidence. He said... that the crown

46:05

had his age wrong. They believed

46:07

he was 18 at the time

46:09

of the murders, but he was

46:12

actually 17, having been born not

46:14

in 1990, but rather 1991, and

46:16

he should have been tried as

46:19

a youthful offender. This gets a

46:21

little convoluted, but basically, Hamid and

46:23

Muhammad claimed that they only learned

46:26

of this error when a friend

46:28

of Muhammad sent paperwork to Canada.

46:30

so that they could settle some

46:33

property issues in Afghanistan. Mohammed said

46:35

that when they had to flee

46:37

Afghanistan initially, they left without those

46:40

documents and someone was holding on

46:42

to them for them. It wasn't

46:44

until Mohammed got them after the

46:47

convictions that he noticed that Hamid's

46:49

birth year was wrong on all

46:51

of the current documentation like his

46:54

passport and his residency application and

46:56

all his visa stuff. It's said

46:58

December 31st, 1990, but he was

47:01

really born on December 31st, 1991.

47:03

Now there are some issues with

47:05

this. Sahar was born on October

47:08

22nd, 1991. It's impossible for her

47:10

to, one, be younger than him,

47:13

but be born before him, and

47:15

two, for Tuba to have two

47:17

kids two months apart. So Hamid

47:20

had to then argue that Sahar's

47:22

birth year was also off by

47:24

a year. And then the other

47:27

kids after that, they had to

47:29

do the same thing with them

47:31

because the kids came in such

47:34

quick succession. These new birth years

47:36

were what they presented as Muhammad

47:38

moved the family around the world

47:41

with the various visas and residency

47:43

applications. So there was a mistake

47:45

on the paperwork for four or

47:48

five of his children that changed

47:50

their ages and Muhammad supposedly didn't

47:52

notice. But then he went along

47:55

with the new birth years ever

47:57

since, even though he didn't know

47:59

they had altered the birth years.

48:02

It literally makes no sense. And

48:04

surprise, surprise, the... The examination of

48:06

some of the documents proving Hamid

48:09

was only 17 called into question

48:11

their authenticity. Like one of them

48:13

was supposedly issued in 1995 and

48:16

had a rubber stamp on it

48:18

from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

48:20

But the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

48:23

didn't exist until 2004. If this

48:25

document was from the mid-90s, it

48:27

would have said the Islamic State

48:30

of Afghanistan. Obviously, this appeal didn't

48:32

succeed. And at that point, in

48:34

2016, they had exhausted all of

48:37

their appeals. In 2017, Tuba filed

48:39

for divorce from Muhammad, but he

48:42

refused to sign any papers. In

48:44

2019, Tuba applied for a temporary

48:46

absence from prison to visit her

48:49

mother's grave. At the hearing for

48:51

this request, we get yet another

48:53

version of events. This one was

48:56

more of a confession. Tuba claimed

48:58

she was there when the killings

49:00

happened, but she wasn't involved. She

49:03

said that they did pull over

49:05

near the canal, and she waited

49:07

in the Nissan while her husband

49:10

and son drove off to find

49:12

a motel. When they came back,

49:14

Muhammad told her to get into

49:17

the SUV, and she climbed into

49:19

the back seat. Then Muhammad drove

49:21

the SUV right into the Nissan,

49:24

and she asked him, what was

49:26

he doing? What was he doing?

49:28

He said he was going to

49:31

kill them. According to this new

49:33

story, Tuba tried to stop him

49:35

by grabbing him from behind and

49:38

begging him not to do it.

49:40

But she was in the back

49:42

seat and there wasn't much she

49:45

could do. Muhammad then hit the

49:47

Nissan a second time and it

49:49

went into the water. Afterwards, Hamid

49:52

calmly held her hand and it

49:54

seemed pretty obvious he knew what

49:56

was going to happen. Tuba expressed

49:59

remorse for what had happened that

50:01

she couldn't help her children. and

50:04

that she had lied about what

50:06

had happened for 10 years at

50:08

that point. She told them that

50:11

she was more free in prison

50:13

than she had been during her

50:15

marriage to Muhammad, which she had

50:18

entered into at only 17 years

50:20

old. Citing a low risk of

50:22

re-offense and compassion, the board granted

50:25

Tuba a five-hour furlough so that

50:27

she could visit her mother's grave

50:29

and this decision was very unpopular.

50:32

It was noted in a number

50:34

of places, including the Toronto Sun,

50:36

that she didn't ask to visit

50:39

the graves of her three dead

50:41

children or the woman who helped

50:43

her raise them. And though the

50:46

decision to give her this five-hour

50:48

furlough cited her remorse, many doubt

50:50

she meant any of it. And

50:53

should Tuba or Muhammad get full

50:55

parole, which is not expected any

50:57

earlier than 2034? They will not

51:00

remain in Canada at all. Their

51:02

permanent residency was revoked and they

51:04

will be deported immediately. It's not

51:07

clear if or when Hamid's residency

51:09

was revoked, but it is expected

51:11

that if he is paroled, he

51:14

will also be deported. This case

51:16

caused a lot of conversation about

51:18

honor killings, which then led to

51:21

conversations about if some of the

51:23

more sensational coverage was really just

51:25

veiled Islamophobia. And I hope I

51:28

presented the facts in a way

51:30

that does not contribute to that,

51:33

because I do think exploring cases

51:35

should be more productive than fear-mongering,

51:37

and there are some things that

51:40

came from this case that are

51:42

positives. For instance, Montreal Social Services,

51:44

who had multiple touch points with

51:47

the Shefia family prior to the

51:49

murders, started adding risk assessment for

51:51

honor killings. And any time we

51:54

are including cultural context in our

51:56

attempts to protect children, we're doing

51:58

a good thing. And the community

52:01

in Kingston raised money to leave

52:03

a... a legacy in honor of

52:05

Rona Zenab, Sahar, and Gidi. It

52:08

was so successful that Right to

52:10

Learn Afghanistan took on the funds

52:12

as a permanent scholarship program to

52:15

provide financial assistance for educational expenses

52:17

for Afghan women and girls who

52:19

are pursuing a higher education. While

52:22

this scholarship was a gift when

52:24

it started, this work is more

52:26

important than ever. In August of

52:29

2021, the Taliban returned to power

52:31

and on September 17th, they banned

52:33

girls from being educated after the

52:36

age of 12. UNICEF reports that

52:38

as of April 2025, so right

52:40

now, around 2.2 million girls have

52:43

been denied education in Afghanistan since

52:45

the ban was put into place.

52:47

And that number will only grow,

52:50

the longer it is in effect.

52:52

I am going to leave a

52:55

link to the Right to Learn

52:57

Afghanistan website in the show notes,

52:59

because while the Sheffield Fund is

53:02

why I found out about their

53:04

program and I am talking about

53:06

it, the research into education in

53:09

Afghanistan for girls since the takeover

53:11

of the Taliban shows me what

53:13

important work they're doing and should

53:16

you have the ability to do

53:18

so? Join me in making a

53:20

donation to Right to Learn Afghanistan.

53:23

Again, it'll be in the show

53:25

notes.