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Mohammad Shafia, front left, Tooba Yahya, front right, and their son Hamed Shafia, back left, are escorted at the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ontario on Saturday, January 28, 2012. Mohammad Shafia, front, Tooba Yahya, right, and their son Hamed Shafia, left, are escorted at the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ontario on Saturday, January 28, 2012. Mohammad Shafia, front, Tooba Yahya, back, and their son Hamed Shafia, middle, are escorted into the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ont., Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (Frank Gunn / THE CANADIAN PRESS) shafia, shafia deaths, rideau canal deaths

Jurors in Shafia trial end deliberations for the day

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CTV National News: Jury deliberates Shafia trial
The jury has ended its first day of deliberations in the Shafia murder trial, and there's no decision yet for the parents and son accused of killing four women. More from CTV's Montreal Bureau Chief Genevieve Beauchemin.
CTV News Channel: All or nothing in Shafia case
Criminal Defence Lawyer Leo Adler says it is highly unlikely that only one or two of the defendants in the Shafia case could be found guilty.

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Mohammad Shafia, front left, Tooba Yahya, front right, and their son Hamed Shafia, back left, are escorted at the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ontario on Saturday, January 28, 2012. Mohammad Shafia, front, Tooba Yahya, right, and their son Hamed Shafia, left, are escorted at the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ontario on Saturday, January 28, 2012. Mohammad Shafia, front, Tooba Yahya, back, and their son Hamed Shafia, middle, are escorted into the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ont., Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (Frank Gunn / THE CANADIAN PRESS) shafia, shafia deaths, rideau canal deaths

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Mohammad Shafia, front left, Tooba Yahya, front right, and their son Hamed Shafia, back left, are escorted at the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ontario on Saturday, January 28, 2012.

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Date: Sat. Jan. 28 2012 8:19 PM ET

Jurors in Kingston, Ont. finished their first full day of deliberations in the Shafia family murder trial on Saturday without reaching a verdict.

The jury deliberated for nine hours on Saturday, and throughout the day, they made no requests for information or clarifications from the judge. The jury will resume its work at 9 a.m. Sunday.

Mohammad Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Yahya 42, and their son Hamed, 21 were tried for four counts each of first-degree murder. They have pleaded not guilty.

It's been alleged that the trio planned to kill Shafia's daughters Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17 and Geeti, 13, as well as his first wife Rona Amir Mohammad.

The four bodies were found June 30, 2009, in a car submerged at the bottom of the locks of a canal in Kingston, Ont. The Montreal family had stopped in the eastern Ontario city on their way home from a trip to Niagara Falls.

Jurors saw 58 witnesses over the course of the 10-week trial, during which the Crown alleged the deaths were the result of premeditated murder staged to look like an accident.

The Crown has alleged the deaths were an honour killing, asserting that the behaviour of the women had shamed the Shafia family.

Though the accused are on trial for first-degree murder, jurors were told on Friday that they could also find the defendants guilty of second-degree murder, or not guilty.

CTV's Genevieve Beauchemin noted that this is an important point because the Crown has long argued that the murders were deliberate.

A verdict of second-degree murder would not require the same level of premeditation, she said on Saturday.

The Crown argued that the accused pushed the family car into the water -- with the four victims inside -- using a second vehicle. Physical evidence from the accident scene formed the basis for the Crown case, Beauchemin said.

Headlight pieces from the family's second vehicle were discovered on the pavement. As well, there were marks on the submerged vehicle "that leaves them to believe that the car was pushed in, that it didn't just simply fall in on its own as a tragic accident as the defence has been saying," she told CTV News Channel.

"And I think that's a crucial piece of evidence for them."

Meanwhile, the defence argued that the Crown case for murder had a giant hole because "there hasn't been any conclusive evidence put them exactly as to how and where the girls died," Beauchemin said.

The Crown has argued that the women were dead or unconscious when the car went into the water. But Beauchemin noted the Crown never explained precisely what happened to them.

The Shafia trial jury is comprised of seven-women and five men and is tasked with weighing months of evidence including wiretaps and testimony from various people close to the women.

During closing arguments last week, Hamed Shafia's lawyer referred to the Crown's honour killing theory as preposterous.

Patrick McCann told the court that the deaths were a tragic accident witnessed by his client and not planned by any of the three accused.

All three of the accused have told police that Zainab probably borrowed the car keys and went on a joy ride with the other three women. They surmised that the incident likely occurred because the teen was an inexperienced driver.

Later on, however, Hamed told an interpreter who was really a private investigator that he was present when the car entered the canal. He said he followed the car out of concern and rear-ended them near the scene.

Hamed maintains that he ran to the edge of the canal and dangled a rope in the water but there was no response. He says he then drove back home to Montreal without calling police, a point that he's been criticized for.

Meanwhile, both Yahya and Shafia have rebuked the Crown's evidence, saying they would not have killed their own children.

Comments are now closed for this story

LorraineH
said

Let's see - They put their seats in the 'recline' position, removed their seatbelts, opened the window and then, and only then, accidentally drove into the water.

Shouldn't take too long to come to a verdict.


Janice
said

We will all stand before GOD and give an account of our actions..as will these three. May the proper verdict come out.


Len
said

@KJ in Kingston:Everyone must 'enjoy' their day in court. Innocent until proven guilty!


NVancity
said

I think this is another Canadian judicial tragedy in the making. There are a lot of holes in the defence's argument but unfortunately, I think a lot of the evidence will be deemed circumstantial. The bits of the Lexus at the scene really is the only concrete tie. I'm guessing the parents will get off and Hamed might wind up being sentenced for lesser crimes than he was initially charged with...fleeing the scene of a crime, falsifying an accident report etc.


Ron S
said

Too many lies and inconsistencies on the part of the three accused.

The trip back to Montreal was to hide the damaged car; hoping it would not implicate them. Our Police here in Canada are not stupid. Possibly they would have got off scott free in their Country where Honor Killings and bribes are an accepted practice. My Justice prevail for these victims.


Denise Henshaw
said

If people coming to our country do not obey our laws they should be sent back to their country after doing time in jail. No more considering their ways. They should be aware of our ways.


Yan [the one who held a British passport]
said

This murder case is about a family that kills some of its members and this kind of murder case happens all the time in Canada. And yet, many people like Erika uses this case to attack our immigrants. Well, Erika, maybe you also should take a long hard look at what Canadians are. Did we not create some of the horrible monsters like William who raped and murdered women? Didn't one grandparent starve their grandson, Jeffrey to death in Ontario? Why should our immigrants embrace these kinds of terrible deeds? Immigrants are here to make Canada better - they are not to go back to the Stone Age with you, Erika.


Paul in Montreal
said

I wonder if the bomb scare and courtroom evacuation did anything to diminish the effectiveness of the prosecution's closing statements. That would be convenient.


Mike in ON
said

I do have to give CTV a nod here, for not opening up this story to comments as the trial has gone on. As much as we want to have our say, doing so often ends up having the effect that it can be hard to find unbiased jurors, and a public that has already passed sentence via the media. By keeping this trial away from the message posts, CTV has done their part to ensure a fair trial, which is especially important here, as there will likely be some precedent set.


Paul ~ Kitchener
said

We can expect a real backlash from the citizenry when the verdict comes in. Don't be surprised if they are found "NOT GUILTY" . The def3ence did a great job in proving there was no "Absolute Proof" & Doubt was proven to the core of the Prosecutors case. The press is going to have a "May Day - Pay Day" when the jury anounces their verdict. "Another O.J. Result soon"


Leon
said

To say the least, this is a very strange trial.
They are a lots of evidence that don't make sense.

What was Hamed thinking on this one?

From Story quote above: "Hamed maintains that he ran to the edge of the canal and dangled a rope in the water but there was no response. He says he then drove back home to Montreal without calling police, a point that he's been criticized for."

Where was Hamed's family love for his sisters and mother on this one? Instead of mourning, crying or doing everything in his power to save his family he drove back home to Montreal?( A fairly distance commute at that) No 911 call, no police report, nothing.

Suspicious? Absolutely.

Guilty? We'll find out soon enough...


Justice
said

They should never get out of jail.
What I am talking about is that they die in jail, never to be free again.
Then and only then will the girls have justice.


kinger
said

A very strange case it seems the crown and Judge have been putting the outcome on the jury from the get go I would have thought there would be more evidence.//


KJ in Kingston Ontario
said

How the jury could require more than the time it takes for the doors of the deliberation room to swing shut baffles me.... The letter "S" from the back panel of the death car sitting on the lawn of the lock coping was proves beyond doubt that the car was rammed into the locks and that nobody inside attempted to swim or struggle out of the vehicle -- in the middle of Summer in barely 6 feet of water proves that they had already been rendered unconscious or dead.


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