Background on the case:
On June 30, 2009, police in Kingston discovered the bodies of four women inside a submerged Nissan Sentra by one of the locks on the southern portion of the Rideau Canal.
The gruesome discovery set off a massive police investigation that has gone around the world. Witnesses in the trial are expected to come from as far away as France.
The discovery also piqued the curiosity of locals, many of whom visited the site of the locks in the ensuing days to wonder aloud about how the car made it into the water and settled directly in front of the locks without a trace.
Weeks after the discovery, police in Kingston arrested Mohammad Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 41, and their son Hamed, 21, and charged them in the killing of the couple's three daughters — Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13 — and Rona Amir Mohammad, who was Mohammad Shafia's first wife.
The mother, father and son were arrested in Montreal in July 2009. They have been in custody since.
The three accused each face four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of conspiracy.
(From Postmedia News)
Testimony to continue today in Rideau Canal murder trial
The murder trial of three members of a Montreal family accused of killing three teenaged daughters and the father's first wife will continue hearing testimony today from the first witness called to testify - a police officer.
Three teenage Shafia sisters, Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, along with Shafia's first wife, Rona Amir Mohammad, 50, were found dead inside a submerged black Nissan Sentra on June 30, 2009 in the Rideau Canal. The family had stopped in Kingston on their way home from a trip to Niagara Falls.
Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 41, her husband Mohammad Shafia, 58, and their son, Hamed Mohammad Shafia, 20, are each charged with four counts of first-degree murder.
Testimony to continue at day 2 of murder trial in Kingston set to start soon.
"I can't live, breath when ur not there ur my whole lyfe 4me" note from one Shafia sister to another before they died. Kingston murder trial
Dozens line up for trial of Montreal couple accused of killing relatives in alleged honour killing
En Route to Kingston for a fascinating 'honour killing' trial.by lnicolasglobal via twitter 10/20/2011 3:03:40 PM
Court hearing days after his 3 girls found dead in a car in Rideau Canal, dad says "nothing more valuable than honour."by WendyMcCann via twitter edited by Heather Loney 10/20/2011 4:51:44 PM
