Ontario court rejects appeal in Shafia family murder convictions

Ontario’s Court of Appeal rejected all arguments put forth by a father, mother and their son convicted for the so-called “honour killing” of four female members.

Mohammad Shafia, his wife Tooba Yahya and their son Hamed were convicted in 2012 on four counts of first-degree murder for killing the couple’s three daughters and Shafia’s first wife.

The bodies of Zainab Shafia, 19, Sahar Shafia, 17, Geeti Shafia, 13, and Rona Amir Mohammad, 58, were found in a submerged car at the Kingston Mills locks near Kingston, Ont. in 2009.

Lawyers for all three argued that the testimony from a University of Toronto professor, who specializes in honour based violence, shouldn’t have been permitted because it was prejudicial. Hamed Shafia also argued he was too young to be tried as an adult.