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Shafia murder trial enters final phase
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CBC News
The first-degree murder trial of three members of the Montreal-based Shafia family — accused of killing three sisters and another relative found in a submerged car near Kingston, Ont. — is moving into its final phase before a jury is left to deliberate.
The trial, which started in October in Kingston, was adjourned for three weeks to observe the holidays.
It was scheduled to recommence Monday morning, launching what is expected to be the final two weeks of arguments.
The Montreal-based Tooba Yahya, 42, and her husband, Mohammad Shafia, 59, are charged alongside their eldest son, Hamed, 20, with four counts each of first-degree murder. They have all pleaded not guilty and have been in custody since their arrests in 2009.
They’re charged in the deaths of the Shafia sisters, Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, along with Rona Amir Mohammad, 52, Shafia's other wife in a polygamous marriage.
The family moved to Montreal in 2007 after fleeing Afghanistan several years earlier.
The Crown contends the victims were killed because of the girls' behaviour and boyfriends brought shame on the family in the eyes of the accused.
The defence has maintained the deaths were an accident and happened after the oldest daughter, Zainab, took the keys to her father’s car and drove it into the Rideau Canal at the Kingston Mill Locks in June 2009.
The bodies of the four victims were found submerged in the car. Their cause of death was determined to be drowning.
The family was returning to Montreal after a trip to Niagara Falls when they stopped for the night in Kingston.
Since the trial started in October, court has heard testimony from dozens of witnesses, including family members, teachers, social workers, police officers and technical experts.
Jury members have also heard a series of wiretap conversations between the accused recorded secretly by the Kingston police.
Witnesses for the defence are expected to take the stand Monday when the hearing begins at 11 a.m. ET.
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