The family’s eldest son has also been charged
Mohammad Shafia, 56, his wife Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 39, and their eldest son, Hamed Shafia, 18, all face first-degree murder charges after the bodies of three of the couple’s daughters and Shafia’s first wife, were discovered in a car submerged in the Rideau Canal. Police allege that the couple began planning the murders as far back as May 1, weeks before the family traveled to Niagara Falls, Ont. The deaths occurred on the family’s return trip to Montreal. An anonymous person claiming to be a relative of the family wrote a letter to the Montreal Gazette, claiming that Shafia was “disgraced” by his daughters’ behavior and that he wanted his first wife to return to Afghanistan, where he is originally from. The family car was discovered in the Rideau Canal on June 30, the same day Shafia reported his car missing, along with his three daughters and his first wife, who he then described as his cousin. All three suspects were arrested in Montreal on Wednesday; they face four counts each of first-degree murder and four counts of conspiracy to commit murder. As of Friday, Kingston police refused to reveal how the four victims died.