Honor killing trial resumes deliberations

KINGSTON, Ontario, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Jurors began a second day of deliberations Sunday in Kingston, Ontario, for three Muslim family members charged with the honor killing of four female relatives.

The jury has the option of convicting any or all of the family of first- or second-degree murder related to the deaths of four women found in a submerged car in June 2009, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

Prosecutors at the trial that began Oct. 20 allege Mohammad Shafia, 59, his second wife in a polygamous marriage, Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed Shafia, 21, conspired to kill Shafia's first wife and three daughters.

Court heard the family from Afghanistan that lived in Montreal since 2007 had frequent arguments with the first wife and three teenage daughters over family honor and their preference for Western clothing, music and boyfriends.

All three accused entered pleas of innocence at the beginning of the trial.

The night the car went into the Rideau Canal, the family had stopped for the night on their way home from a visit to Niagara Falls.

Defense attorneys said there was no evidence of how the car ended up in the water and suggested one of the daughters, ages 19, 17 and 13, was driving the car without a license and accidentally went into the canal.