Shafia brother denied involvement in deaths

One of the accused in the deaths of three sisters and another woman denied any involvement or knowledge of what took place leading up to the discovery of their four bodies in the Rideau Canal, a Kingston, Ont. court heard Tuesday.

During a three-hour police interrogation played for court, Hamed Shafia, 21, remained steadfast. He appeared at times evasive, crossing his arms and falling silent when police presented him with evidence theyd gathered about the murder of his sisters and his fathers first wife.

At other points, he demanded police show him photos of the familys Lexus SUV, pieces of which police claim were found near the spot were the familys car went into the water.

The Shafia sisters, Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, along with Rona Amir Mohammad, 50, were found dead inside a car submerged in the canal in June 2009.

Hamed, his father Mohammad Shafia, 58, and mother, Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 41, all face four first-degree murder charges each in their deaths. They have pleaded not guilty.

The jury in the trial watched the video of Hameds interrogation after days of hearing wiretap evidence of the three accused secretly recorded by police.

In those wiretap tapes, the accused are heard discussing their concern that everyone sticks to the same story.

Investigators planted microphones in the familys van, their home and recorded conversations in the police vehicles on the day they were arrested.