Rafay & Burns
King
County, Washington
Date of Crime: July 12, 1994
Atif Rafay and Glen Sebastian Burns were convicted of the
murders of Rafay's father, Dr. Tariq Rafay, his mother, Sultana, and his
sister, Basma. The victims were bludgeoned to death in their home in
the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, WA. The walls, floor, and ceiling of
Dr. Tariq's bedroom were covered in blood, bone, teeth, and tissue. In
addition, tremendous amounts of blood were tracked throughout the property. Rafray and Burns, then both 18, reported the murders when they returned to
Rafray's home at 2 a.m. following an evening out.
The boys fully cooperated with police, answering questions, providing them
with the clothing they were wearing, and allowing examination of their skin
under specialized lighting for minute traces of blood. Neither boy
denied a single request of the police or exercised their Miranda right to
counsel. After police were satisfied that the boys responded to all
their requests, they gave explicit permission for the boys to stay at the
home of Burns's parents in Vancouver, Canada. The Rafray family had
only recently moved to Bellevue from Vancouver.
Following the boys departure, the Bellevue Police Department began telling
journalists lies about them, making the boys appear guilty. After
observing this foul play, friends, family and legal counsel for the boys
recommended that they remain in Canada. Nine months after the murders,
Bellevue police obtained the assistance of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(RCMP).
The RCMP mounted an undercover sting operation against the boys. Two
undercover officers made an acquaintance with Burns. They later
revealed their phony identities as violent criminals with underworld
connections. Then using threats of death and violence, these officers
obtained confessions to the murders from Burns, Rafray, and their friend
Jimmy Miyoshi. The confessions of the three were inconsistent with
each other and with the facts of the case. Nor did they contain any
information that only the killers would know. In the United States it
would have been illegal for police officers to use these tactics.
The RCMP threatened to charge Miyoshi with Conspiracy to Commit Murder, if
he did not tell them that Burns and Rafay were guilty. Miyoshi signed an
immunity agreement and provided the RCMP with a number of statements. Each
statement contradicted the last one as well as the physical evidence at the
crime scene. At trial Miyoshi, who lives in Japan, refused to return to
North America to testify. Instead, a deposition recorded months
earlier was shown to the jury. Following the arrest and incarceration
of Rafray and Burns, they had to wait more than 8 years for their trial.
Neighbors on either side of the Rafray home heard noises of the murders
which they confirmed in sound recreation tests. One neighbor told
police that he heard the noises between 9:45 p.m. and 9:50 p.m. The
other neighbor said she heard the noises at 9:56 p.m. Yet both Rafray
and Burns were seen by many people at a movie theater at 10:05 p.m. At
the start of the movie, the curtain malfunctioned, and in an attempt to fix
the problem, Rafray and Burn ran up to tug at the curtain. Since
tugging did not work, Burns then complained to the manager.
At trial, the judge refused to allow any evidence that other suspects may
have committed the murders. Dr. Tariq Rafay and another man, Riasat
Ali Khan, had founded the Canadian-Pakistan Friendship Organization. Both men also served as president of this organization. Eight and a
half years after Dr. Tariq's murder, Khan was murdered in Vancouver. Khan's murder remains unsolved. There is evidence that a militant
Islamic group known as Jamaat ul-Fuqra had targeted Dr. Tariq because it
regarded his teachings on the Koran to be heresy. [9/09]
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Reference: www.rafayburnsappeal.com
Posted in:
Victims of the State,
Washington Cases, Triple
Homicide Cases
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