Judge allows disputed tapes in 1994 murder case

SEATTLE – A judge Tuesday cleared use of recordings made by undercover police in Canada in the trial of Sebastian Burns and Atif Rafay, charged in the 1994 beating deaths of Rafay’s parents and sister.

King County Superior Court Judge Charles Mertel heard two months of pretrial arguments about evidence before making the ruling.

Defense attorneys argued that the recordings were obtained by means that are illegal in the United States, and therefore shouldn’t be allowed. Prosecutors countered that the methods are allowed under Canadian law, which permits their use under international treaty.

Burns and Rafay are charged with aggravated first-degree murder in the deaths of Tariq and Sultana Rafay, both 56, and their autistic daughter, Basma, 19. Prosecutors allege they expected to gain $350,000 in insurance and family assets.

Conviction on the charge carries life imprisonment without chance of parole.

The two men, who are Canadian, fled to Vancouver, B.C., after the deaths and were arrested there in 1995. They were extradited in 2001 after prosecutors here agreed not to seek the death penalty.

Mertel ruled on whether jurors should hear taped confessions Burns and Rafay made to undercover officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The conversations were selected from 4,000 hours of audio surveillance tapes made before the men were taken into custody.

The RCMP’s methods would not be allowed in Washington state. Prosecutors argued, however, that international treaty allows evidence collected in another country to be used if it was collected in accordance with that country’s law and in a manner that is not shocking to the U.S. judicial system.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Oct. 10. Opening arguments could begin in early November.

Court officials plan to send about 3,000 special summonses to prospective jurors for the trial, which is expected to last five months. Lawyers expect to interview about 250 people before choosing 18 as jurors and alternates.