Rafay was mistreated by police, uncle told

Atif Rafay told his uncle that he went back to British Columbia, missing his family's funeral, because he had been mistreated by Bellevue police, Tahir Rafay testified yesterday during the triple-murder trial of Atif Rafay and Sebastian Burns.

Tahir Rafay testified via a video link from a Toronto conference center, almost 3,000 miles from King County Superior Court, where his nephew and Burns are on trial for the 1994 bludgeoning deaths of Atif Rafay's parents and sister in Bellevue. He explained to jurors he couldn't come to Seattle to testify because of a recent surgery.

Atif Rafay and Burns, both 28, are accused of killing the Rafays for inheritance money. They were arrested in Vancouver, B.C., a year after the killings, after a months-long sting operation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police netted videotaped confessions by the two. Defense attorneys say their clients were coerced into making false confessions.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys questioned Tahir Rafay on a host of topics, including Muslim prayer practices, details about Atif's father, Tariq, and his family, and his contacts with Atif Rafay, both before and after the homicides.

Tahir Rafay testified that his nephew resisted suggestions that he live with relatives in Canada, either in Toronto or Calgary, following his parents' deaths.

Tahir Rafay, who arrived in Seattle with other family members July 14, 1994, two days after the killings, testified that no one knew where his nephew and Burns were staying, and he didn't learn they were at a Bellevue motel until the next day. Tahir Rafay also noted that members of Seattle's Muslim community were pressuring the King County Medical Examiner's Office to release his eldest brother's body so Tariq Rafay, his wife, Sultana, and their daughter, Basma, could be buried as quickly as possible, in accordance with Islamic law.

Tahir Rafay testified he learned where his nephew was staying July 15, 1994, soon after finding out the funeral would be held that day. But by the time the family got to the motel, Rafay and Burns already were on their way to Canada. Atif Rafay called his uncle from Canada after the funeral.

"The reason he gave you (for going back to Canada) was that the police were mistreating him?" asked senior deputy prosecutor James Konat.

"Yes, that was the main reason," Tahir Rafay said, adding that Atif had said someone — he didn't know who — advised Rafay and Burns to return to Vancouver.

The jury has heard from two Bellevue detectives who testified they were suspicious of Rafay and Burns in the days following the July 12 homicides partly because Rafay apparently did not get in touch with his extended family and did not go to the funeral. The jury also has heard that Bellevue police intentionally kept Rafay and Burns, both 18-year-olds at the time, isolated from family and friends because they didn't want to risk contaminating their alibis.

Defense attorneys, meanwhile, seemed to try to further their argument that Tariq Rafay, a prominent member of Vancouver's Muslim community before moving to Bellevue, may have been targeted for political or religious reasons.

On cross-examination, Tahir Rafay testified that his brother, an engineer, was one of the first people to determine that North American Muslims were praying in the wrong direction toward Mecca.

"Yes, there was some resistance" to his brother's realization that people should be praying to the northeast instead of the southeast, "but the resistance wasn't violent in any way. It was just disagreement," Tahir Rafay said. Ultimately, "most people accepted it. It was more scientific ... and it made sense."

In another development yesterday, Judge Charles Mertel took the unusual step of questioning each juror about his or her ability to continue serving in a fair and impartial manner. Mertel initiated the questioning after angry words were exchanged between two male jurors in the jury room before they entered the courtroom to hear Tahir Rafay's testimony. Both said the altercation had nothing to do with the trial.

Each of the nine men and eight women — including alternates — on the jury told Mertel they could continue serving.

Since the trial began in November, two jurors have been dismissed because they apparently were talking about the case; a third juror resigned from the trial in order to take a job.

Although the judge originally had hoped the case would go the jury by mid-April, prosecutors now say they are not likely to rest their case until May 1; defense attorneys then will present their case to the jury. The trial will not be in session next week but is set to resume March 22.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com