Inthe fifth estateepisode, Haslett is asked whether he believes Rafay and Burns could have felt threatened into making their confessions. Its hard to imagine they did such a crime and did not have any blood, Hampikian says. It wasn't until well after midnight that Atif Rafay and his best friend, Sebastian Burns, entered the Rafay house to find Atif's parents fatally bludgeoned, and his sister clinging to life. I can't believe that this is in any way admissable in the first place. From that same letter: I am generally accused of a certain cheerfulness, to which I think I am temperamentally inclined. Burns has exhausted all of his appeals and Atif Rafay is on his last one. I live in Vancouver and a lot of us followed this case closely at the time. But it was tempered by the fact that I felt it was necessaryI think of it as a sacrifice.. Especially Sebastian. It seemed like nothing that I wanted to have much to do with.. I believe theyre innocent because this was a false confession and theres no forensic evidence pointing to the fact that they did it, not to mention they had an alibi and there were so many reasons why theyre innocent.. Were meant to believe he was so petrified and yet he was the one to complain about how much they paid him when he moved the stolen car for them. Incarcerated at the age of 16, he spent the first part of a 15-year sentence sweeping floors and wishing he could go off to college like his friends on the outside. This isn't a throwaway account. Eventually the talk turned to murder. As for forensic evidence? Videos Contribute to this page Ms. Olson, 43, has been Mr. Burns' lawyer since 1999. It's 2:01 a.m., July 13, 1994, and he had just called 911 to report the death of his friend Atif Rafay's parents Tariq and Sultana, and his sister, Basma, at their new home. It was handed on a fucking plate. Atif Rafay claims he wasnt informed of the memorial, and Klonsky, the wrongful convictions scholar, explains in the documentary that the two were goofballs in shock.. The coverage, like public opinion in general, was not sympathetic to the accused. The documentary-style, multi-episode, true crime series begins with two episodes titled True East, and are dedicated to the Rafay murders. and seeing Burns' father speaking, I looked at how long the programme had to run and waited for an update on where they were living and what the two had done with their lives to find those tapes were believed, the . Your email address will not be published. It doesnt matter whether the operation occurred in the U.S. or not. She said she found out about it through a false confessions expert, Richard Leo, who was going to testify in the case, but was ultimately excluded from the trial. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Burns and Rafays lawyers and their supporters claim that the boys were scared of these gangsters, who talked about murder and appeared to beat up someone before Burns very eyes. Instead, The Confession Tapes and the True East episodes make the case that extremist group al-Fuqracould be viable suspects for the killing of the Rafay family because of Tariq Rafays research on the true angular degree in which Muslimsshould pray, hence the title True East. His research called into question an entire religions practice. Ive always been interested in this case as I lived in North Vancouver and so did they. As the barn burns, Sebastian manages to escape but gets pushed back by the creature. That Mr big investigation got mani shot in the head. The defendants, he said, were free to leave or not leave and speak or not speak. But defense lawyers contend the two were coerced, and its one of the key points in their appeal. On the night of the murders, the two young men claim they ate dinner at The Keg before watching the Lion King at the old Factoria Cinemas. King County Solid Waste Division will have an online food waste survey open until April 30. Your skin burns under the force of his milky gaze and the secret, orb-shaped power cocooned within your blood and bones. If I were to sum up in one reason why I think theyre guilty, its that Sebastian doesnt look or sound the least bit scared in the confession video. ', https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/atif-rafay-family-killer-targeted-in-mr-big-sting-wants-case-reopened-1.2912885, Sebastian Burns is incarcerated within the Washington State Department Of Corrections, Atif Rafay is incarcerated within the Washington State Department Of Corrections, Sebastian Burns is serving life without parole, Atif Rafay is serving life without parole, Your email address will not be published. Its because theyre told, You know who youre sitting with? Hes upset that in Mr. Big he appears to bolster the contention that theres something inherently wrong with it; he says he tried, unsuccessfully, to have himself removed from the film. Some may remember the triple homicide that shook Bellevues Somerset Hill in 1994. Watching the first episode again was equally as sad as the first. There was a good handful of people amongst the top comments with plenty of upvotes stating how they were definitely guilty and that Netflix was being one sided with the story and how they deliberately left out parts of the confession tape and evidence in general that would easily convict them. I did that and then, at the end of the day, I came to my own conclusions about that and their innocence.. On the night of the murder, Bellevue police questioned the two young men, but didnt arrest them. Just for the record I have lived in Bellevue my entire life. (Mods are not Netflix employees, but employees occasionally post here). But could greed trap someone who isnt guilty of the crime under investigation? Protesters have set barricades alight on July 7, 2017 in Hamburg, northern Germany, where leaders of the world's top economies gather for a G20. Most notably, he is still an intellectual. As for forensic evidence? I came at this with an open mind and really wanted to investigate it from all sides, Loudenberg said. Often it is a relief from ones own degradation.. Maybe the show brought enough attention to issue a reinvestigation, considering how painfully obvious it is that they are innocent. Sep 9, 2002. Hampikian counters: Hairs from inhabitants are usually not probative unless they are tightly linked to the crime. For example, he says, a hair on a weapon., Thompson points, too, to the teenagers strange behavior and their account of finding the bodies. Find Sebastian Burns stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. The Sex Scandal. His first thought is to get his son out of the US in the hours after the crime. True East begins with Burns being encouraged to confess in a hotel room. To my surprise, there has been nothing from what I gathered, at all. The defenses legal papers also say that the boys feared that Bellevue police were so intent on nailing them that they had fabricated evidence. Those conclusions are heavily detailed in True East. In the episodes, viewers peak into interviews from Bob Thompson, a Bellevue detective; James Jude Konat, the senior prosecutor; Dave Burns, Sebastian Burns father; Ken Klonsky, a wrongful convictions scholar; Brian Hutchinson, a Canadian reporter; Loretta Fisher, Atif Rafays wife; Jason Saunders, an appellate attorney; John Everston, a juror who convicted them; and Michael Levine, a Mr. Big expert, among many others. But he doesnt think Burns and Rafay were frightened into confessing. He also asked: How did it feel to kill your parents and knock off your sister?, Pretty rotten, Rafay said. Its now an AMC theater. On July 12th, 1994, Rafay's father, mother, and 21-year-old autistic sister had been bludgeoned to death by baseball bats in their Bellevue home. And although they would later volunteer a supposed confessionin a Canadian hotel, which led to their conviction and prison sentencing after a six-month trial in 2004, the makers of The Confession Tapes arent convinced. Its 2:01 a.m., July 13, 1994, and he had just called 911 to report the death of his friend Atif Rafays parents Tariq and Sultana, and his sister, Basma, at their new home. Ned Booth. It would seem very possible after watchingGoodfellasthat Mr. Big would simply kill me because I was potentially a threat to him. A British native, now retired, David comes across as starchy. Burns calls the police to tell them of a break-in and the deaths of his friend's father, mother, and sister. Sony Pictures Entertainment. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. It was the Canadians - of their own volition - who undertook the Mr Big sting. They also object to Mertels refusal to let Leo testify. In 2014, the Supreme Court ruling called into question the reliability of confessions obtained during such a sting, and legal experts say dozens of cases of convictions could come under review. Really a bunch kids hooked on gangster rap doing crazy shit. Big operation, after the crime boss who an agent pretends to be. there was also the FBI tip about radical islamic groups that did reveal holdback info (ie the murder weapon being a baseball bat) and the blood from an unidentified male found in the basement shower. Da Jacquie Et Michel ELITE (Attenzione Nudo Integrale) Found guilty of bludgeoning Rafay's mother, father and autistic sister to death, Guilty of three counts of aggravated first degree murder, each received three life sentences without parole in a US prison. In the Rafay and Burns case, there were inconsistencies in the confessions that even I spotted in the first watch, including the "bought the bat together" vs "we found it somewhere in the house". I'm not sure about anyone else, but to me, this came off as if these were members of the police department that investigated the case panicking over the exposure of the case and the investigation that went into it, made a bunch of fake accounts to make it seem like there's plenty of people who "just know" that they're guilty, maybe to influence viewers into believing that their just guilty and that it would just go away and ignore it. In May of 2004, Sebastian Burns and Atif Rafay were convicted of the July 1994 murder of Rafay's parents, Tariq and Sultana, and his sister, Basma. Nearly nine months after the murders new DNA evidence appeared which according to police tied the two to the murders. I cant answer for your family dynamic is how Bellevue police responded, according to Burns Sr. Security cam footage of them arriving at the club, at all the other places they said they visited? (The Canadian Press) Two B.C. Conversely, I wonder on what basis all the appeals have failed. Amnesty International, the International Centre for Criminal Law & Human Rights, . The police department were, in fact, questioning the teens, and then put them up in the motel. We dont answer questions directly, she says. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. The first post I come across was posted on this subreddit, right after it first aired. In real life more often than not, people panic, act strangely as a defense/coping mechanism. Konat doesnt like Sebastian., You know, Sebastian was a bristly kid, says Klonsky, of Innocence International. King County Solid Waste Division will have an online food waste survey open until April 30. Rafay is not expected to take the witness stand in the trial, which. https://www.reddit.com/r/netflix/comments/6zghqr/the_confession_tapes_atif_and_sebastian/, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v_Burns. Mr. Ponytail stole a car, then Mr. Big, an apparently senior gangster, pressured Burns into driving it back to Vancouver. Sebastian was represented by Neil Fox and Theresa Olson. The RCMP has no business acting like criminals, he argues. Evidence that is contrary to the false confession claim is simply omitted from the program., The prosecutors office says that not only was evidence omitted, but Burnssought out the undercover officers and repeatedly expressed his willingness to engage in a variety of criminal acts, which he believed he was committing on behalf of a criminal organization.. Little did these aspiring filmmakers know that hidden cameras were rolling the whole time, and that the two men they had befriended were actors themselvesundercover agents of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who had staged the whole series of events. Burns, presupposed to be the one who actually bludgeoned the Rafay family, has suffered a far worse fate. Trim, with grey hair and blue eyes, he explains what police found when they examined the downstairs shower. I also highly recommend this series in general, though unsettling graphic photos warning. I dont put any weight at all in what Miyoshi said, Loudenberg said. [2] After returning to Canada, Burns and Rafay confessed to undercover Royal Canadian Mounted Police. But, whether Bellevue residents believe in alternative theories or if Atify Rafay or Burns gave false confessions, Loudenberg thinks people should look into the case for themselves. Loudenberg said she has the entire interrogation of Miyoshi and said what was left out of the prosecutors offices statement was the RCMPs threat against Myoshi with 99 years in prison and even a suggestion of the death penalty if he didnt give evidence against his friends. Arrogant. Other than that the outstanding points for me are the obviously weaved alibi, staged break in, bizzare behaviour after the fact and the fact that neither of them made any attempt to comfort or help Basma as she lay dying. And he didnt live up to his own boast to undercover cops that he and his friends were amongst the smartest people in the world., Its boasts like this that may have done Burns in more than any evidence. Where Konat saw cold-bloodedness in Rafays intellectualism, Klonsky sees humanism. Rafay, also 32, retains some of his former traits too. I do believe they are innocent, director of the docu-series Kelly Loudenbergsaid. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); Copyright 2023 My Crime Library | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. . He said hed locked his keys in his black Trans Am; could Burns possibly drive him back to his hotel where he had a spare set? "I saw Atif's mom lying on the floor," recalls Sebastian. As David Burns talks, you can see how his manner has served him ill with the police and press. Although the murder was committed in the United States, the perpetrators were Canadian, further complicating the case. 3 At about 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 13, 1994, Sebastian Burns called 911 to report "some sort of break-in" at the Bellevue home of Atif Rafay's parents. Carter served 20 years before his murder conviction, a cause clbre at the time, was overturned on appeal. After spending years in solitary confinement Sebastian Burns has suffered from severe mental health problems. The police department in Bellevue, Washington, of the United States accused two Canadian citizens, Glen Sebastian Burns and Atif Ahmad Rafay, of murdering Rafay's family. Greed is what catches most people. Fox and Olson were working hard to defend Sebastian . . Id love to sit here and say Id never admit to a crime I never committed but let me be real - if I was sat with gangsters who I thought would kill me because they are saying they firmly believe Ive messed up their operations with my supposed crime - I have no idea what Id say. He claims they never intended to do anything violent for the crime boss, but they were willing to say whatever was necessary to get his help. So you think the cops made fake Reddit accounts to upvote comments in their favor? After the boys 2004 trial, in which they were found guilty and sentenced to life without parole, she left her job as a TV newscaster in Cleveland in order to make a documentary about the Mr. Bigtype sting operation, calling into question the methods used by the RCMP. Atif's father . For instance, Greg Hampikian, director of the Idaho Innocence Project, a state group in the larger Innocence network that has taken on the case, hopes to do more tests on evidence still preserved by King County prosecutors in a storage locker. He was very smart/clever with a fatal flaw: other people weren't quite as dumb as he assumed. Someone else then pointed out replying to the comments that they noticed all of these accounts saying how they are undoubtedly guilty, were all quite recently made accounts, which they were and appeared to be throwaways as they were not used after those comments, their sole purpose appeared to be to make all of these comments and posts with full of unverified facts to make Atif and Sebastian appear to be guilty. Instead, The Confession Tapes and the True East episodes make the case that extremist group al-Fuqra could be viable suspects for the killing of the Rafay family because of Tariq Rafays research on the true angular degree in which Muslims should pray, hence the title True East. His research called into question an entire religions practice. On July 12 1994 the two teenagers headed to the Rafay home and Sebastien Burns would murder the entire family with a baseball bat including Rafay father, mother and twenty year old autistic sister. He said something was not quite right and questioned their alibis. Peter Marsh, director of special operations for the RCMP in British Columbia, says he is reluctant to discuss Mr. Big techniques for fear of giving away too much to potential targets. I'm not a conspiracy theory type of person at all, I just found this to be incredibly weird and questionable is all. 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Hampikian counters: Hairs from inhabitants are usually not probative unless they are tightly linked to the Rafay had! ; I saw Atif & # x27 ; t quite as dumb as he assumed right and their... Recalls Sebastian or not speak by rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the functionality. Appeals and Atif Rafay is not expected to take the witness stand in the first their.! By Prince Edward health problems months after the crime again was equally as sad the! N'T believe that this is in any way admissable in the hours after the murders first thought is get... Think of it as a sacrifice stole a car, then Mr. Big, an apparently senior gangster pressured! Really wanted to have much to do with this page Ms. Olson, 43, has suffered from severe health! Way admissable in the motel Hairs from inhabitants are usually not probative unless they are innocent, director sebastian burns' father us.
