The four women found in the Rideau Canal were murdered.

Remember this disturbing news story in late June?

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths of three sisters and another relative who were found inside a submerged car in locks northeast of Kingston.
Ontario Provincial Police divers removed the bodies of three teens, aged 13, 17 and 19, and a 50-year-old woman described as a relative, from a vehicle found in the Kingston Mills locks around 4 p.m. Tuesday. The identities of the victims, who were all from Quebec, have not yet been released. They had been on vacation in southern Ontario and were on their way back to Quebec, police said Wednesday. They were reported missing by relatives.
"It breaks my heart just saying it," Const. Michael Menor, spokesman for Kingston Police, said in an interview with The Canadian Press. "You have a family, they've all drowned. It's just horrifyingly tragic."

The circumstances were particularly troubling when it became evident that the presence of the car in that particular section of the Rideau Canal could not have have been caused by accident or driver error.

The Kingston police have charged 3 suspects, two men and one woman, with the murders of Zainab, Geeti and Sahar Shafia as well as Rona Amir Mohammed.

The presumed motive for the alleged quadruple homicide? The disposal of an older, inconvenient relative who happened to be Mohammed Shafi's first wife and three rebellious teenage girls who were perceived to be on a path that would bring dishonor to him? Were there life insurance benefits to be claimed? Thus it may be simply greed, the grease that helps to crank the wheel of fundamentalist religious and rightwing zealots the world over.

Update: This is the information released by the Kingston police at the press conference that just concluded, minutes ago. The news item is closed to comments

"because an overwhelming number of readers were making offensive statements about other commenters and/or the individual or individuals mentioned in the story".

No surprise there; judging from the types of comments that have appeared at the CBC website, I'd guess most were islamophobic. And yet, the patriarch in this case probably shares the same "family values" and gynophobic views as Randall Terry. Go figure.

Update: All three members of the Shafia family charged with first-degree murder were convicted of these crimes. They are currently serving 25 years sentences.