Mohammad Shafia was born in Afghanistan in 1953. In 1979 or 1980, he married Rona Amir Mohammad. After discovering that Rona was infertile, he entered into a polygamous marriage with Tooba Mohammad Yahya, who bore him seven children, including daughters Zainab, Sahar, and Geeti. The family left Afghanistan in 1992, living in Pakistan, Dubai, and Australia before settling in Montreal, Canada, in 2007 .

Shafia was a wealthy businessman who invested in real estate in Canada. The household was reportedly strict and patriarchal, with Shafia exerting control over family members. His daughters' desires to adopt Western lifestyles, including dating and dressing in modern clothing, were met with hostility. Rona, the first wife, was reportedly treated as a servant and lived in fear of her husband and co-wife .

On June 30, 2009, the bodies of Zainab (19), Sahar (17), Geeti (13), and Rona (52) were found in a car submerged in the Rideau Canal in Kingston, Ontario. Initially deemed an accident, investigations revealed that the deaths were premeditated murders. Prosecutors argued that Mohammad Shafia, his wife Tooba, and their son Hamed orchestrated the killings to restore family honor, believing the victims had brought shame upon the family through their behavior .

Evidence presented at trial included wiretap recordings in which Shafia expressed contempt for his daughters, calling them "whores" and wishing the devil would defecate on their graves. The prosecution contended that the victims were drowned elsewhere, placed in the car, and then the vehicle was pushed into the canal to stage an accident .

On January 29, 2012, after a four-month trial, Mohammad Shafia, Tooba Yahya, and Hamed Shafia were each convicted of four counts of first-degree murder. They were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 25 years. The judge described the murders as "cold-blooded, shameful" acts resulting from a "twisted concept of honor" .