Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:00]
Narrator
At Designer Shoe Warehouse. We believe that shoes are an important part of, well, everything from first steps to first dates, from all nighters to all time personal bests, from building pillow forts to building a life for all the big and small moments that make up your whole world. DSW is there and we've got just the shoes. Find a shoe for every you from brands you love at brag worthy prices at your DSW store or dsw.com 16 years from today, Greg Gerstner will finally land the perfect cannonball. Epic splash. Unsuspecting friends. A work of art only possible because Greg is already meeting all these same people at AARP volunteer and community events that keep him active and involved and help make sure his happiness lives as long as he does. That's why the younger you are, the more you need AARP. Learn more at aarp.org local you don't know exactly what you're going to be finding up there. And so just driving up there in itself, you're kind of walking into the unknown. I believe I was a little nervous. I would describe it as being absolutely stuck. Savage. This was someone who used a baseball bat to kill the family. What I see is an attack that is not only calculated and carried out with precision. There was blood all over the room, on the ceiling, on the floor. I also see a crime scene that smacks of the murderer having a very, very personal vendetta. Somebody just went off the deep end and once they started killing, they either enjoyed it or they couldn't stop themselves. In an upper middle class neighborhood of an upper middle class community, three unsuspecting and undeserving human beings were savagely beaten to death. There's blood. They're not breathing. I don't think it's safe here. By somebody who they knew perfectly. Executed tonight's 48 Hours Mystery. It was a plan. A well rehearsed, well thought out plan. What happened in this house on a hot Summer Night in 1994 brought tragedy and mystery to this quiet neighborhood in Bellevue, Washington. Just after 2 in the morning on July 13, police were called to a crime that would take them 10 years to bring to justice. Had you ever seen anything like it? Never. James Jude Conat is a senior deputy prosecutor in King County. He and a team of detectives have been haunted by this crime and the killers who got away. They think that they are smarter than other people in the world. And I know that sounds just kind of a broad statement, but I really believe they believe that the search for the truth would lead police to another Country. Through a web of intriguing clues, could this screenplay that described a murder unlock the mystery? And in the end, would a sophisticated undercover operation set in a make believe world of crime catch the real killers? The story begins with a call for help. Emergency. What are you reporting? My friends, his mom and dad, we think they're dead. Sebastian Burns and his friend Atif Rafe had stumbled on a horrific scene. Atif's parents had been murdered. There is nothing that I can imagine about my parents that could have justified anyone to do what was done to them. Sultana Rafe, Atif's mother, was the first to be killed. Sebastian, what did you see when you walked through that door? You saw Hative's mom lying on the floor. Tariq Raffay was the next to be murdered. We could see there was blood around him and it was clear that he had been attacked. Why do you think that they're dead? There's blood. They're not breathing. There's blood all over his face. It was basically an overkill. Detective Bob Thompson has been on the case since the night it began. It just looked like someone had hit him 40 or 50 times. Please, fast. Okay, they're on the way. Okay, they're on the way. We'll be outside. Okay, go ahead. As the boys waited for help to arrive, a third victim, Atif's autistic older sister Basma, was clinging to life, moaning in her bedroom. The third victim was autistic. It would make sense that she's murdered last because everybody knows that she can't make a 911. Bosma died a few hours later at the hospital, taking with her the secret of who killed the Rafe family. The Refaes had just moved to Bellevue from Vancouver, Canada. Sultana had a doctorate in nutrition, but devoted her life to raising her gifted son and disabled daughter. I think she was certainly an extraordinary person. Do you miss your mom? I do. What do you miss most about her? Well, the mere presence is enough. But she knew me in a way that I suspect that no one ever will. She was always able to look right through the adolescent sort of pomposities that I might have had and remind me that I was just a silly kid at times. Tariq Refe was a structural engineer who had worked on buildings around the world. In a sense, we were all like kids around him or like my mom was too. And we were all, I guess, sort of in his orbit. He was a brilliant person, probably a far better mathematician than I will ever be. No one could understand who would take the lives of this quiet Family and spare their only son. Detectives began to look more closely at the crime scene. What's the problem there? There's been some kind of break in. Sebastian had used the words break in to report what had happened. Does it lock? It's not locked. It's unlocked. Just looking at that room, you started realizing this looks like someone set it up. Boxes were tipped over, drawers were opened, but nothing appeared to have gone through. That night, when police asked what was missing, Atif said two things. His Discman and a vcr. Someone came in, murdered three people, and took his Walkman and a vcr. I mean, it makes no sense. Detectives probe deeper. Who were these teenage boys who reported the crime? The 199293 school year. Sebastian Burns and Atif Rafe had been best friends since high school. What you like about high school? I liked being a kid. I liked having free time, and I liked hanging around with other kids, and I just liked being young. The boys shared a sarcastic sense of humor and an interest in reading and debate. What would you guys talk about? What were you interested in? You know, it was things like Shakespeare and philosophy and Camus and things like that. They had a lot in common. They became very good friends because they were both precocious, they were both intelligent. Sarah Isaacs is Sebastian's high school sweetheart. He went to parties. He was athletic, and he became friends with Athi and sort of showed Athif how to dress. He'd introduce Athif to girls. He sort of helped Atife be a. A stud like he was there. That's going back a bit. Sebastian was raised in a loving family with English roots. There was a lot of respect in our household. I mean, you didn't talk back to my parents. You didn't swear in the house. Sebastian's sister, Tiffany, we both grew up playing classical cello, so we had music lessons and we had to practice every day after school. In 2005, Tiffany was a TV reporter at the CBS station in Cleveland. She can't say enough about her little brother. He's very smart. I mean, he's definitely what you would call an intellectual. He's so well read. He's got so many fascinating things to say. Sebastian became a member of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets and was given an award by Prince Edward. Atief made it to the Ivy League, attending Cornell University. It was the summer of their freshman year in college when their lives took that unexpected turn. It sort of is like a jigsaw puzzle where, you know, you just take that piece and you put it here and you Start fitting it together and pretty soon you get a picture. Police took Sebastian and Atife to the station and examined them for traces of blood. They found nothing. When asked where they had been that evening, the boys provide a full account. At 8:30 they drove to a restaurant for a bite to eat. Then they went to a 9:50 showing of the Lion King. Why do you remember them? They were acting annoying, obnoxious. Everywhere they went, the people who came into contact with them remembered them. After the movie, they stopped at another restaurant and left the waitress a $6 tip on a $9 tab. They don't usually do that, especially young guys. Young guys don't tip very well. But something else troubled police. How could the boys remember so much detail about where they'd been that evening and yet not recall key moments at the murder scene? The police decided to interview Sebastian and Atief again and detectives recorded the conversation. I saw my mom. What did you do? I may have gone up to her. I can't remember. I don't know what I did. I can't remember. Did you go walk over to your dad? I don't think so. No. Did you touch your dad? I don't think so. Well, you'd know though, wouldn't you? Yeah, I don't know if. I don't think I touched him. Cops became even more suspicious when Sebastian and Atif were spotted at a local video store renting movies the night after the murders. The behavior wasn't what you would expect victims or witnesses to be. So the police kept pressing the boys. They wanted to know what happened in that house. See, I don't understand this. Latif, your sister is moaning. She's hurt. Yes, and you don't want to help her. Detectives wanted to know why Atife didn't help his dying sister even though he heard her through her bedroom door. How hurt is she? I didn't know, okay? You don't know how hurt she is? I don't know how hurt she is. All I know is that I can't. I. I can't do anything. Sebastian and Atife were witnesses. By the time they left at the end of these statements, were they suspects? Yes, definitely. By the time they left, they were suspects. You know what? I think you know who it is. It's ridiculous. No, it's not. I would tell you. I would tell you if I knew who did it. And investigators thought they not only knew who, they also knew why 3 to $400,000 is about to slip through his fingers if she lives. Are you saying that Teef didn't go to the aid of his sister because he didn't want to save his sister. Atif didn't go to the aid of his sister because unless she died, the whole plan came crumbling down on them. Three days after the murders, relatives gathered in Bellevue to bury the Rafe's in a traditional Muslim ceremony. But the only surviving member of the immediate family was nowhere to be found. They were wondering, where's the teeth? Where's the son? On the day of the funeral, the RAF's only son was on a bus headed across the border to Canada. And with him was his best friend, Sebastian Burns. You know that one friend who somehow knows everything about money? Yeah. Now imagine they live in your phone. Say hey to Experian, your big financial friend. It's the app that helps you check your FICO score, find ways to save, and basically feel like a financial genius. And guess what? It's totally free. So go on, download the Experian app. Trust me, having a BFF like this is a total game changer. This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. Between two factor authentication, strong passwords and a VPN, you try to be in control of how your info is protected. But many other places also have it, and they might not be as careful. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com podcast for 40% off terms apply. Sebastian and Atife were now in Vancouver, Canada, out of reach of the Bellevue police and an investigation that targeted them for the murders of the Refae family. Did the boys go to Vancouver or did they flee to Vancouver? From our perspective, they fled back to Vancouver. He didn't flee. He went home. Their sudden bus trip across the border only raised more suspicion, even though both were Canadian citizens. How do you flee a country? Getting on a Greyhound bus? In fact, a representative from the Canadian consulate informed the Bellevue police of their trip in advance. She contacted the Bellevue Police Department to say, these guys are leaving, they're going home, if that's okay with you. She was told, quote, sure. She then tells the boys, it's okay to go and they leave. That is not fleeing. It is not fleeing. I think it's to ask permission. Atif and Sebastian both had my numbers. They knew I was even in the process of getting them a pager so we could keep in contact. And they're gone. They don't tell me where they're at they know I'm investigating the murders of their parents, and they're gone. Detective Thompson was a veteran cop. This is the other. His gut told him that the boys were guilty, but he just didn't have the evidence to prove it. Investigators kept combing the house. Is it locked? It's not locked. They found no forced entry. There was, however, an eerie clue. A forensic tool, luminol, showed blood on the shower walls. The killer had used the shower before leaving. The person was so comfortable and calm and collected that he or she might then decide, perhaps they'll have a shower before they go. It is inconceivable. Could that be the reason why the boys who had discovered the bodies at that bloody crime scene didn't have a trace of blood on their hair, their hands, or anywhere on their bodies? Are you a killer, Sebastian? No. Absolutely not. Did you hold that bat in your hands and kill those three people? No, I didn't. You're not lying to me? No. Would you have ever done anything, Atif, to hurt your parents? No. The single most distressing thing about this entire experience is the fact that I would even have to speak out and say, yeah, no, I did not do that. Okay, right here. Even without physical evidence, detectives were determined. They began to build a case against the boys based on their odd behavior following the murders. They cooperated. They did everything that was asked of them. However, when they did things, they had this air or this attitude about doing it. They honed in on their demeanor at the crime scene and questioned why they sat in front of the house if they believed an intruder might still be there. He's out on the curb, 20 yards away from the front door, where this supposed kill may be in the house, and he's waiting for the police on the curb while the teef having a cigarette. I'm not sure that anything that we did made any sense. I was not thinking in a normal way. Police also couldn't make sense of why Atif would notice that his discman and VCR were missing. He's walking around the house claiming to discover the fact that the VCR is missing. And ultimately, while his mother and father and sister lay in a state of carnage. Let's not mince words here. It is carnage. He claims to have discovered that the walkman was missing from his bedroom, and they've decided that my son and his friend are the guilty party. They've decided that I believe him to be totally innocent, as is Atife, and they have been damned. Sebastian's family and friends rallied around him and Atife. I remember sitting on those steps with Sebastian. I remember sitting on that field. Sebastian's former girlfriend, Sarah Isaacs, says she knows his character better than anyone. Have you ever thought to yourself, maybe there was something I missed about Sebastian that I just didn't see? There's nothing that anyone could tell me. There was never a moment when someone could tell me something that made me think, honestly, maybe he did it. I never had to face that moment ever. I know Sebastian. He was and is my very, very good friend. Did the cops investigating this just need to get home to dinner? I mean, why didn't they follow up the leads that came their way? And there were other compelling leads. Within days of the crime, police received a tip from a reliable informant that someone had offered $20,000 to kill an East Indian family that had recently moved from Vancouver to Bellevue. There's no physical evidence that links Atif and Sebastian to the crime. Their alibis check out. And now you get this lead from an informant in Canada that somebody had been bragging about a hit on an East Indian family in Bellevue, Washington, tells me that's the direction now. You should be focusing your investigation since there's no evidence against these boys. Well, there is evidence against those boys. There was a lot of evidence against those boys, and it was all circumstantial. It wasn't evidence to convict them, certainly. Is it fair to say that you didn't properly check out this lead in Vancouver? You know, it may be fair to say that that lead was not fully checked out. You get all kinds of tips that come in, and you have to weigh them, but the leads didn't go that direction. The leads went directly to Canada, and the leads followed. We followed those leads to Sebastian and Atif. Atife. Why don't you talk to police? But on the advice of a lawyer, the boys decided to stop cooperating with Bellevue authorities. The minute we went to Canada, Burns and Rafae wouldn't talk to us at all. They were telling other people not to talk to us. So Thompson kept digging and found what he thought was a disturbing clue from their past. We started looking through their high school yearbook, and Sebastian Burns was in a high school play called the Rope, about two kids who commit the perfect murder. These are words that Sebastian's character said on stage. Do you mind reading it? An immaculate murder. I have killed. I have killed for the sake of danger and for the sake of killing. Arianna McGregor performed in the West Vancouver High School production of Rope along with Sebastian. The character in the play is somebody who's arrogant and believes he's better than everybody else. And Sebastian had a quality of being superior. He knew he was intelligent, knew he was good looking. What was rope about the gimmick of the play is that there's somebody is murdered at the start of the play and the villains put him into a box and then they invite guests over. Everybody's at this party wondering when the last guest is going to show up. And nobody knows that actually he's in the box at the front of the play. And so there's lots of suspenseful giggles all the way through because everybody in the audience knows that there's this person, this thing in the box, these black and white ethical balls. Your character on stage says, we've always said, you and I, that moral concepts of right and wrong don't hold for the intellectually superior. The only crime we can commit is a mistake. There's some people who believe those are words that the real Sebastian Burns might say. Wow, that's ridiculous. There was no time ever during any performance or any rehearsal that anybody was ever thinking anything serious about any of the supposed intellectual philosophies in this play or anything like that. But detectives believed the fictional murder story did inspire the real life crime. Even more chilling, the weapon was the same. A baseball bat. Well, that's just a huge coincidence. I think Sebastian was actually mortified when when he realized that he was a suspect in the baseball bat killings of the Rafaels because he said, cripes, what's going to happen when they find out about the play? How does the play end? Their superior figures them out. Someone who is actually more intelligent than they are figures it out and they get caught. As the investigation continued in Bellevue, the boys were living well in Vancouver. With some of the money Atif inherited from his parents estate. They bought a convertible and rented an apartment together with another high school pal. I think I'll stay here forever. Jimmy Miyoshi. Behind drawn curtains, they hid from the media who were constantly in pursuit of them and their story. Hello? Is Atif there? 987. But while they weren't talking to the police, the police were listening to them. Hello? Atif? Rafe. Oh yeah. Every word they spoke at home or in their car was being recorded. How are you doing? Um, okay, I guess. The boys had no idea they were now the targets of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the rcmp. The RCMP applied for and ultimately obtained authorization to do wiretaps. On April 10, 1995, RCMP investigators intercepted this phone message. This is Crimper's Hair Salon. Calling for for Sebastian to confirm his appointment with Gregory Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 11th. Sebastian could never have imagined that he was about to fall into a trap set by one of the most sophisticated undercover operators in the world. There was no doubt in my mind that, yes, Sebastian Burns was responsible for this and we were in fact going to get a full confession from him. When you hear Lululemon, you probably think of aligned yoga pants. Weightlessly soft, like you're wearing next to nothing. That's why you see them in class, at the grocery store and in the park. But did you know about skirts with built in liner shorts so you can still jump for the Frisbee and tanks and bodysuits? With the line's iconic stretch, you won't want to take it off. And with endless style options, you don't have to shop in store or online. @lululemon.com now streaming. Hi again, TV's quirkiest crime solver. I'm Elspeth Tasioni. I work with the police. It's on the case. I like my outlandish theories with a heavy dose of evidence and ready to go toe to toe with a cavalcade of guest stars. Are you saying that this is now a murder investigation? It's starting to look that way. Don't miss a moment of the critically acclaimed hit Elsbeth. All episodes now stre on Paramount and return CBS fall. That sounds like fun. Obviously, murder's not fun. This episode is brought to you by Amazon's Blink Video Doorbell. Get more at your door with the easy to install Blink Video Doorbell. Get more connections. Hey, I'm here for our first date. More deliveries. Hi, I have tacos for two. Oh, thanks. We'll be right down. And more memories. Babe, come down. I have a surprise. All new Blink video doorbell with two year battery. Head to toe, HD view and simple setup. Shop now at Amazon.com blink for just $69.99. By April of 1995, Sebastian Burns and Atif Rafe were Canada's most famous teenage murder suspects. I remember a time when we were at a bus stop and someone drove by and rolled down the window and yelled, murderers. That was typical. They were pariahs. They were hated. I was unable to go to college. I was unable to get a job. But the boys had a plan. To make their fortune and live out a lifelong dream. They started work on their very own screenplay about two best friends accused of murdering a family. The movie was going to be about Sebastian Barrons and Atif Raffay and the injustice that was heaped upon them as a result of the suspicion about their involvement in this triple aggravated murder case in Bellevue. They called it the Great Despisers. We were worried that it would sound a bit nerdy because having the word great in the title sound makes it sound kind of nerdy. And if we'd called that, for example, just the Despisers, that would have been more unimpeachably cruel. However, we decided to have the courage to stick with this nerdy title. While the boys worked on what they say is their fictional story about two friends falsely accused, they had no idea the real life plotline was about to take an astonishing turn. This is Quimper's hair salon calling for Sebastian to confirm his appointment with Gregory. That simple message from a local hair salon was the moment the RCMP was waiting for. I think they were very vulnerable to whatever the RCMP had in store for them. These were kids who lived pretty sheltered lives. When Sebastian was finished at Crimper's salon, a stranger was waiting. And when Mr. Burns comes out of the salon, the undercover operator just approaches him, what they call the cold approach. He seemed to me like some kind of an entrepreneur. He walks up to him and says, hey, buddy, can you give me a hand? I seem to have locked my keys in the car. So he asked me for a ride to his hotel, and I gave him a ride. The stranger took Sebastian to a bar and bought him a drink for his trouble. I was impressed by that, and I was also sort of intrigued, I guess, or excited about the way that he seemed so ready to be interested in me. Sebastian told his new friend that he and his buddies had written a screenplay, but he didn't have a job and needed financing. The friend said he knew someone who could help. Ultimately, the goal was to get Sebastian to meet with the next guy up the chain. And it worked perfectly. Sebastian thought he was about to meet a connected businessman, but it was this man. Sergeant Haslett of the rcmp. We cannot show you his face. I don't think there's an undercover team like this anywhere in the world, and I say that very seriously. The best of the best. The best. The RCMP spent months preparing to manipulate their target. They had access to fancy cars, posh hotel suites, weapons, false international documents, beautiful women posing as professional mobsters. The RCMP set up the first meeting with Sebastian at a strip club. How important was this movie to Sebastian Burns? It was just about his whole life. The crime boss told Sebastian he did have cash to invest in his screenplay, but Sebastian would have to earn it. Sebastian had no idea he was being offered work in a make believe world of crime. Jobs were also promised to atife and their pal Jimmy miyoshi. I hope these guys are solid, man. These guys are never going to betray me. Ever. All right. Never ever. Sebastian's first assignment, Transport a stolen car for the crime boss. He had nothing. And then he was offered something. He was offered something that was criminal. Something that he probably wouldn't have thought was a good idea had he had something else going on in his life. He was only paid $200 for the job and he wasn't happy. He was disgusted. He made it clear he wasn't happy. He told us he could make more money than that. Stealing his videos out of stores. It was essential to the undercover operation that Sebastian continue working for the organization. So the next staged crime is easier for more cash. What I want you guys to do, which is no big deal, it's pretty straightforward. Sebastian and Jimmy miyoshi go from one bank to another. Laundering money. Cash is here. Just taking deposit into this account. One of you guys running the first time. Next time, another guy at a different bank. This time for a day's work, they get paid $2,000. Wow. So co I couldn't help but be excited about having $2,000 put in my hand. And I'd hardly had to do anything for it. Months go by. The undercover operators take Sebastian to posh hotels, trying to build trust and draw him out. How's the movie? Well, we haven't started filming everything, but the script is. Did you sense that Sebastian felt he was smarter than you? Oh, there's no doubt. He made it clear. Told us that on more than one occasion. Tell me how smart you are. Tell me how smart you are. I'm one of the most intelligent people in the world. Slowly, the undercover operators bring up the investigation in Bellevue. Hazlett tries to get Sebastian to confess by telling him he already knows what happened. I know you did it. You know you did it. The police didn't know you. How did I know they're not. Sebastian doesn't admit guilt, but he confides in the mobsters that if the police did find something to tie him to the crime, he might want them to destroy it. And he has a very practical theory. As one of the best known murder suspects in Canada, he is confident that his movie would make millions if he is suddenly proven innocent. And a film with that kind of promotion. Because the thing is, as it is right now, it's like Google controversy, right? Which in itself promotes. Right. But this is like oh, you're heroes. Something goes up to 25, 30 million. Taking their cue again from their target, the businessmen raise the stakes. They tell Sebastian that the Bellevue police have physical evidence tying him to the crime. Well, I'll tell you, they're coming to lock your ass up. Yours and your friends. To make it seem real, Hazlett shows him this phony memo on Bellevue police letterhead detailing the evidence linking Sebastian to the murder. The mobsters offer to destroy the so called evidence, but they need Sebastian to tell them exactly what happened in the Raffae house the night of the murders. Well, I want your help and you need my help. So you tell me what went on down there and I'm going to tell you how I'm going to take you. Finally, on July 18, 1995, one year after the murders, Sebastian meets the crime boss, Sergeant Haslett, at the Ocean Point Resort. And the cameras are rolling. He walks into this hotel room and takes off his shoes. He stretches out on a love seat. It's only then that Mr. Burns lets his guard down. And the dirty little secret that he's been protecting for the last 12 or 13 months starts to unravel on video for the whole wide world to see. It has taken three months of undercover work to get to this moment. Hey, let's go off your family and get all their money. Basically. Essentially, yeah. I mean, and he told me the details how him and Atif Rafe did commit the murders in Bellevue. How did you knew three people at once? I know why I shouldn't want to hear that extremely, extremely cold individual. It's phenomenal. The next day, Sebastian brings Atif to the crime boss to tell his story. How's it feel between your parents and my father and sister? Pretty rotten. But it's tempered by the fact that I felt that it was messing what it was necessary to, I guess, achieve what I wanted to achieve in this life. That's all the police needed to hear. Those were solid, strong confessions that only the individuals that were responsible for that murder would be able to sit down and tell it like it was. Cheers. Sebastian, Atif and Jimmy Miyoshi are all arrested. Do you have anything to say? But this case is just beginning. Sebastian says he's lying, that undercover officers intimidated him into making a false confession. I believe that if I crossed them, that they would have me killed. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. With the price of just about everything going up, we thought we'd bring our prices down. So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing thing. Mint Mobile unlimited premium wireless. Everybody get 30, 30 better get 30, better get 202020 get 2020 better get 15151515 just 15 bucks a month sold. Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of 45 for three month plan equivalent to 15 per month required new customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of network's busy taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com did you know that parents rank financial literacy as the number one most difficult life skill to teach? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app for families. With Greenlight, you can send money to kids quickly, set up chores automate allowance and keep an eye on your kids spending with real time notifications. Kids learn to earn, save and spend wisely. And parents can rest easy knowing their kids are learning about money. With guardrails in place, try Greenlight risk free today@greenlight.com Spotify Sebastian Burns and Atif Rafe, best friends who once dreamed of making it big in movies, were now behind bars. But no sooner were Sebastian and Atife arrested than the same Canadian government that set a trap to catch them led an international battle to spare their lives. We should not be sending anybody back. The case went all the way up to Canada's Supreme Court. Persons who leave the country and commit offenses outside of the country should expect that they will be punished under the laws of the jurisdiction in which they committed the crime. Sending the boys back across the border to Washington meant they would face the death penalty if convicted, a punishment Canada had long since abolished and considered inhumane. We never knew when we were going to be leaving for the United States. And every time we heard, oh, there may be a trial, you know, next year. Then it became the next year and that lasted for about four years where we thought that we were a week away from extradition. After six years of legal wrangling, the King county prosecutor in Seattle agreed to Canada's demands not to seek the death penalty. Sebastian And Atife, now 25 year old men, were finally extradited to face murder charges. Mr. Raffa, you're charged. Mr. Burns, you're charged in the cause numbers that I just read with three counts of aggravated murder in the first degree. If convicted, the penalty would now be life with no parole. That goes with the motion to dismiss. They were appointed a team of attorneys. Representing Sebastian was Teresa Olson, an ardent if eccentric public defender who believed in the boy's innocence. Of course they didn't do the killings. The evidence is clear that they didn't do the killings. Olson worked tirelessly on the case running down leads and witnesses. But in the summer of 2002, the case took a bizarre turn. Guards at the King county jail reported seeing Olson having sex with Sebastian during an attorney client meeting. Shut up. The well publicized scandal even caught the attention of late night comic Jay Leno. A female lawyer in Seattle is in trouble for having sex in jail with her client who is on a murderer. How creepy is that, huh? Sex with a lawyer. And brought the trial to a grinding halt. This court had no choice but to appoint new counsel. Sebastian's new attorneys were a dream team. Ivy league trained Jeff Robinson and Song Richardson. There is a lot of stake for Sebastian Burns and we will be fighting till the end. 187s are tired artists. They were among Seattle's best and most expensive criminal defense lawyers along with Amanda Lee. They staunchly believed in the boy's innocence and agreed to take the high profile case at a public defender's wage. They have been essentially judged and treated as though they were guilty of from the beginning when the evidence just isn't there. What kind of pressure is on all of your shoulders as we approach this trial? Nothing more or less than the rest of Sebastian Byrne's natural life. They were up against two of the most seasoned and respected prosecutors in Seattle. I want to talk. We're going to get in. Let's sit up. Roger Davidhiser would be joining James Conant on the case. It's not just justice, it's the truth. What we're after here is the truth. And I would submit to you that's what separates our side from theirs. By September 2003, Sebastian and Atife had been in jail for more than eight years, charged but never convicted for the Refae family murder. You have to recognize that these are human beings and they have had their lives stolen from them. And to make it worse, they've had their lives stolen from them to somehow resolve a murder that they didn't commit. The case would turn on those controversial confessions. Make believe mobsters extracting confessions from teenagers. Is that allowed in the state of Washington? It's not allowed in the state of Washington and I don't think it's allowed anywhere else in the United States under the circumstances that it was done in this case. Are you comfortable using the results from an illegal Undercover investigation by U.S. laws? In your case, this investigation was not illegal because it was conducted in Canada by Canadian authorities targeting Canadian citizens. It was an investigation that they undertook separate and apart from the Bellevue investigation. This case it's not only about the lives of my two friends. It's about the responsibility of police and prosecutors to do their job properly and to act in good faith. And they have not done that in this case. It would be up to Superior Court Judge Charles Mertel. Please be seated everyone. To decide if Sebastian and Atief's chilling confessions caught on tape would be allowed to damn them in an American court. Other prosecutors in other cases with evidence just like that have told jurors, just like the ones that will sit in our case, that it's a slam dunk. And those jurors very comfortably have convicted people and sentenced them to die. And they've been wrong. Judge Mertell was about to make the most controversial ruling of his career. The boys lives would depend on what he was about to say. I think that everyone who knew Sebastian thought that he was going on to do something interesting with his life. Yeah, people expected him to be a leader, to do something interesting. And I hope one day he will. Sebastian Burns and Atif Rafe should have been celebrating at the West Vancouver High School 10 year reunion. Instead they had become the class of 93's most infamous graduates. Prosecutors say just one year out of high school, these brilliant best friends tried to commit the perfect murder. It was a brutal crime. There's blood all over his face. That shocked the upscale suburb of Bellevue, Washington. Atief's mother, father and sister bludgeoned to death. The motive? Insurance money. The boys got away and were living in Canada until undercover police officers caught them on tape boasting about how they did it. How did you do three people at once? Now, on the eve of their murder trial, a judge would decide if a jury would get to hear those chilling confessions. I do not find the undercover officer's conduct in this case shocking or outrageous. Although they were deceitful, persistent, they engaged in tricks, but not dirty tricks. It was a controversial ruling allowing the boys own words to be used against them and would set the tone for the whole trial. Just how powerful is the impact of this video of these two boys confessing to murder? It's incredibly powerful. When I first saw it, I was taken aback. I was shocked. There are two young men seemingly laughing about slaughtering three people and saying I did it. And while the confessions may be shocking, the defense says they're not true. This case is about what happens when a presumption of guilt, when a gut feeling that you have the right suspects takes over from logical and objective evaluation of the evidence. This case is about what happens when you pursue Individuals as opposed to pursuing the truth. Finally, in November 2003, more than nine years after the Refae family murders, Sebastian and Atif get their day in court. The jury's gonna finally hear the story of what really happened to the Brothe family, and they'll hear the story of Sebastian and Otif's innocence. But prosecutors had a very different story to tell. Sebastian Burns is young, thoughtful, charismatic, manipulative, and most importantly, a killer. A brutal killer. You've been portrayed as a monster. Yeah. Yes. Maniacal, plotting, a murderer. Are you those things? No. The State's theory is we want to make the jurors hate these two young men. Essentially, they make it a test of character as opposed to a test of evidence. And character is at the heart of the prosecution's case. All rise. Superior Court is now in session. The defendants were two young men who believed they could commit the perfect murder. Roger David Heiser opened for the State. Ladies and gentlemen, what you will hear in the end is that it was this very hubris that sealed their fate and their arrogant and unrealistic belief that they were smart enough to achieve mastery over the police and their investigation. He zeroed in on the piece of evidence that launched the case and for the first time revealed a startling flaw in the boy's plan. There's. I need an ambulance. They made that 911 call too quickly. We think they're dead. My belief is that they just walked straight into the house and made the 911 call. The timing was critical, so we asked Detective Thompson to retrace their drive home from downtown Seattle, where they were last seen that night. 18 minutes. What does that tell you? And 18 minutes would give them three minutes in the house. And three minutes, said the prosecutors, was not enough time in the house to find the bodies and do all the things Sebastian and Atife told them. Police they did, and think about what they had to do in that three minutes. Three minutes to arrive home, pull the family car into the garage, enter the home through the garage, discover and comprehend that Sultana, Tariq and Bosma have been brutally attacked and laid dead in three different areas of that house. The revelation startled the defense, but Sung Richardson was thinking on her feet. How long does it take to walk into a house and see these two brutally butchered bodies of Atif's family and then run downstairs and call 911 and turn the prosecution's argument on its head? How long is three minutes? Well, let's see, that was about a minute and a half. But remember, it wasn't just the murders in that three minutes. The boys also had to figure out there'd been a burglary and that a VCR and Discman were missing. There's been some kind of break in. I hear the voice of a person who has contrived a story that can only be explained by somebody who knew very well what had happened in the Raffae family home. I was out of my mind at the time. I was totally in shock, totally staggered and confounded, and was almost totally hysterical. In a case where every minute matters, the defense bolsters their claim of the boy's innocence by playing up statements the neighbors on both sides of the Refa house gave to police in the days following the murders. The neighbors initially said that they heard pounding coming from inside the Raffa house at a time when the boys have an airtight alibi. You were standing in this driveway. Mark Seidel lived right next door to the Raffets. How loud were the bangs you were hearing? Um, they're pretty hard hits. A little bit harder than you'd hang a picture. Seidel says back then he didn't think a murder was taking place next door and figured the Refaes, who had just moved in, were probably unpacking. I sort of thought about going over and helping them so they could go to sleep. But luckily that night I didn't. The Rafae's other next door neighborhood, Julie Rackley, testified that she also heard sounds. Initially, I thought it just sounded like hammering. It had sort of an odd resonance to it. The neighbors who heard these sounds described them in great detail and verified what they were for. The police all heard them well before 10 o' clock at night. And at 10 o' clock, Sebastian and Atife were still seen at the movie theater. If the jury believes these initial reports that Mark Seidel and Judy Rackley gave to police, your case could be in trouble. Absolutely. You can't be in two places at one time. There's no debating that point. There are two independent neighbors who separately heard the murder happen at the end of twilight, before 10 o' clock. And we were known to be on the other side of town when that happened. It was impossible for us to have committed this crime. Prosecutors contend it is possible. Even though the boys were seen going to the 9:50 movie, there's no proof that they stayed. Is there a way for these two boys to exit the theater without drawing attention to themselves, say, during the movie? Jose Martinez sold the boys movie tickets that night, and he showed us how they could sneak out from this Theater got this exit behind the curtain or the other one over there. So if they slip through this curtain, you're not letting any light into the theater. Correct. Then up these stairs and now this exit door, two doors outside. The defense protested that even though it could have happened that way, there was no proof that it did and that prosecutors were to going grasping at straws to get a conviction. They sifted through Sebastian's history and his life and atife's history and his life and tried to find anything that would make them look like bad people. In fact, months into the trial, prosecutors brought this intriguing surprise witness from the boy's past who said she had evidence that could turn the case. But first they would have to convince the judge to let the jury hear what she had to say. You swear or affirm. Nazgul Shifte was a friend from the boy's high school days who had dated Sebastian. What was this comment that Sebastian Burns made that stood out at you? He said, I want to try to kill someone one day to see how it would feel, because I think I would find it enjoyable. She claimed a late night conversation she'd had years ago with the boys in her bedroom had planted the seeds for murder. Did you think he was serious? He wasn't laughing and he said it in a serious tone. Sebastian doesn't deny having the conversation, but emphatically says he wasn't serious. It's a one line paraphrase of a sarcasm from a hippy dippy 3am conversation 10 years ago. And I can't remember enough about it to defend myself against it. If anyone would reflect on that and think, imagine if the worst parts of my personality, maybe the worst moments when I was 18 years old, that I would be reminded of them for the next nine years of my life and that that in the public's eye would be the person that I'd become. I think people would really shudder. It's a nightmare. Thank you for your time and your testimony. It was certainly damning testimony, but the jury would never hear it. There is no question. Had I known about this last spring, I would have admitted this four months into the this saying I can't stop this process and let everyone dash to the four winds to try and research this. The judge's decision flustered prosecutors, but there's another witness more powerful and much more damning. You swear or affirm that the testimony, the friend the boys swore would never betray them. Do you recognize Mr. Burns and Mr. Raffae in the courtroom here today? Yes, I do. It had been Years since, Jimmy Miyoshi had seen his high school buddies, Sebastian and Atife, Jimmy had moved to Japan and was living under another name. When prosecutors forced him to return to Seattle and face his friends at their murder trial, he was, in no uncertain terms, conflicted. In fact, he spent the last two or three years of his life trying to avoid the eventuality of being compelled to come to court and testify against his two best friends. Jimmy could have easily been sitting next to his best friends, charged with a crime back in 1995. During the undercover operation, Jimmy was also a target of the rcmp. The RCMP believed Miyoshi helped the boys plan the murder of the Raffae family, and they wanted him to give a full confession on tape, just like his friends had done. You know what went on down there in that house? What went on? Yeah. But no matter how much he was pressed for details, Miyoshi refused to implicate his friends in the murder. Okay. Do you know who killed the parents? Yeah. Who? Is that what you want? Yeah. And I just want you to explain to me exactly the purposes of you wanting to know is that so we can establish this kind of totally for trust. Totally for trust? Totally. In some ways, was Jimmy Miyoshi the smartest of them all? He's not in jail. In fact, Jimmy was arrested with Sebastian and Atife and interrogated by authorities in Canada. He was told that he might face the death penalty himself. He was told that his family, his job, his future would be ruined unless he said that Sebastian and Atieff confessed to him. Back then, Jimmy told the police that his friends were innocent at the time of your arrest on July 31, 1995. Were they honest answers? They were answers that, I guess the intention of a lot of those answers was to protect Sebastian and atife at that point, on July 31, 1995, why is it that you gave answers that were designed to protect Sebastian and Antife? I guess it was also in a way to protect myself, but in general, because I didn't want Sebastian and Antif to get whatever. Arrested and potentially convicted. But under increasing pressure, Miyoshi eventually agreed to cooperate. And in exchange, he was granted immunity from charges of conspiracy to commit murder. Suddenly, he began to reveal more to the police about what he knew. But now the question loomed. Would Miyoshi betray his best friends? Had this subject ever come up before the notion of Hatif Rafe killing his family? No. This was the first time. In a halting voice that often dropped to a whisper, Jimmy told the court that it was during a drive from Seattle to Vancouver when atife first brought up the idea of killing his family, what was your response to the notion of Hatif's notion of killing his family? I guess I was listening. And, I mean, he was my friend at the time, and I guess in a way, I was neutral on that notion. On the stand, Jimmy recounted a discussion about how the boys would commit the crime. Remember which methods were discussed? I remember something about gassing the house, and I remember discussion about, I guess, using a baseball bat. What do you remember about why a baseball bat could or should be used? A quick and painless way of killing someone. I don't think there's any question that he was a sounding board for them. The prosecution says Jimmy consulted on an especially chilling part of the plan. Sebastian and atife stayed here at the Raffae family home during the five days before the murders. And it was no coincidence. It was part of the plan, prosecutors say, to commit the perfect crime. If they had been living in the house previously, that any kind of hair or whatever samples that were collected after wouldn't necessarily mean that. That they had done it by virtue of their being in the house for several days. Any fingerprint that would be found or could be found could be explained as a result of their having been there for several days. Any hair evidence that might be found could be explained for them having been in the house for several days prior to the murders. It's diabolical, but it's pretty clever. Damn clever. Finally, Jimmy gave the prosecution what they needed. He said that atife watched while Sebastian bludgeoned the family. I remember hearing about how, I guess Atif was pretty distraught and that from the moment that Sebastian had struck his mother, that it was kind of a. There's no going back. How hard was it to sit and listen to Jimmy Miyoshi's testimony? It was enormously difficult. I think it was difficult for him as well. As I say I am outraged that he did it, but at the same time, I think I reserve my real outrage for the people who forced him to do it. Did you discuss a plan to murder the Refae family with Jimmy Miyoshi? No, we didn't. Why did Jimmy Miyoshi testify that you did? Because he had a life sentence held to his head. And if he didn't say what the police and the prosecution wanted him to say, that life sentence was gonna go off. It's the first time in eight years that you have ever said anything like that, isn't it, sir? I'm not sure. The defense tried to hammer back. Jimmy once lied to save his friends. So he could be easily lying now to save himself. You're making it up as you go along, sir. That's why you're saying things for the first time. Yes. No, I don't believe I am. Do you believe that Jimmy Miyoshi is a liar? Jimmy Miyoshi is a self admitted liar. Jimmy Miyoshi acknowledges that he has lied. The question will be, how many lies does Jimmy Miyoshi get to tell? Mr. Miyoshi? This conversation was on. The defense needed to come back with something strong. And they had an arsenal of forensic evidence that flew in the face of Miyoshi's testimony. They told the jury that there were three killers in the house that night. Experts analyzed the patterns of blood on the wall and found drops everywhere except this area where there was no blood, indicating another killer may have stood there during the attack. They also said a pillow was moved during the bludgeoning. So we have killer number one moving the pillow. We have killer number two bludgeoning Dr. Raffa with the bat. And then we have killer number three, who has to remain in the exact same place throughout the entire duration of the attack on Dr. Refae. And there was even more tangible evidence. A single hair on Tariq Refae's bed. According to the police officers there, this was an important hair because this hair, according to the Bellevue police Department, would tell them who committed this crime. Did it match Atif? No. Sebastian? No. Sultana? No. Basma? No. Tariq? No. We don't know whether that hair originated from someone who sat in the same seat that Sebastian Byrne sat in at the movie theater or whether it was picked up by doctors at his workplace or how it got on that bed. Or if it was a hair from the killer. Or if it was a hair from the killer. Prosecutors also added DNA evidence needs to fit a pattern and appear in more than one place at a crime scene. That DNA profile appeared nowhere else in that house. There was absolutely no other pattern of trace evidence that could even be remotely suggested to be related to that hair. That was an isolated hair. So with the forensic evidence inconclusive, the case comes down to whom the jury would believe. You're saying the testimony of one of my best friends. Don't listen to that. My own words on the videotape. Don't listen to that. Just take my word for it. We didn't do it. Defense calls Sebastian Burns. All rise for the jury. More than 100 witnesses would take the stand in the state versus Burns and Rafe. Could you kill again? Circumstances are right. Finally, Canada's most secret undercover operation would be exposed before the jury. And so would the question that had lingered for so many years. Why would you confess to a murder you didn't do? At that point, it seemed like the only safe choice. It seemed like the best choice. Why on earth would anyone confess to a murder they didn't do unless they were petrified that they were actually going to be killed themselves or people they loved were going to come to some type of harm? The defense set out to prove that the scales were tipped from the beginning. Professional Liars, 1975. I was first trained in the undercover work against teenage boys. Have you worked as the primary undercover operator before? Yes. I am frightened by the fact that this kind of undercover operation can be used ostensibly to search for the truth when it is built in whole on lies and manipulation and threats. Mr. Burns, come on forward. Sebastian would have to convince the jury to believe him now and not to believe what he said on those tapes. I was in way over my head and I did not want to be involved with these guys. I was upset with myself for having agreed to drive the car. Sebastian began his side of the story with the first assignment from the Crime Box, transporting that stolen car. What was your reaction when you heard that they wanted you to drive this stolen car? Pretty quickly I felt that I'd been tricked. Sebastian, why didn't you just look at him and say, okay, I am out of here? Walk away? No, but there is no walking away. You want us to know what I did my time for? I folks, for the day when it came time to court the person that could finger me. They're not around anymore. Sebastian says he couldn't walk away from criminals whose power seemed to be so far reaching. I believe that if I'd cross them or if they weren't happy with me, or if they thought that I was going to betray them, that they would have me killed. I just assumed that, you know, you with your connections, that if I were to you around, okay, I would just assume that I would wake up one day with a bullet in my head. On the stand, Song Richardson pressed Sergeant Haslet about his scare tactics. Sebastian could easily, very easily have believed that you and your organization would hold hurt people if they crossed you, Right? He could have believed it. Yes. And that you would kill people if they ever crossed you, right? Well, I've never said that. It goes to Sebastian Byrne's imagination. Let him sit back when he goes home at night and imagine whatever he chooses to. Is there any time in which your character directs threatened Sebastian Burns? No, never. I wanted him to the idea was not to frighten Sebastian, but to make him comfortable talking about murder to other murderers. I know he did that. That's why you're here. Because you're stolen. Could Sebastian Burns have walked away from his relationship with you at any time? He chose to do so, without a doubt. He didn't have to return our calls. Hey, it's Sebastian leaving message number three. Sebastian stayed, the defense argued, because he believed the Bellevue police were fabricating evidence against him. Let me show you something. You never saw this from me. That phony memo detailing the evidence that the cops had against the boys just read this piece of the undercover operators only offered to destroy the evidence if Sebastian confessed. You don't say to Sebastian, look, Sebastian, if you didn't do it, just say so. We'll still deal with that evidence for you. We'll deal with it so you won't get convicted. But if you didn't do it, just say so. We'll still help. You never said that, right? No, I didn't say that. Because up until this time, Sebastian Burns had never denied the involvement in the murders to me. Going into the meeting on July 18, what was your plan? My plan was to claim to be the murderer. That they insisted that they believed that I was, and to be convincing. Sebastian says he studied newspaper accounts so he'd know details of the murder. What'd you do first? As the cameras rolled, Sebastian confirmed the police theory that the weapon was a baseball bat. Would you use a metal or a wooden bat? Metal. And the eerie notion that the killer had showered before leaving blood and that kind of stuff. And that wasn't the only reason why detectives found no blood on the boys. How do you hit your baseball? You have to shower, have no blood on you. Do it naked. Sebastian pointed out how he and Atife would profit from the crime. Whatever money we get, it's like we would invest it in our film, I guess. And he gave up the most sought after clue. The loophole in the alibi. What did you do? The dirty deed. Turning over. I'm gonna get you out of the trouble you're in. I'm glad. Huh? I'm flattered by your attention. Atif explained that while Sebastian killed his family, he staged a break in. What did I do? When you were in the house? Stood around, ranked out of vpr. You told Hazlett, am I correct that you committed these murders of the Refes, the Refae family during the movie? Am I right? Correct that the VCR was taken to also contribute to the simulation of a Breaking and entering. That's right. You had the alibi of the movie. The prosecution had another bombshell ready to drop on the defense. It wasn't the first time Sebastian used a movie as an alibi. You got into a car collision, didn't you? Yes. You were driving your family car at the time. That's correct, yes. I mean, you hit a pole in a parking lot. Did you own up to it at the time? No, I did not. When he was 16, Sebastian staged an elaborate cover up to conceal the fact that he had wrecked the family car. Mr. Burns, the reality is what you set about doing was very similar to what you told Hazlett you did in this case, isn't that correct? I told Hazlett that we committed a murder, which we didn't do. Well, Mr. Burns, let me stop you there for a moment. Roger Davidhiser drew a haunting parallel between the accident scene and the murder scene back in high school. Sebastian went to great lengths to make it seem like someone else did the damage while he was at the movies. But the insurance company caught him in the COVID up. And in March of 1992, albeit with this stupid little car crash, what you decided to do was to pick up the pieces of evidence that were at the scene of this collision. Am I right? Correct. You put those back in your car, am I correct? Correct. You took them to an entirely different location in North Vancouver. Am I right? Correct. And you staged a scene in a parking lot. Am I right? Basically, you manipulated the evidence to appear as though it was something that it wasn't. Am I right? Yes. And the reason you did that, sir, was so that you could say that this accident occurred while you were at the movie. Am I right? Correct. Sir. You weren't at the movies when that accident occurred, were you? No. The difference is that the first one is a car accident and the second one is a homicide. That's correct. Mr. Burns. That is a difference. And the difference is also that in the first case, I was responsible for the car accident, and in the second case, I had nothing to do with this homicide. David Heiser wasn't about to let that statement go in front of the jury. He had more of that damning tape. Can't tell you something like I, you know, I felt like, you know, I was capable and like, you better kill the person. And on July 18th of 1995, after you told him that you had in fact killed the Refae family, you told them that you did it because you felt capable of killing, right? Correct. Yes. Did you see it happen yeah. All three? No, only one. Which one? My mom. The demeanor with which they deliver this message of what they accomplished that night in Bellevue is chilling. Didn't even fight. Yeah, well, that's a story that hasn't really been told because I think you can hear a giggling in the background and. And kind of going, oh, God. Oh, God. Basically, his father was nothing and curious about the sister who basically. Yeah. Standing up and walking around and whatever. Took a little network. Your behavior on that tape when there's some laughing. Did you think that the murder of the Rafae family was some sort of a comedy? No, absolutely not. But we were lying and was not thinking about the murder of the Raffae family when I was talking. To a certain extent, I had essentially put the real events out of my mind entirely so that I was really only thinking of the story that I was selling to Mr. Haslett. That's not part of a story that two scared individuals come up with because they think it's what two mafia characters want to hear. That's the truth. That's the truth coming from the mind of Atiefa Faye and Sebastian Burns. It's a challenge. To sum it all up in a couple of hours, Six months of testimony comes down to one final argument. There is no gray area. There is nothing in between. Either you must believe what Sebastian Byrne says and every single thing he says, or you must convict him. James Conant will speak for the state. You like your odds? Very much. Are you ready? Absolutely. Jeff Robinson knows this is his last chance in front of the jury. And he will have to count with everything he has. How many times does the evidence have to tell us it's not Sebastian and it's not Athi. Before we. Listen, please listen. He points to the bloody scene in Tariq's bedroom and evidence of three killers. Three people went into Dr. Raffay's room. And there are three unknown DNA profiles. Robinson reminds them that there is no forensic evidence linking the boys to the crime. And the question that you're required to ask yourselves is what has the state shown me to make me believe that he is guilty without having one reason to doubt it? Mr. Conant, the floor is yours. Your honor. Thank you. There can be no doubt in your mind that these two are the killers. The prosecution insists it is Sebastian's own words that leave no room for doubt. How did you kill three people at once? I don't watch it when I hear that. And ultimately, the words that came out of Sebastian Burns mouth led to his demise. His hubris led to his demise. What would be most compelling to the 12 jurors? Would it be the neighbors who thought they heard the murders that night when the boys were spotted at the movie theater? Or would they be haunted by Jimmy Miyoshi's words damning his two former best friends? Would the jury believe that Sebastian was scared of those undercover operators? Or is this the picture of a young man who thinks he's about to get away with murder? For the last time, the jury is asked to envision the last moments in the Refa family home. This is the horror that they left behind, ladies and gentlemen. This is what we must not lose sight of. Finally, it is up to the jury to make its decision. Okay, ladies and gentlemen, you'll retire to deliberate your verdicts. In the script for the great despisers, two boys are wrongfully convicted and executed after four days of deliberations. Ten years after the murders, the final act in the real life plotline. All rise for the jury. Will the jury find the defendant Glenn Sebastian Burns guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree as charged in count one? Verdict form 1F. We the jury find the defendant Ahmed Rafe guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree as charged in count three. I did not believe that they didn't have reasonable doubt. I just didn't believe it, I'm afraid. I. I think he's very scary and I looked at him a few times and he was glaring at me personally. And anybody that committed a crime like that is a frightening person. I was looking at individual jurors just to see if they. I don't know, I guess I was looking for some kind of an answer. I wonder how they sleep at night. I wonder how they came to that decision. Rebecca, here one way or the other with the verdict that was given. Can you sleep well at night now? Yes. Yes. No second thoughts? No. No way. Not with anyone. Not a doubt. Nope. I personally myself, to the very day of the end of the trial wanted them to be innocent. And in the end I was totally overcome by the evidence, obviously, but I think all of us were wishing that some suspect would be guilty so that we could not convict these two young men. On October 22, 2004, five months after the verdict. Good morning, Pete. Sebastian and Atife were back in court, this time to hear their story sentence from the judge. Send Mr. Burns a very clear message that he has been found guilty. Send him to prison for the rest of his natural life times three. Three consecutive life sentences. Mr. Burns? Thank you, your honor. Sebastian had his own message for the court, with all due respect to the jurors, the verdict was wrong. In the audience were jurors who had convicted him and the undercover operators who had sealed his fate. I certainly feel sorry for the victims. I feel sorry for their surviving son. This was his only expression of sympathy. Before I continue, I would just encourage you to consider in a speech that went on and that's what, for almost two hours, our jury was made to have. I want to insist today on the truth that we are innocent. Atife never took the stand during the trial. And I love my parents. I revere their memory to this day. He used this moment to admit he was ashamed. Your honor, the impersonation that I gave on those videotapes. Yes, there's no relation. Is alien. And everything that I've ever felt or thought, I truly admired my father. I was probably closer to my mother than to any other person that I ever will be. The memory of her wit and her charm and her keen human sympathy, they're dear to me to this day. Mr. Rafe, thank you. Unlike your colleagues, I find you genuinely remorseful. Mr. Rifa, I think the tragedy for you and ultimately your family was a meeting, a fateful meeting at probably a school cafeteria or a school ground. I don't know where it occurred. With Mr. Burns. Judge Mertell saved his harshest words for Sebastian Burns. Mr. Burns, you're not immoral. You're amoral. You are an arrogant convicted killer. You are not a kid, as you so often refer to yourself. You're an adult, and you will be held responsible as an adult for your premeditated, naked, vicious massacre of this family. It is therefore the conclusion of this court that you should be sentenced on count one to life without possibility of parole, Count two to life without possibility of parole, and on count three to life without possibility of parole. Those three sentences to run consecutively. It has taken nearly a decade, but prosecutors will send the Rafae's only son and his best friend to prison. Three consecutive life terms, one for each life that was taken. Justice has been done for the three victims, and our community has held the two individuals responsible for this accountable for their conduct. There is a great deal of satisfaction in being part of that. A great deal of satisfaction. Burns and Rafae remain in separate prisons in Washington state, and both maintain their innocence. In 2017, Rafe married a volunteer with Innocence International, which continues to advocate for both men. What is daddication? The thing that drives me every day as a dad is Dariana. We call him Dae Date for short. Every day he's hungry for something, whether it's attention, affection, knowledge. And there's this huge responsibility in making sure that when he's no longer under my wing that he's a good person. I want him to be able to sit back one day and go, we worked together. We did a good job. That's dedication. Find out more@fatherhood.gov brought to you by the U.S. department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. Summer of cinema is here and Pluto TV is exploding with thousands of free movies streamed blockbusters like Gladiator, Mission Impossible, Beverly Hills Cop and Good Burger all totally free on Pluto TV Stream now pay never.