It was a scene of unusual brutality: three members of the Rafay family bludgeoned to death in their home near Seattle in 1994. Their son Atif — visiting from Vancouver with his friend Sebastian Burns — claimed they had come upon the horrifying scene after spending the evening at a movie theatre. It was the beginning of a complex and deeply troubling story of loyalty, truth and deceit. And everything we know about the tragedy could change this week.
The two young men were eventually convicted of the triple murder of Atif's mother, father and sister. Their fate was sealed by a taped confession obtained by the RCMP in an undercover operation. This so-called "Mr. Big" sting is now at the heart of an appeal being heard this week in an American court. There it will be determined if the life sentences will stand, or whether they will walk free, after seven years behind bars.
the fifth estate has been covering the story from the very earliest days. Now, in a co-production with CBS' 48 Hours Mystery, the story enters a dramatic new phase. Bob McKeown interviews Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a champion of the wrongly convicted, who believes the boys were tricked into confessing.
