Perfectly Executed

Were Two Teenagers Cold-Blooded Killers?

(CBS)  This story originally aired on Aug. 6, 2005. It was updated Sep. 14, 2007.


What happened to the Rafay family one summer night in 1994 brought tragedy and mystery to a quiet neighborhood in Bellevue, Wash.

On July 13, just after 2 a.m., police were called to a crime that would take them 10 years to bring to justice. "It was a plan. A well-rehearsed, well-thought-out plan," say James Jude Konat, 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.

The search for the truth would lead police to another country, through a web of intriguing clues. Could a screenplay that described a murder unlock the mystery? And in the end, would a sophisticated undercover operation, set up in the make-believe world of crime, catch the real killers?

Peter Van Sant reports on this mystery.

The story begins on July 13, 1994, with a call for help. Sebastian Burns and his friend, Atif Rafay, had stumbled onto a horrific scene. Atif's parents had been found murdered.

"There is nothing that I can imagine about my parents that could have justified anyone to do what was done to them," says Atif.

Sultana Rafay, Atif's mother, was the first to be killed. "I saw Atif's mom lying on the floor," recalls Sebastian. Atif’s father, Tariq Rafay was the next to be murdered. "It was basically an overkill," says Det. Bob Thompson, who has been on the case since the night it began. "And it just looked like someone had hit him 40 or 50 times."

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. "It would make sense that she was murdered last because everybody knows she can't make a 911 call," says Konat.

Basma died at the hospital a few hours after the attack, taking with her the secret of who killed the Rafay family.

The Rafays had just moved to Bellevue from Vancouver, Canada. Sultana, who had a doctorate in nutrition, devoted her life to raising her gifted son and disabled daughter. Tariq Rafay was a structural engineer who had worked on buildings around the world.

Who would take the lives of this quiet family, and spare the life of their only son? Detectives began to look more closely at the crime scene.

In his 911 call, Sebastian said there was a "break in" when he reported what had happened that night. "Just looking at that room, you start realizing this looks like someone set it up," says Thompson. "Boxes were tipped over. Drawers were opened, but nothing appeared to have been gone through."

That night, when police asked what was missing, Atif said two things: his Discman and a VCR. "Someone murdered three people and took his Walkman and a VCR? I mean, it makes no sense," says Det. Thompson.

Detectives probed deeper into the case. Who were these two teenage boys who reported the crime?

[wattermelann]

Wow, a real psychopath at work--Mr. Sebastian Burns. But how can Atif say how much he loved his mother and stand there and which her beaten to death? Sick, sick, sick, sick. Throw away the key!

[sideeastside]

Mr. Burns is a cold blooded KILLER!! I feel sorry for Atif, that he was SUCKED in my EVIL!
(But, he still is guilty and should pay the penalty)
God Bless those men who went after him and God Bless the brave people that sat on the jury!

[opksuwildcat]

I was surprised that with all of the work done on this story, that CBS would allow a misspelled word at the end of the show. This was when they were telling us what happened to the main characters. You would think they''d know how to spell ''represent''.

[LouDawg]

Sebastian Burns is the worst kind of person, an arrogant remorsefulness SOB. He is also a horrible criminal. I am reminded of a quote from Office Space "You know what I can''t figure out? How is it that all these stupid, Neanderthal, Mafia guys can be so good at crime and smart guys like us can suck so badly at it?" I grew up taking honors and AP classes and knew pricks like him my whole life. They think their intelligence will always save them. His responses to all the evidence were the obvious responses an "intelligent" person would give. He is so freaking dirty. I hope the Aryan Brotherhood has their way his pretty self on prison.

[LouDawg]

You know what the most damning evidence was that the special or the prosecution never went over: Two 18 year old males go watch the Lion King together? Come freaking on.

[ubrew12]

Sounds to me like they were set up.

What are you supposed to say when being leaned on by mafia bosses? You say what you think they want you to hear! I''m surprised this didn''t lead to SOME doubt in the minds of the jurors. There''s a killer, or killers, on the loose somewhere. Bellevue police just wanted to ''put one away'': they didn''t do due diligence with this.

Impersonating a mafioso to extract a ''confession'' from someone is one step away from torturing them to extract the same confession. And just as suspicious as to its truthfullness.

[ponky2k]

Look at the expression of Sebastian Burns and you get the perfect look of a perfect killer. No single sign of nervousness or sadness or anger or frustration, you only see chilling calm and arrogance that persisted the entire trial. The only time that he looked natural and relaxed as a "normal" human being was when he was secretly taped and confessed the killing. After all, he is not superior. He is yet another moron ruined in his own "I am smarter than everybody else" theory.

[thatsthatnow]

Right on Judge Mertel. You certainly made the right call. It took a decade too long but I believe justice was served. I mean really, how do you not attend funeral services for your murdered family members? How do you confess to killing anyone, let alone your own family, if you really didn''t do it? There are some real sick, dimented & disturbed people living among us. Thanks to all of the men and women out there protecting us from these crazed individuals. YOU DON''T GET PAID ENOUGH. STAY SAFE!!!!!

[asyongs]

The defence''s argument that a ''third person'' was present during the crime cast doubt on prosecution''s case. However, the explanation for this came from the convicted themselves. They told the ''mafioso'' that the daughter was standing and unmindful when her parents were being bludgeoned.

Three consecutive life sentences is just fine for a couple of cold blooded (non)human beings. Now they have the rest of their lives to out smart all other humans.

[eyecolor-2009]

Beware mob mentality. Please read facts of the case first at http://www.rafayburnsappeal.com/ .

Ask yourself why there would be a large defense effort with the backing of prominent academic and legal organizations. Really, why? There is certainly no profit in it.

Don''t be impulsive or emotional, and certainly don''t be suckers for sensational prime-time television -- like anything, *get facts* from all sides before you commit yourself to an idea.

a href="" http://www.rafayburnsappeal.com/ /a

[jjd2007]

I agree about these guys seeing The Lion King also.
Very odd.

[eyecolor-2009]

I know we want to believe that, because Sebastian Burns is so creepy, he must be guilty. We want to believe that the judicial system (and television too, for that matter) is infallible, that we are safe, that justice prevails, that mistakes are never made. But as the slew of exonerations based on DNA evidence has proven in recent years -- lots and lots mistakes are made all the time. People just like yourselves are convinced absolutely of the guilt of innocents. That has been proven.... and often (but not often enough) remedied.

Yes, listening to your gut is a good thing, but at the same time I implore you all not to rely on hunches alone. The judicial system, arguably the best in the world (despite frequent miscarriages of justice) relies on reason. Reason. You must use reason too.

The plain fact is, the prosecution convinced themselves and jury of a logical impossibility (one among several): Only two people committed the murder, while at the same time it was determined that, without a doubt and no argument, three people participated in the killings. But courts don''t require logic -- they require the determination of a jury. The jury was willing to convict even though the boys'' guilt was factually impossible.

The real tragedy is that the killers (who were fingered by the FBI but ignored by the Bellevue police) are STILL out there.

[robertj325]

eyecolor,

The fact that these guys confessed is one thing. If they were truly innocent, they''d never confess to ANYONE. nuff said.

Also, when confessing to the undercover cops they actually talked about killing the younger sister and laughing how she "kept getting up". If this isn''t damning evidence, I don''t know what is. Especially for Atif to laugh at his own sister...DESPICABLE!!

And for Atif to notice that his VCR and discman was missing after his family was bludgeoned to death????...come on!!

These morons thought they were smart. But obviously they''re not. I hope they rot in hell.

[robertj325]

eyecolor,

The fact that these guys confessed is one thing. If they were truly innocent, they''d never confess to ANYONE. nuff said.

Also, when confessing to the undercover cops they actually talked about killing the younger sister and laughing how she "kept getting up". If this isn''t damning evidence, I don''t know what is. Especially for Atif to laugh at his own sister...DESPICABLE!!

And for Atif to notice that his VCR and discman was missing after his family was bludgeoned to death????...come on!! These are clear signs of a sociopath.

These morons thought they were smart. But obviously they''re not. I hope they rot in hell.

[robertj325]

eyecolor,

The fact that these guys confessed is one thing. If they were truly innocent, they''d never confess to ANYONE. nuff said.

Also, when confessing to the undercover cops they actually talked about killing the younger sister and laughing how she "kept getting up". If this isn''t damning evidence, I don''t know what is. Especially for Atif to laugh at his own sister...DESPICABLE!!

And for Atif to notice that his VCR and discman was missing after his family was bludgeoned to death????...come on!! These are clear signs of a sociopath.

These morons thought they were smart. But obviously they''re not. I hope they rot in hell.

[iwonder4]

Ok, I agree these two are not the most compassionate teenagers I''ve ever seen. I don''t rely too much on the confessions, because there are plenty of teenagers who have confessed to crimes over the years who were later proven to be innocent. That being said, most of the circumstantial evidence does point to their guilt.

But...I don''t understand the cop who said of course they didn''t help the sister when she was moaning in the bedroom - they would lose the money if she survived. Then why wouldn''t they have just clubbed her enough to make sure she was killed rather than let her make it to the hospital? If they could murder the father so brutally, why not make sure the sister was dead so they could get the inheritance? Also, no history of conflict between Atif and the family. Some things don''t make sense here.

[greenunicorn]

The thing that sold me on these guys being guilty was Sebastian''s old excuse(he was at the movies) for wrecking the family car when he was 16. And the play this guy was in in high school, and the ex girlfriend who said that one time sebastian did say he would like to know what it was like to kill someone. I really feel like these guys are guilty. I don''t know how Atif sleeps at night, it must be hard for him. Sebastian, on the other hand probably sleeps just fine, being as he is a psycho.

[greenunicorn]

Also, I want to know why Atif didn''t attend his own families funeral?? That is bizarre.

[frankatz]

With all due respect to Robertj325 (who posted the exact same message three times in a row), in such judgements one still has responsibility to a) solve logical inconsistencies and b) look at all the facts. If facts make something impossible, can it still be possible? I mean, I''m being honest here. The justice system RELIES on rational thought, but it necessarily does not require it. It requires only judgement, regardless of logical competency. That puts tremendous moral responsibly onto you and me -- the PEOPLE -- making judgements. With all due respect, I am underwhelmed by the emotional arguments I see on this page.

More importantly, are you content to let real killers (who have been implicated but never caught) STILL be out there and active? This is purportedly a powerful bunch -- people who the FBI have identified as staging break-ins and murdering people baseball bats, that is their modes operandi. Do you still safe in the denial of inconvenient facts?

There is a lot written about this case, and you can read it if you choose. But you know, there are people who persist in the belief that the earth is flat because, well, look around you, it''s obvious. It FEELS right that the earth is flat. It feels safe. They said so on "48 Hours". Nuff said.

[frankatz]

Re: "Also, I want to know why Atif didn''''t attend his own families funeral?? That is bizarre"

Please, please, get away from this 48 Hours "news" and read other accounts! Atif did not KNOW about the funeral. Please, you can go to Northwestern Law University, or any number of advocacy groups, or any number of other articles and editorials, there is a TON of information out there! Or do you prefer to be a brownie for television?

[cbreitel]

I did everything the pro-defense folks here say I should. I read the Ray Burns appeal website. I even took the time to watch his entire rambling speech at his sentencing, close to 2 hours. These men are guilty beyond any reasonable doubt. The Canadian confession would be problematic if that were the only evidence. But it''s not. The timeline is a perfect example of how their plan was fatally flawed. They figured out that they could create an alibi by being at a movie during the murders, sneaking out from the theatre to do their deed, and returning in time to have dinner downtown. But in choosing this plan they assumed the police would never find out that Burns used the exact same theatre alibi for an insurance fraud scheme he hatched at the age of 16 (2 yrs earlier). The scheme was discovered by an insurance company. And the police found out about it.

Guilty as charged.

[mandyzfelix]

Please, please, get away from this 48 Hours "news" and read other accounts! Atif did not KNOW about the funeral. Please, you can go to Northwestern Law University, or any number of advocacy groups, or any number of other articles and editorials, there is a TON of information out there! Or do you prefer to be a brownie for television?


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Posted by frankatz at 04:18 PM : Sep 17, 2007



Frankatz,

How did their only surviving family member not KNOW about their funeral? And if that is the case, why on earth would you leave the country before you attended the funerals of your entire family? That just doesn''t make any sense to me at all.

If your family is killed you don''t sit there and go "Well.... I''m not sure when their funerals are, so I''m just going to go ahead and leave the country now."

[eyecolor-2009]

Somebody invariably objects, "Oh, but they confessed, nuff said" Or "but he used that movie alabi before, nuff said" or "But they didn''t show emotion, nuff said". Proclaiming such doesn''t make any of it true, nor makes impossible contradictions go away. Use logic. Use graph paper. Make the story WORK logically. When you add it ALL up rather than cherry pick, nobody can escape the logic. Moreover, none of us can escape who the real killers are. That is what''s truly disturbing about all this. The killers have been ID''d. The FBI wants the real killers, they want us to know who the real killers are. The real killers are out there precisely because they are smart and organized and *get away with murder*. We let them do it still.

Use your head, not just your gut. When you run into a piece of hard evidence (accepted by all) that EXCLUSIVELY contradicts the possible, please don''t cast aside. Why would you do that? Buying into the impossible is an absurd thing to do; ask yourself, why do people do it readily? Distraction? Desire? Look, you don''t try to drive through a brick wall (even if you wanted to), because hard cold logic gets the better of you. Every day your life depends on reason. Justice depends on it too. Stop cherrypicking. Start reconciling ALL the facts before saying this but not that. It can be done (and usually is) competently in courts of law. But but but! Why did they "flee"? See! They''re obviously guilty! Sigh.

[frankatz]

See, you are being exhibit A. You ask, "How did their only surviving family member not KNOW about their funeral? And if that is the case, why on earth would you leave the country before you attended the funerals of your entire family?"

Read. The. Accounts. Or you just might sound ill informed. Or worse, like brownie for television ;)

[mandyzfelix]

Read. The. Accounts. Or you just might sound ill informed. Or worse, like brownie for television ;)


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Posted by frankatz at 07:30 PM : Sep 17, 2007


Frankatz,

I''m at work when I read these things, I don''t have time to do research all over the place, and most websites are blocked by my company anyway. (Man, I sure do make myself sound productive at work, don''t I? Haha)

So I asked that question because apparently YOU are the informed one and thought that you could briefly tell me what happened in regards to the funeral. I wasn''t trying to sound like an informed smarta$$, I genuinely want to know how a person isn''t told about their own family''s funeral.

[franchize44]

eyecolor- my problem with your statement is that you are essentially writing and/or thinking that anyone who has read all the facts and done the research will automatically believe these two are innocent. That is not the case. I have gone through all the facts and still believe without a doubt that Atif and Sebastian are guilty. I do however firmly believe that Sebastian was the ringleader and that Atif''s mistake to go along with him ruined his life. He should still be punished no matter what. I don''t know if you mean it to come across the way I am reading into it, but just to clear things up, there ARE those of us who still believe they are guilty.

[eyecolor-2009]

Hello, okay, fair enough. Then let''s break it down.

On circumstantial evidence alone for the moment, look at the believability of this: Atif was at Cornell on scholarship, and he was interested in humanities -- it''s not like he was down and out and in need of a quick $250,000. Nor does he have any kind of "greedy" character profile in any way. Really, think about it. This is his family. The whole case rests on that motive, without a shred of hard evidence.

That''s the key: No shred of hard evidence supports the motive.

The only hard evidence that exists REFUTES the case. That point is granted by both sides.

Back to circumstantial... in turn, the case ignores the credible report of a $20,000 hit contract out on Dr. Rafay, and the pattern weapon use of baseball bats in staged break-ins (following a string of similar unresolved murders). To boot, Dr Rafay''s close friend was subsequently similarly murdered, and his case remains unsolved.

[eyecolor-2009]

Likewise, it is no secret that the Bellvue police working with prosecutors saw the conflicting FBI reports as likely fatal to their case, so they did everything in their power to block it from the trial... which they succeeded in doing. A little research will show that the presiding judge who essentially blocked all but the "cooperative" circumstantial evidence has an unflattering record in this regard.

It is also no secret that the Bellvue police lied to reporters when they changed the details of the first police report, and later when they withheld details of their participation in holding the boys incommunicado then transporting them to Canada, etc. etc. etc. Of course, the judge barred all that from the case.

Secondly, on to hard evidence. I entreat you to look at the DNA exoneration cases -- they are spooky mirrors of this case. People believed as passionately as you that the accused HAD TO BE guilty. But when you step back, you see cases full of holes around a shaky scenario. People have this strange ability for controlled blindness. People have to a psychological tendency to gravitate towards consensus no matter how compromised -- just look at history as guide to the truth of this statement. A documentary that will make you cry is called "After Innocence" and it shows how people, collectively, psychologically can force the impossible to be possible.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/after_innocence/

[eyecolor-2009]

Anyway, finally (for real this time) on to hard evidence (as opposed to circumstantial), there are about thirty one points that need to be reconciled, but let us start with just one. Then we can move to the next. I see you have looked at the pieces, but I think you have a responsibility to also make them FIT. My earnest belief is that is precisely the flaw here, the elephant in the room, the willingness to accept theory yet with no drive to reconcile contradiction. The logic is treated as somehow secondary. That simply is untenable. So you can fit the pieces together for me, and then we''ll go on to the next set. Then the next. Ready? Here we go:

Both witnesses and forensics time the murder during the nine o''clock hour when Atif and Rafay were in public, not at the movie. The only reason prosecutors re-timed the murders is not because of any scrap of *evidence*, but because altering the timeline was only way the mere possibility that the two could sneak out of a movie theater could hold any water. Of course it is not good intellectual practice to bend facts (and ignore the only evidence) to fit theory; but as forensics meta-studies have shown about human nature, it IS common tendency to bend reality to fit beliefs. In other words, we humans do it anyway. More disturbingly, we like to do it collectively. I call that "mob mentality". Television fuels it like nothing else.

[robertj325]

eyecolor,

How do you explain the "coincidence" of their alibi with the story of going to the movie which was the exact same excuse that Burns used in an insurance coverup years before?

And how about the "coincidence" that the family was murdered with a baseball bat, the exact same weapon that was used in the play "Rope"?

[eyecolor-2009]

Robert. Were you ever in a school play? Which one? Did it involve a murder? For that matter, did you ever see the movie Rope? If you didn''t know, it is a famous story as well as a famous Hitchcock film. What murder books have you read? What video games have you played? What have you ever written -- any fiction? Non-fiction? Considering how long you''ve lived and the many things you''ve done, with enough information I would have no problem a) concocting a murder scenario then b) creating "spooky" "uncanny" linkages between that scenario and events in your life. Ready to tell me a little about yourself?

By falling for the "Rope" trick -- at the exclusion of hard evidence -- you make my case for me.

P.S. a) Kids go to movies ALL THE TIME on nights out, so it is not at all an unlikely coincidence, and b) the prosecution forced that to be the alibi because it was convenient for their case (even though it did not at all fit the facts). As far as the facts go, the alibi was NOT the movie, but rather unassailable truth that A and S were out in public at the time forensics and witnesses (both hard evidence, mind you) timed the murders.

It is understandable but criminal that this contradiction was never worked out. It takes a little mental elbow grease to get away from what we want to believe, or what may be *** to believe, in order to be open to the logic -- as a whole -- before us.

[candelitebc]

These two are much Leopold and Loeb. If I were T. Burns, I'd probably put the blinders on with regard to my brother, too. I don't understand, though, why Hurricane Carter went to bat for these guys, too. I feel justice has been served in this case, since they are not sentenced to death.