CANADA Canada - Lindsay Buziak, 24, Victoria, BC, 2 Feb 2008

[Lalalacasbah]

I haven't thought about the details of this crime for a long time but it crossed my mind tonight and I thought of some weird details that may or may not say a lot - things that bug me:

The Burner Phone:
1. Was either only bought in Vancouver when someone was on a day trip there from the island/Victoria
2. Killers came from Vancouver
3. Killers came from elsewhere but passed through Vancouver to get the ferry
If killer was local, seems strange to go all the way to go to Vancouver to buy a burner phone but then again Victoria is a small city so more easily traceable.

The Dress:
1. LE would only release a version of what they think the dress looked like - this says they do no have the actual dress and killer didn't leave behind for fear of DNA tracing to dress possibly or they participated in the killing wearing the dress and took it with them because of blood too
2. The killers would likely change out of the dress regardless after the murder as it's a bold identifier. They didn't walk to meet Lindsay wearing backpacks with a change of clothes so the stash/new clothes would have to be in the yard area (risky to change outside) or already planted inside the house before the crime (unlikely too as access would be traced by the realtor lock box I'd think?). I think theories are they changed in housekeeping/mud room area so possible to stash a clothes bag in the yard by the mud room exit.

Access to the House:
1. Some theories are killers were waiting inside already and the couple was just bait/a lure. I would think the lock box access times would be recorded (or maybe lock boxes aren't recorded?) so not easy to go in and wait? But this is something an average joe wouldn't know (like me), someone had to be savvy with how real estate ins and outs work. It's too brazen for a person to take a chance Linsday was the ONLY one showing that house that day. How did they know no other realtor would show up? They know real estate or whoever planned it did.

Misc Information:
1. I can't remember if LE released if there were 2 killers involved in the actual crime (both participating in stabbing or one on the lookout). They do know this but if not released, keeping those details private for a trial if there ever was to be one as details only killers would know.
2. I do believe Jeff knows a lot as I've read the blog. There's another part of me that thinks it could be two women who did this even. A women dressed as the man at the meeting. But maybe not. I feel this crime has a woman's touch as sorry but I don't think a man would think about using the dress as a red herring and a woman may disarm Lindsay to meet as there's a sense of trust or safe feeling.

 

[annpats]

It’s strangely elaborate. It’s hard to think of another targeted killing that had so many “long con” elements and such a protracted set up.

Exactly. They went to long, protracted methods to get her killed. They weren't willing to overlook it or forget about it.

They must've really wanted her dead, and wanted to make sure the killing was kept "in house" and not contracted out.

 

[Sillybilly]

ADMIN NOTE:

Under Websleuths Terms of Service, insinuations, accusations (direct or indirect) against non POIs is not allowed.

Jan 30, 2023 from: A new investigation sheds light on Lindsay Buziak’s unsolved murder, revealing a vast web of misinformation

Two days after Dateline’s episode aired, the SPD held a press conference announcing that “no member of the Zailo family is considered a person of interest or a suspect in this investigation.”

 

[Butterscotch29]

The easiest place to start here is a beautiful, innocent young woman was brutally murdered in a cowardly surprise attack while doing her job. Heart aches for her family. I know there are conflicting opinions on Jeff (her Dad) but I understand his frustration and willingness to do anything to find his daughter's killer. Now onto the case itself & everything MOO:

The Zailo Family

• The obvious suspects here are the Zailo family but after listening to hours of podcasts and reading everything I could find, I don't think that theory holds weight. I will not rule out the possibility that members of the Zailo family knew what might happen to Lindsay given some of their loose connections to the criminal underworld in the area - more on that later - but thinking that Shirley and/or Jason planned this is too far-fetched.
• Jason being there at the crime scene literally as the murder was taking place actually makes sense when I piece together the events of the day and him picking up his friend, not knowing where the house actually was and being a bit late.
• The fact that Jason immediately ran upstairs and found Lindsay's body seems suspicious as hell at first, however when you piece together the stories of both him and his friend, it actually makes sense. IMO, Jason ran upstairs because his friend had come in through the back French doors on the main level, thus I believe Jason made the assumption that walking through the main level his friend didn't see Lindsay. Her shoes were in the entryway so it was a very reasonable assumption she was still in the house. From what I've seen from the layout of the upstairs once you get to the top of the stairs you could pretty easily and immediately see where the bottom half of LIndsay's body was sprawled out near the entryway to the bathroom/master bedroom area.
• The only person that I've heard indicate that Lindsay was deathly afraid of Jason was from Jeff. I've heard him say things like Jason was "obsessive" and "overbearing" but never that he was physically abusive, which is often a precursor to murder, or had threatened her at any point. Also, if she was so uneasy about these mystery buyers, why would she ask Jason to come be there as well if she feared him? That just makes no sense.
• Personally, I think Lindsay & Jason had the same relationship issues that any couple has and Jason probably was a pretty intense guy which came from his semi-pro hockey background as a competitive athlete and being a commissioned sales realtor who had to keep up his family name since his Mom was so heavily involved in that world. I believe that Jeff believes he was way more than that, but that's not reality. That's a broken father searching for answers for the senseless murder of his daughter.

In the end to me, the Zailo's aren't without suspicion, but they've been investigated up and down and there are only loose, have-to-mentally-leap or assume connections to them wanting Lindsay dead. Saying "Shirley is suspicious AF" as I see online all the time isn't a good enough answer.

If not the Zailo's - then who?

• I believe the Saanich PD knows who the players are in this case and knows the who and how - but can't prove it yet in court. Multiple PD interviews about this case have admitted as much. They are very aware it wasn't the Zailo's and have at least a general understanding of how this senseless act came together.
• In November 2007, just a few months before Lindsay was killed, someone in Victoria where she lived contacted the Calgary PD and anonymously advised them about a large drug shipment heading to Calgary. This began the framework for Operation High Noon which ended up being the largest drug bust in Canadian history at the time where $8M of cocaine was seized. This cocaine can be traced back to a distribution arm of the Sinaloa Cartel which was run by El Chapo at the time (yes, that El Chapo). They had a large arm that distributed coke in the Calgary area and by many accounts still do
• IMO, the roots for this were planted during Lindsay's trip to Calgary six weeks prior to her murder to visit her Dad. While there, she contacted a former acquaintance - once through Facebook and once via text. She also went out several times with old friends while in Calgary, however even Jeff doesn't know to where since she's an adult
• The former acquaintance was a family member of Erickson Delalcazar whose family essentially were deep in the drug trade in Victoria and profited handsomely from it
• One of the main associates of the Delalcazar family was Vid Acevedo and he was dating a woman named Rianne who happened to work at the same Remax office Lindsay did and was one of Lindsay's good friends.
• So you have a connection to this world right in LIndsay's backyard and one of her friends boyfriends was a known drug dealer that would've lost huge from OHN
• In the drug world, if you lose product, it's on you to make the supplier of it whole again. Saying well it got seized, what can you do? is not an acceptable answer. So many people including Vid were down nearly $8M and had to show that they were taking care of the problem
• Their problem was - everyone in the drug world knew OHN happened because of an informant but didn't know who the informant was and both the Saanich and Calgary PD have confirmed that it was not Lindsay. So it's very possible that someone basically sacrificed an innocent woman to save their own *advertiser censored* and show to those higher in the drug game in the area that 'the problem was solved'. This had to be done rather quickly which matches the timeline of NOV 2007 (informant) --> DEC 2007 (ONH takes place) --> FEB 2008 (Lindsay's murder)
• One of the men charged in OHN was Leopoldo Beltran aka Leo. He is a Mexican citizen and was one of the leaders of the Calgary distribution network that was destroyed via OHN. Leo was reportedly enraged and was out for personal blood revenge on whoever snitched. Leo's sister Hermila Beltran also had a distribution point from her own home. Reports were that she personally wasn't dealing drugs, but knew it was happening and let them use her home because on the surface she was a law-abiding citizen so it wouldn't arouse suspicion
• Looking at a physical description and pictures of both Leo & Hermila, they bear a remarkable resemblance to the woman in the colorful dress and her male partner aka the Mexican fake buyers that murdered Lindsay
• The connections get deeper - Leo is married to a woman named Trudy. Trudy's brothers are two men who were and still are close friends with the Delalcazar family - see where I'm going with this?
• Leo Beltran has been deported multiple times from Canada for criminal activity and being considered undesirable for immigration and was last known to be living in Mexico. He is currently barred from ever re-entering Canada. However, before he was deported the final time, it was revealed in court papers I believe that he was a suspect in an unnamed, ongoing investigation from several years prior. Very possible that was Lindsay's murder?
• Leo would've been under intense pressure to recoup the $8M in losses and/or find the snitch because the breach happened on his watch. So in this theory, by sacrificing Lindsay, who he believed might've been the snitch anyway by the above, he solved all the problems and could report back to the cartel that he personally took care of it, etc.

It's ultra-complex and took me many listens to get it straight for myself, but TBH, the drug connection theory actually makes sense here when you track the timeline, players and their relationship to Lindsay and movements after the murder occurred.

I haven’t been on websleuths in awhile but wanted to refresh and read about this case after reading the capital daily article that set a lot of things straight

That being said I think this post is absolutely amazing and is most likely EXACTLY what happen. Thank you for your concise way of explaining all the relationships

 

[lonewanderer]

I often compare this case to Vern Hoblrook. In it, a burner phone was used and his throat was slashed by two assailants at a house showing.
His ex-business partner and daughter-in-law cooked up this scheme and had a Hispanic couple carry out the attack. The motivation for it was inheritance money.

There's another case to compare this to. I just recently listened to the case of Beverly Carter. She was a real estate agent, who met up with a couple to show a house. This couple also used a burner phone, but basically took Beverly hostage and later killed her. Their motivation? They were very bad off financially and saw Beverly's picture on an add, assuming she was very wealthy. They cornered her at a house showing to try to take money from her and ultimately wound up killing her.

All 3 of these relator deaths have a major similarity, a burner phone was used to lure the victim to their death. Sadly, this line of work puts them in a position where they are alone in an empty house with a stranger and not expecting to be attacked.

 

[CrimeTheorist]

I've also heard of a lot of murders where the victim is either a real estate agent selling a house or the people's home that's being sold. I wonder if there is anything to it? Maybe they feel like with all the people going in and out of the home it would be easier to get away with murder.

My thoughts only.

 

[lonewanderer]

I've also heard of a lot of murders where the victim is either a real estate agent selling a house or the people's home that's being sold. I wonder if there is anything to it? Maybe they feel like with all the people going in and out of the home it would be easier to get away with murder.

My thoughts only.

There’s some murders where the person is set up, basically attacked when they would be known to be alone. There’s lots of times like this as a realtor.

Realtor murders provide a neutral place for the attack to happen and an open empty house would be a great place for an ambush.

Some examples of being lured to one’s death at work that way is how Erika Stefanko called in a pizza delivery knowing she would get her target to deliver to her.

Missy Bevers is also likely to have been killed this way, basically setting up for work really early in the morning when no one would be around.

 

[snarast]

Such a strange case. Did someone really target her father? Needless to say, he has been distracted by this horrible murder.

 

[Lalalacasbah]

If not the Z's, I still think connected to a well known Victoria mortgage broker who was a good friend to Lindsay and JZ and is now currently on the run and in hiding from the law for fraud/Ponzi scheme accusations.

I feel that's the secret Lindsay stumbled upon and if not, he must know something. All too coincidental. MOO, JMO

 

[Cedars]

If not the Z's, I still think connected to a well known Victoria mortgage broker who was a good friend to Lindsay and JZ and is now currently on the run and in hiding from the law for fraud/Ponzi scheme accusations.

I feel that's the secret Lindsay stumbled upon and if not, he must know something. All too coincidental. MOO, JMO

Sorry, but Martel didn't start making money until long after Lindsay's murder. How could she discover a Ponzi scheme that started at least 10 years after she'd died? Meanwhile, the multimillion dollar ponzi scheme was exposed a couple of years ago without anyone being killed...

https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/greg-martel

JMO

 

[Lalalacasbah]

Sorry, but Martel didn't start making money until long after Lindsay's murder. How could she discover a Ponzi scheme that started at least 10 years after she'd died? Meanwhile, the multimillion dollar ponzi scheme was exposed a couple of years ago without anyone being killed...

https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/greg-martel

JMO

He was Jason's good, if not best friend back in 2007. If J & L were having any issues, I'm sure he would've known about it. He was shady AF back then, didn't need to wait for any scheme to be discovered to know that he was not to be trusted back in 2007.

He was at Lindsay's birthday in Nov 2007 - the same month the burner phone was bought, the same month the informant made the call and when Lindsay thought about leaving Jason.

Seems like an elaborate set up to me with someone smart enough to be the puppet master, pulling all the strings and setting everything into place.

He became a submortgage broker in 2006 and by January of the following year (2007), joined a national mortgage broker organization. I am almost certain his full intentions with business back in 2006/2007 were not honest or ethical. I feel laundering started in some form as soon as he became a broker.

I'm only saying, I have a sneaking suspicion he knows A LOT about Lindsay's murder. I could be wrong though too.

This is all MOO, JMO.

 

[ACG2x]

Such a strange case. Did someone really target her father? Needless to say, he has been distracted by this horrible murder.

IDK if Jeff really had anything to do with the reasons behind the murder. He's just a broken father looking for answers about the senseless loss of his daughter. Lindsay specifically told Jeff that when she visited friends in Calgary several months prior to the murder before the holidays, she "saw something she shouldn't have seen" but wouldn't elaborate. Multiple friends she hung out with had associates in the Calgary drug trade so it's not a huge leap to think that played a part. Saanich PD also confirmed that the burner phone used by the fake clients that created the ruse to set up her murder was purchased shortly after her trip there and she was murdered on 02/02/08.

I very strongly believe whatever happened on that trip set off the chain of events that led to her murder. Highly likely she was completely innocent but literally as she said "saw something she shouldn't have seen" and someone decided she had to be eliminated as a result. What that was is anyone's guess but Jeff has made statements that she seemed off/different after the trip and was very evasive about who she specifically hung out with and what they did. Purely a wrong place/wrong time situation on multiple levels.

 

[kemo]

Scheduling up a meeting with a realtor in a vacant home with a burner phone is about as perfect a set up for a murder as anyone is going to find. There is nothing from the crime scene pointing towards the perpetrators. It was a fluke that neighbors actually saw the couple but their description hasn’t led to any suspects.
Motive is the next place to look but there isn’t anyone with an obvious motive to kill Lindsay. Lots of speculation (she saw something she shouldn’t have, etc) but nothing concrete. There are all sorts of reasons all kinds of people commit murder but the only real know connection she had to anyone who might fit the profile of a murder is some serious drug traffickers that were within her circle of acquaintances. Those drug traffickers were not known to practice violence and Lindsay was no known to have any involvement in their trafficking activities. The best lead anyone found but it appears to have led nowhere.

 

[ACG2x]

Motive is the next place to look but there isn’t anyone with an obvious motive to kill Lindsay. Lots of speculation (she saw something she shouldn’t have, etc) but nothing concrete. There are all sorts of reasons all kinds of people commit murder but the only real know connection she had to anyone who might fit the profile of a murder is some serious drug traffickers that were within her circle of acquaintances. Those drug traffickers were not known to practice violence and Lindsay was no known to have any involvement in their trafficking activities. The best lead anyone found but it appears to have led nowhere.

The most plausible theory IMO is that in November 2007, someone in Victoria where she lived contacted the Calgary PD about a large cocaine shipment headed there which began the framework for Operation High Noon which ended up being the largest drug bust in Canadian history where $8M+ of cocaine was seized. The money this was expected to generate flowed back to an arm of the Sinaloa Cartel.

When Lindsay went to Calgary around the same time to visit friends before the holidays, she contacted a former acquaintance through Facebook and text about going out when she was there. This individual was a family member of Erickson Delacazar whose family was deep in the drug trade in Victoria. The Delacazar family had an associate in the drug game named Vid Acevedo who was dating a woman named Rianne. This is important because Rianne was a receptionist at the ReMax office Lindsay was out of and the two were friends.

Jeff has confirmed that when he asked Lindsay how her trip was, she was evasive and not acting normal. When pressed, all she said was she "saw something she shouldn't have seen". It is believed that in Calgary she went out with the aforementioned former acquaintance and other Delacazar family members and associates were present. I 100% believe that Lindsay had no involvement in the drug trade - but also believe she was young, naive and very outgoing and friendly so it's possible someone who was involved showed her something they shouldn't have - aka a bunch of cocaine, weapons, etc. It's possible they were trying to impress her like I'm the big man in this game because Lindsay was attractive and I doubt her having a boyfriend would stop a drug dealer from trying to hook up.

Operation High Noon took place in early December 2007 and the burner phone that was used in her murder was purchased a few weeks later in Vancouver and she was murdered in early February 2008. One of the men charged in it was Leopoldo Beltran aka Leo. He is a Mexican citizen and was one of the leaders of the distribution network that was destroyed in the operation. Several reports said once word got out the operation was due to a snitch, he became irate and vowed blood revenge against anyone who had a hand in informing the police. Leo also has a sister named Hermila who was a civilian and not in the drug game, but let her brother and his associates use her suburban home to sell out of because it would attract less LE attention.

If you look at pictures of Leo & Hermila around the time of Lindsay's murder, they appear very similar to the few physical descriptions the police have about the fake buyers that killed her. And the connections get deeper because Leo was married at the time to a woman named Trudy who had two brothers that were working for the Delacazar family. Leo has been deported from Canada multiple times and is currently barred from re-entering the country. His last known whereabouts were in Mexico but he's rumored to still be operating part of the drug trade there by proxy.

What does this all mean?
The Calgary PD has confirmed that Operation High Noon was the result of an informant or informants, however have also confirmed in writing that the informant was not Lindsay and she has never been a drug informant for them or any other LE agency they are aware of. However, as noted Leo swore blood revenge because he was out $8M in cocaine and had to answer to some very bad people who now saw his operation as vulnerable because the biggest drug bust happened on his watch. It was imperative that he showed he was "solving the problem" and getting his blood revenge.

My theory is that whoever the informant happened to be was out with the gang in Calgary when Lindsay made her trip. It's even possible it's whoever showed her what she "shouldn't have seen" and to save themselves, gave Lindsay up as a sacrificial lamb and convinced Leo that it was too coincidental that right after she went out with them, their operation gets busted by LE. They needed someone to pay for it or else it would've been them so they set up the ruse, contacted Lindsay and the rest is sadly history. I also say this because per Jason, Lindsay told him the woman said she would be attending the showing alone but then showed up with the man. I believe this was to not make Lindsay pass the showing off to another realtor and/or bring someone else with her.

All JMO but the timeline, behaviors and multiple other factors match up near perfect.

 

[kemo]

The theory that Lindsay was either suspected of being an informant or just the scapegoat of a traffickers who needed someone to blame for a screwup is certainly plausible. Nothing has come out to support this but it is consistent with known facts about the case. Police have denied she was an informant, whatever that might be worth. Nobody has claimed that she was involved, at any level, in the trafficking operation but who really knows.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The father, who lives in Calgary, will lead this year’s walk, which begins at Saanich Municipal Hall on Feb. 2 at 10 a.m. and travels to the B.C. Legislature

Father of murdered Victoria real estate agent leads 16th Walk for Justice

The Feb. 2 walk will start at Saanich Municipal Hall at 10 a.m.

www.peninsulanewsreview.com