Last week’s post covered the case of dentist Larry Rudolph, who killed his wife with a shotgun and tried to pass it off as an accident. This week, our case is the 2008 murder of Canadian real estate agent Lindsay Buziak.
Lindsay Buziak
In early 2008, Lindsay Buziak was a pretty and ambitious real estate agent in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her career was taking off, and her boyfriend, coworker Jason Zailo, was the son of wealthy parents who owned a successful real estate business themselves.
In late January, Lindsay received a call from a woman who said she and her husband urgently needed a new home. She had a foreign accent and gave a name that later proved to be fake. Puzzled that the woman would call her personal cell phone directly, the caller said one of Lindsay’s previous clients had given her the number.
Something about that call bothered Lindsay, and she voiced her concerns to both her father and Zailo. Jason encouraged her to meet with the potential client because of the substantial fee such a sale would generate. To assuage her worries, he offered to wait outside in his car to be there if anything went awry.
Lindsay found a suitable property in the Victoria suburb of Saanich and set an appointment for 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 2.
The Murder of Lindsay Buziak
On February 2, Lindsay and Jason ate a late lunch at a restaurant, paying the bill at 4:24 p.m. They left separately in their own cars. Investigators believe Lindsay went home to change while Jason went to an auto repair shop to pick up a colleague. He was running late, though, and left the shop at 5:30 p.m. (verified by surveillance video).
Meanwhile, Lindsay met the mystery couple at the property, an empty house at 1702 De Sousa Place. Although the caller had told Lindsay she would come alone, witnesses saw a tall man accompanying the blonde woman. From the way she greeted and shook hands with the couple, witnesses concluded Lindsay did not know them.
At 5:40, Jason and his passenger arrived at the property. Seeing a figure through the door glass, he waited outside. After ten minutes, he moved his car to another street to avoid appearing as the “nosey boyfriend.” Ten minutes later, he texted Lindsay to see if all was well, but she did not open the message.
Alarmed, Jason returned to the house and found the front door locked. He called 9-1-1. Meanwhile, his companion discovered the back patio door was wide open and entered the house. He unlocked the front door, and Jason dashed upstairs. He found Lindsay in the master bedroom, lying in a pool of blood, having suffered multiple stab wounds. He called 9-1-1 again, and emergency services were soon on the scene.
Who Killed Lindsay Buziak?
Paramedics pronounced Lindsay dead. She had no defensive wounds, so the attack likely came from behind without warning. None of her possessions had been stolen, and she had not been sexually assaulted.
Police took Jason Zailo and his colleague into custody but soon released them because the timestamped video from the auto shop proved they couldn’t have committed the murder.
The investigation revealed that someone purchased the phone the female “client” used to call Lindsay in Vancouver. It was activated it using the fake name Paulo Rodriguez. It was registered to a legitimate business address, but police believe the buyer chose the address at random. Cell phone “pings” showed that the phone traveled on the ferry from Vancouver the day before the murder. It was only used to call Lindsay and was deactivated soon after she was killed.
Police never developed a viable suspect or made an arrest in the case.
Epilogue
Fifteen years after her murder, Lindsay Buziak’s case remains unsolved. Although police continue to try to develop new evidence and have involved the FBI, they have not arrested anyone.
In September 2010, Dateline NBC aired Dream House Murder, an episode about the case.
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