The Unsolved Murder of Lindsay Buziak

Despite having strong gut instincts about certain individuals and situations, it can be difficult to trust and act on them due to fear of judgment or appearing foolish. Though gut feelings are often accurate, we often ignore them and opt for rational reasoning.

On February 2, 2008, Lindsay Buziak, a 24-year-old realtor from Victoria, British Columbia, was murdered while showing a house. Despite sensing something off about the opportunity, she was lured by the potential commission, prestige, and career advancement.

Tragically, the person who arranged for her to show the house had sinister motives, making it her final showing. The reality: sometimes taking a risk is worth it, but in this case, the consequences were fatal.

Lindsay Buziak's Dream Job

Being a successful realtor can bring financial rewards, and often a single big sale can propel a realtor's career. On January 31, 2008, Lindsay Buziak received a call from a woman with a suspicious foreign accent on her personal cellphone, instead of her work line.

The caller claimed to have gotten Lindsay's number from another client, but when Lindsay tried to verify the story, the client was unavailable. Despite her doubts, the $964,000 listing was too attractive to pass up. To alleviate her concerns, Lindsay asked her boyfriend, Jason Zailo, to accompany her to the showing.

Although Jason offered to show the house himself, Lindsay's fears were not strong enough to let him take over. On February 2, Lindsay and Jason had lunch together before going their separate ways.

Later, Jason picked up his friend Cohen Oatman and the two went to a scrub hockey game and an auto shop before meeting Lindsay at the house on De Sousa Place. Surveillance cameras captured their activities.

De Sousa Place was a small cul de sac, with just four empty homes, stood a three-bedroom, three-bathroom house. It had been unoccupied for over a year and was the ideal location for a violent crime. The "client" who contacted Lindsay expressed the desire for a new and ready-to-move-in home for her family.

Lindsay arrived at the house before 5:30 p.m. and retrieved the realtor's key from the lockbox outside the door. Although the street was supposedly empty, two neighbors saw a man and a woman walking toward the house.

The man was around six feet tall with dark hair, while the woman, a blonde, wore a patterned dress. The couple appeared to be between 35 and 45 years of age. However, the dress was a common item sold at many stores, making it impossible to track its origin.

Just before Jason was to arrive, he texted Lindsay to let her know he was only a couple of minutes away, and at 5:38 p.m., Jason sent another text to Lindsay, but she was never able to read it.

Trail Goes Cold

At 5:40 pm, Jason and Cohen arrived at the property and saw a man and woman leaving the house. But as soon as they saw Jason and Cohen, the couple quickly went back into the house. The two men waited in their car for about 20 minutes before Jason tried texting Lindsay, but received no response.

Jason tried to enter the house through the front door, but it was locked. This worried him, being a real estate agent himself, but Cohen managed to get in through a back door and let Jason inside. Once inside, Jason looked for Lindsay, and eventually found her upstairs, dead in a pool of blood after having been stabbed more than 40 times. He immediately called 911.

Investigations revealed that Lindsay was ambushed and killed by a professional killer, who left no usable evidence behind, including fingerprints or DNA. The first order of business for investigators was tracing the prepaid cellphone used by the woman to contact Lindsay for the showing.

The phone had only been activated in the Vancouver area 24 hours prior to the murder, and calls were made from cell towers in the same area. It was concluded that someone close to Lindsay had planned the killing and hired someone to carry it out.

On the third anniversary of Lindsay's death, Inspector Rob McCall stated that they had developed theories and looked at them closely, but no suspect had been arrested. An anonymous call was made to 911 asking authorities to check on the home Lindsay was showing, but days after the killing, a second 911 call was made from inside the house indicating that someone inside might be dead.

Possible Suspects

Theory #1: The Boyfriend

Who would want a young, beautiful, professional dead so badly that they’d extensively plan a murder and hire a pro to do the dirty work?

When a woman is murdered, the police often start their investigation by looking at the husband or boyfriend as a potential suspect. This was the case with Lindsay when she was killed, and the police initially focused on her boyfriend, Jason Zailo, as the potential killer. Jason had been with Lindsay for about a year and they lived together, but there were reports that their relationship was not always smooth. Lindsay was said to be an independent woman and was reportedly trying to decide whether she wanted to continue her relationship with Jason, who could be possessive and controlling, which did not fit well with Lindsay's ambitious nature.

Although Jason and his friend, Cohen, were taken into custody after the discovery of Lindsay's body, they were quickly released after it was confirmed through timestamped surveillance footage that they were not involved in the murder. Jason agreed to take a lie detector test and passed, removing him from the list of suspects.

Theory #2: The Woman Who Knew Too Much

Jason, Lindsay's boyfriend, told the police during an interview that he might have some information about what led to her murder, but he wasn't involved. He said that Lindsay visited him in Calgary on December 14, 2007, and told him she "saw something bad." He believed she was referring to an event in Victoria.

The police found out that Lindsay had contacted an old friend by telephone and over Facebook during Jason's trip to Calgary. The friend was related to Erickson Lopez Delalcazar, who was later charged in the largest cocaine trafficking case in Alberta's history.

Could Lindsay have seen something that put her in danger with Erickson and his drug trafficking ring? Did they need to eliminate the friend as a witness?

The theory that the drug bust in Victoria had something to do with Lindsay is one the police are taking seriously. Sgt. Chris Horsley said that people lost a lot of money, and the drug traffickers knew someone spoke to the police, leading to a witch hunt to find out who spoke to the authorities.

Jeff Buziak added that the police consider the murder to be complicated with many twists and turns, killers, and conspirators. The killers were the mechanics in the murder, but they didn't necessarily know Lindsay.

After Lindsay Buziak's murder, her father Jeff established a website to help catch the killer(s). On August 6, 2017, a comment was posted publicly on the site that read:

"I killed Lindsey and stupid cops will never prove it so you all got nothin’."

The author of the comment, who displayed poor spelling skills, may have had some knowledge of the case according to the National Post. The comment further stated that "no one gives a shit" about the murder anymore, except for her "crybaby dad."

Jeff Buziak reacted to the comment by saying that he read it, then sent it to the police. He stated that he is not interested in debating whether the post is real or not and asks the police to investigate it.

Newly Released Details in the Murder Case

In 2020, new details were made public in the Lindsay Buziak case when previously sealed documents were released in October. The following are some of the most significant revelations from these documents.

Mysterious Phone Call

As mentioned earlier, when Lindsay received the initial phone call regarding the showing of the house, she questioned the woman about the source of her personal cellphone number and how she found her. The woman simply stated that she had been "referred."

However, when Lindsay tried to trace the referral by contacting her colleagues, nobody had any knowledge of it. The newly unsealed documents did not include any information regarding the "referred client" whom Lindsay had tried to reach but was on vacation at the time.

The released documents did not mention the "referral client" that Lindsay tried to contact, who was said to be on vacation.

Planning an Escape

During a 10-minute call with the unknown caller, Lindsay recommended the home on De Sousa Place. It is possible that the caller used MapQuest to familiarize themselves with the area and plan escape routes. Later that day, on February 1st, Shirley Zailo, Jason's mother, visited the condo shared by Lindsay and her son. The reason for Shirley's visit is not specified in the documents, but it is reported that she overheard a 15-minute phone conversation between Lindsay and the client.

Strange Online Activity

In the investigation into Lindsay Buziak's murder, the Saanich Police found an unusual pattern in her online activity prior to her death. Missing chat messages were discovered, and the time of their deletion could not be determined. Lindsay had a Facebook account, which was relatively new at the time of her death.

The police noticed that from January 24th to February 3rd, 2008, there were no messages from any of Lindsay's 700 friends, a fact they deemed "very odd," but its significance to the case is unclear.

Shady Characters

Upon examining Lindsay's Facebook friends list, the Saanich Police noticed names of individuals who had a history of violence and drug trafficking. The names were heavily censored in the report, but initially, the police believed that Lindsay's association with these individuals "may have played a role" in her murder.

Uncomfortable to the End

The day of her murder, Lindsay visited her workplace at the ReMax Chatterton Way office. The receptionist reported to police that despite being scheduled to show the De Sousa Place property, Lindsay seemed extremely uneasy and concerned about the showing. She even handed over the client's phone number to the receptionist and a colleague to search for any records among other agents in Victoria, but they didn't find anything.

Killers Left on Foot

When Jason and Cohen arrived at the De Sousa Place property, they noticed Lindsay's BMW in the parking lot, but they didn't observe any other vehicles on the street. This supports the police's assertion that the murderers of Lindsay fled on foot. After waiting for approximately 10 minutes, Jason found the front door locked and repeatedly rang the doorbell without a response.

More Than Conspirator

The phone used to schedule the appointment with Lindsay was a prepaid, fake-name registered phone under the name "Paulo Rodriguez." According to cell tower data, the location where the phone was bought and the most likely location of the buyer(s) was identified.

Police also found that a second prepaid phone was used to check the voicemail of the first phone, suggesting the involvement of two individuals in the conspiracy. The identity of the owner of both phones was eventually discovered by the Saanich Police, but the name has been redacted in the official report.

The Investigation Continues

The murder of Lindsay Buziak was not a random act but instead appears to have been a result of her being privy to the information she wasn't supposed to know. The killers were likely afraid of being discovered.

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