Laval police crack photo mystery in Nadio Panarello case

LAVAL – Laval police have cracked the riddle of the mysterious photos, but they have come no closer to solving the 2004 slaying of Nadia Panarello.

Homicide investigators went public last week with photographs of an unidentified couple featured in vacation snapshots left in the mailbox of Panarello’s parents in the hours after the mother of two was stabbed to death inside her Laval home eight years ago.

Police had hoped learning the names of the couple, as well as the tropical location pictured in some of the shots, after all these years might yield new clues about Panarello’s killer, who has never been found.

But Laval police said in a statement yesterday that though they have been able to identify the pair, the lead was a dead end.

“These people co-operated with investigators, who were able to conclude that they have no link whatsoever with the murder file of Nadia Panarello. In addition, the location identified has no link with the present case,” Laval police spokesman Frank Di Genova said in a statement.

“The mysterious photos were transmitted to the family as a result of a mistaken address.”

Panarello, 38, was killed shortly after her husband and daughters left the family home, near Laval’s Cité de la Santé hospital, on the morning of Feb. 12, 2004. When her employer called her relatives after Panarello failed to show up for work at a marketing firm, her mother went to check and discovered her bloodied body.

Police determined a violent struggle had taken place. An autopsy later determined Panarello had been stabbed, but the weapon has never been found.

There were no signs of forced entry at the residence; nothing had been stolen.

Laval police had hoped the release of the pictures in the mainstream media as well as the force’s Facebook page would provide fresh avenues of investigation in the case , which has been active all these years.

Di Genova thanked the public for their help nonetheless.