Slain realtor may have been mistaken target

VICTORIA – A 24-year-old real estate agent who was lured to a vacant home where she was stabbed to death, may have been mistakenly targeted in a contract killing, police said Tuesday.

Lindsay Buziak was killed in February 2008 in the Victoria suburb of Saanich.

Saanich police Det.-Sgt. Chris Horsley revealed new details about the killing, saying police are looking for fresh tips since they’re running into “more closed doors than open ones lately.”

Many of those details point to a high level of sophistication and planning by the killers, Horsley said, right down to leaving no electronic tracks beyond the cellphone that was bought to communicate with Buziak, then discarded.

Horsley said Saanich investigators have scoured Buziak’s financial records, online social-networking chats – even those that she deleted – and have found nothing to indicate any criminal or drug dealings that might lead to a motive in the slaying.

That clean sheet, combined with the fact that her killers operated at a level seen in professional hits, leads investigators to believe that while Buziak was clearly the intended target, she may have been slain based on misinformation.

Buziak was a young real estate agent working to establish herself in the Victoria market when she was contacted by a man and woman who said they were interested in a million-dollar property.

Horsley dismissed reports that Buziak was nervous to meet with the couple, saying she thought the showing was unusual because she was not the listing agent, but she wasn’t apprehensive about it.

While some reports indicated Buziak asked her boyfriend, real estate agent Jason Zailo, to check on her at the house, Horsley said Zailo went to the house because he had real estate documents for Buziak to sign.

Saanich police received their first 911 call when Zailo arrived with a friend and found the front door locked.

Horsley said that as a real estate agent, Zailo instantly knew something was amiss, since standard practice is for the front door to remain unlocked during a showing.

Zailo and his friend made several attempts to enter the home, and cellphone records show he made calls to obtain access. Within minutes, Zailo found a french door at the back open. He and his friend entered the home, where they discovered Buziak’s body in an upstairs bedroom.

Police said it’s possible the killers did not drive to the house, but were dropped off and picked up.

Victoria Times Colonist