New details emerged earlier this year on the Lindsay Buziak case. It seems this information came out in October, however I did not see a post detailing the updates, so I thought I would bring attention to this case again.

For a more detailed write-up and background on the case, u/justcameforthesnark did a write-up a couple of months ago: Who Killed Lindsay Buziak?

A brief background on the case is that Lindsay Buziak was a 24-year-old real estate agent in Saanich, Victoria, British Columbia who was murdered during a property showing on February 2nd, 2008. She received a phone call from a prospective client a couple of weeks earlier and the caller inquired about homes in the million dollar range. The client called Lindsay's personal cell phone number, and Lindsay thought the caller was using a fake accent to mask their identity. The caller was also using a burner phone. Lindsay was unnerved by the call, but still went forward with the showing. Although the client said she would be coming alone, Lindsay was met by a couple when she arrived at the home. This identity of these two individuals remain unknown, however they are the prime suspects in her murder.

A Canadian news startup, The Capital Daily, hired journalist Zander Sherman in 2019 to take a look at Lindsay's case.

"For the last year, Sherman and a small team of journalists have been quietly working to find out what really happened. They have interviewed dozens of people, obtained more than 1,000 emails, and petitioned the BC Supreme Court to unseal 35 applications to obtain judicial authorizations. After a recent ruling by Justice Robert Punnett, those documents were partially released to the public. The documents reveal previously unknown details of the case, including that Buziak’s online activity mysteriously dropped off in the days before her death, and that police appear to know far more about the “crime phone” used to contact Buziak than previously disclosed."

I will summarize some of the new information from the documents and reporting below:

• Although it was previously reported that the caller had received Lindsay's contact information through a referral, there is no mention of this in the police documents.
• There were 10 calls between Lindsay and the prospective client.
• Lindsay saved the caller as "million dollar" in her phone and did not record their name anywhere (if it had been given to her).
• The day before the showing, Shirley Zailo (Jason's mother), overheard a 15 minute conversation between Lindsay and the caller.
• The caller wanted to see houses late into Saturday and throughout Sunday. Lindsay had a friend's bachelorette party on the Saturday night of the showing and still planned to attend despite the showing starting at 5:30pm.
• Before the showing, Lindsay stopped by the Remax office and asked the receptionist and another coworker to look up the "million dollar" caller's number to see if they had contacted any other agents.
• The receptionist stated that Lindsay was "freaked out" by the showing.
• Lindsay had a late lunch with her boyfriend, Jason, before the showing, and they ate fast as she wanted to change before the showing.
• Jason offered to take over the showing, but she declined.
• Saanich Police stated that Lindsay received no Facebook messages from January 24, 2008 to February 3, 2008 and that it appeared some chat messages had been deleted. However, they were unable to determine when messages had been deleted. Although Facebook was relatively new at the time, it was strange that Lindsay would have had no messages within this time as she was rather popular. It is believed these messages are "wall posts."
• Lindsay's laptop was provided to the police by Jason.
• Police did note that Lindsay was friends with "violent criminals" on Facebook who were involved with drugs.

Another news source, CTV News, also published an article in October stating that there were two burner "crime phones" used for the murder. The prepaid phone used to call Lindsay, and a second crime phone which was used to check the voicemail on the first. Reporter Zander Sherman states that the Saanich police allege to know who is responsible for these phones. The fake name "Paulo Rodriquez" was used to register the crime phones.

"Based on cell tower information, police appear to know the area where the phone was purchased, and where the person or people who used the phone are “mostly likely from.” Saanich Police determined the name of at least one person in possession of 'fictitiously registered' pre-paid phones allegedly used to 'facilitate illegal activity in a covert manner,' though nothing in the public record indicates whether police considered this person a suspect in Buziak’s murder, or ruled him out."

Lindsay's father, Jeff Buziak, still lacks confidence in the Saanich Police and has been very vocal about this over the years.

"We're 12 and a half years – almost 13, actually – into this murder," Jeff Buziak said. "I'm always surprised that every resident of Saanich doesn’t show up at my annual Walk for Justice for Lindsay because right now, psychologically, you can murder in Saanich because there are no consequences."

Discussion Points:

• One of Lindsay's friends claimed to receive a call from a mysterious woman weeks after the murder, who later traced the call back to Shirley Zailo. However, Shirley overheard one call between Lindsay and the "million dollar" caller. Did this same individual call Lindsay's friend, or why would Shirley use a fake accent to call Lindsay's friend?
• Who deleted messages or wall posts from Lindsay's Facebook, and why?

Sources:

https://www.capitaldaily.ca/news/lindsay-buziak-investigation-2008-documents

https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/report-reveals-new-details-in-lindsay-buziak-murder-case-1.5135211