Police deny boyfriend linked to slaying of B.C. realtor

Speculation about the killing of a Victoria real estate agent has prompted police to hold an extraordinary news conference to quell rumours about the involvement of the victim's boyfriend and his family.

Lindsay Buziak was killed in February 2008 after being lured to a vacant property in the Victoria suburb of Saanich by a couple who had phoned her to arrange a showing of the home.

A story on the U.S. television news show Dateline last Friday about the slaying of the 24-year-old led to speculation that Buziak's boyfriend and his family were responsible, police said Wednesday.

"We feel that it was important to clear the air," said Saanich police Sgt. Dean Jantzen. "Fingers had been pointed as a result of this program."

Jantzen said police willingly participated in the Dateline story in the hope it would generate new leads in the investigation.

But the news story also created problems for the family of Jason Zailo, Janzten said.

Family co-operative

Zailo was Buziak's boyfriend, and he and a friend found her body in the $1-million vacant house she had been scheduled to show to the mystery couple.

Buziak had been stabbed 54 times.

Jantzen said Zailo and his family are not suspects in the case.

"The Zailo family … have met with our detectives … of their own free will, voluntarily, and have satisfied every investigative request that our detectives have had of them," Jantzen said.

He said Saanich police have received several hundred calls about the case since the show aired and was seen by about six million U.S. viewers.

But the majority of calls contained suggestions about how detectives should proceed rather than hard evidence, said Jantzen.