An online petition to have a B.C. murder case turned over to a new police agency garnered more than 1,000 signatures in less than 24 hours.
The petition, started by Indiana woman Ashley Turner, is directed to Mike Farnworth, B.C.’s solicitor general and minister of public safety.
“Lindsay Buziak was a beautiful hardworking 24-year-old woman who was viciously murdered,” Turner writes. “Her killers and planners are still free. Her murder remains unsolved by Saanich Police.”
Buziak, a 24-year-old real estate agent, was stabbed to death in 2008 while showing a Saanich home. Her father, Jeff, has been a tireless advocate for justice in his daughter’s death ever since, appearing on several podcasts and TV shows including Dr. Phil and Dateline.
READ ALSO: Father of murdered realtor still waits for arrests after 12 years
Turner spoke to Black Press Media by phone from Fort Wayne, Indiana. She said she first heard of the murder in a podcast and was dumbfounded by the case.
“It seemed like a movie. It just didn’t seem like it had really happened,” she said. “I’m just trying to help the Buziak family get some sort of justice.”
Turner became more passionate about the case when she began communicating with Jeff.
“Honestly, it’s just his dedication to it. His passion and the way he talks about what happened…I just couldn’t let it go,” she said. “I bet he’s just stuck in 12 years ago, I imagine that never goes away.”
Markus Anastasiades, public information and communications officer for the Saanich Police Department, says the department has been working with RCMP since the initial crime scene.
RCMP has also conducted two comprehensive reviews of the Saanich Police investigation in 2008 and 2019.
“We are currently moving forward with the recommendations of the most recent review,” Anastasiades said. “The Lindsay Buziak homicide remains an open and active investigation of the Saanich Police, and we remain committed to bringing this file to a successful conclusion.”
Farnworth told media he is unable to adjust a case’s jurisdiction but directed concerns to the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner of B.C. (OPCC).
“This has been a terrible tragedy and there’s a lot of people who have been concerned about this. I know the police…take this very seriously and [are] working as hard as they can,” he said. “But if people do have concerns that they think need to be addressed there is a process that is available to them and that is the [OPCC].”
READ ALSO: Father of Saanich murder victim Lindsay Buziak set to appear on Dr. Phil show Friday
But Farnworth also said he can understand the public’s concern.
“I can only imagine not only how frustrating it is but how heartbreaking it is to know that someone out there has committed a murder and they have not yet been identified and brought to justice and brought to trial,” he said. “It’s a horrible situation.”
Farnworth added, “I have every confidence that this case is going to be pursued until the killer is found, convicted, brought to justice.”
But for Turner and more than 1,800 others, words aren’t enough.
“I know he said it’s not his place and his hands are tied…but public’s not safe with killers running around,” she said. “We’ll keep pushing it, even if we have to get it in front of other people.”
nina.grossman@blackpress.caFollow us on Instagram
