American TV psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw has appealed to the public to help solve the slaying of Lindsay Buziak.
The 24-year-old real estate agent was stabbed and killed while showing a vacant home in Gordon Head on Feb. 2, 2008.
In an episode of Dr. Phil that aired Friday, McGraw interviewed Jeff Buziak, who said he is willing to die in pursuit of justice for his daughter.
“This is a crime that deserves to be solved. This man deserves to have justice for his daughter. So if you can help, please, please, please pick up the phone, give a tip to the authorities and see if we can get this thing solved,” McGraw said, encouraging people to call the Lindsay Buziak tip line at 1-888-980-1919.
In the segment, titled A Daughter’s Brutal Murder; Her Father’s Quest for Justice, Buziak described Lindsay’s killing, including the fact she was stabbed more than 40 times.
“I feel at times I’m putting my life on the line, but it’s all for my daughter,” Buziak said. “I’ve met with gangsters, drug dealers, criminals, to either confront them or find out if they can give me any little bit of information on my daughter’s unsolved murder. Sometimes I reach out to criminals. If I can’t reach them, I go to their homes.”
Buziak said he has had a gun pulled on him and he has met with physical aggression, but he remains undaunted because he believes somebody knows something about the crime. When he held his daughter’s body for the last time, he promised her he would find out who killed her.
Buziak admitted he has destroyed his career and finances. People who tell him to move on don’t understand, he said.
“I’m happy to turn a bright, bright light on over this and keep it in people’s mind,” McGraw said. “It’s tragic what has happened and I’m very sorry for your loss.”
He said the attack sounded personal. Buziak agreed, saying he believes someone close to Lindsay orchestrated the killing.
Buziak has been highly critical of the police investigation and has created a website about her slaying. He suggested the police are “hiding something or someone or covering up” and told McGraw that the police asked him to shut down the website because it could jeopardize the integrity of the case.
He has also accused Saanich police of knowing who killed Lindsay and why but being afraid to say.
McGraw said he believes a conspiracy is highly unlikely. He told Buziak that in his experience, law enforcement officers work hard and put themselves in harm’s way to keep the rest of us safe everyday.
“My experience is they are genuinely, highly devoted, sincere, hard-working men and women,” he said.
Buziak said he met with someone in Victoria in December who had information on Lindsay’s killing and he persuaded that person to talk to police. In February, the police still hadn’t contacted that person, he said.
McGraw suggested Buziak should have sat down with the person and asked them what they knew.
Buziak replied he did, but he could not make an arrest so the person still had to talk to the police.
“What do you think happened? Why do you think she was killed?” McGraw asked.
Buziak’s reply appeared to be edited. “… She saw something she shouldn’t have seen,” he said. “She was jeopardizing people’s lifestyles. They executed her.”
McGraw told Buziak he understood his frustration and appealed to the public to pick up the phone if they had heard someone talking about the crime. One little piece of the puzzle snapped together with another piece can make a difference, he said.
Saanich police said they believe a number of people have personal and first-hand knowledge of the killing and have withheld this information.
“Somebody did this heinous crime and people that do this kind of thing, they talk, they tell somebody,” McGraw said.
“Somebody has heard something about this somewhere … and if you have heard someone talking about this, if you saw something, if you know something, you’ll pick up the phone.”
