Cdn couple found murdered in Mexico

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Ont. police confirm probe into Mexico slayings
CTV.ca News Staff

Thunder Bay police confirmed Tuesday that their force has launched an investigation on behalf of Mexican authorities into the case of an Ont. couple slain at a Mayan Riviera resort.

"What we're doing is gathering information," Chris Adams, spokesman for the Thunder Bay police, told CTV Toronto.

"What we are trying to do here is apply the very high standards of Canadian policing that people have come to expect from us."

Domenico Ianiero, 59, and his wife, Annunziata, 55, who were in Mexico for their daughter's wedding, were found murdered about a week ago at the luxury Barcelo Maya Beach Resort near Playa del Carmen.

Meanwhile in Thunder Bay, two women who fear Mexican authorities have named them as suspects say the accusations are ridiculous.

In a press conference held Tuesday night, Kimberley Kim and Cheryl Everald say they left their Mexican hotel last week with no idea two other guests had been brutally slain.

The women, who stayed in a room close to the Ianieros, have names that sound similar to the ones Mexican authorities say are prime suspects in their investigation -- King and Everald.

Lawyer Lee Baig said his clients are preparing for the possibility of a formal extradition request from the Mexican government.

"We're making preparations to deal with it, should it come to that," Baig told The Canadian Press.

"We would, at the hearing, fight it tooth and nail."

Earlier on Tuesday, Baig told CTV's Canada AM that his clients are innocent.

"They were there for another wedding and while they have great sympathy with the family, they didn't have anything to do with the murders," he said.

Baig told AM that he had "considerable problems" with the strength of the case.

"I'm used to what I consider to be proper police investigations and this one does not seem to fall into that category ... particularly as the crime scene itself was not kept secure," he said.

Baig said the women were not questioned during their stay in Mexico and had so far not been contacted by Mexican authorities.

"We've talked to lots of people who were at the hotel and nobody was questioned -- either there or at the airport or when they got back to Thunder Bay," Baig added.

Mexican officials have suggested that they will issue arrest warrants once their investigation is complete.

That could lead to an extradition hearing for the suspects and possibly a return to Mexico to face trial.

Coroner's investigation

Ontario's chief coroner said Tuesday that the examination of the Ianieros' bodies will likely take two days.

"A forensic examination of the bodies will begin today," Dr. Barry McLellan said in a statement.

"Some of the forensic tools available in such circumstances include x-ray, forensic autopsy, the gathering of trace evidence and toxicology."

The Ontario Coroner's office received the bodies of at 6.30 p.m. ET Monday, after they arrived at Toronto's Pearson International Airport.

Earlier, Toronto forensic experts were not holding out much hope that they would learn much about the couple's fate.

"We hope we can provide any additional expertise or interpretation of the injuries, but at this point it's just all speculation," deputy chief coroner Dr. Bonita Porter told The Canadian Press Monday.

CTV's Austin Delaney told CTV Toronto that the victim's bodies had already been embalmed, sparking fears that important forensic evidence had already been washed away.

Strange twists

The investigation in Mexico has taken a number of strange twists in the last week, with Mexican authorities releasing various pieces of conflicting information about the suspects, who they continue to insist are three Canadian women no longer in Mexico.

Authorities originally characterized the killings as the work of a professional -- fueling speculation about a possible link to organized crime.

However, the state's attorney for the state of Quintana Roo later recanted that theory, saying he didn't think that was the case.

A number of critics have speculated that Mexican authorities rushed the investigation to avoid giving the popular tourism destination a bad reputation.

One Nova Scotia man who stayed at the resort when the couple was slain says it certainly seemed that way.

He told CTV Atlantic he saw landscapers working on the grass in front of the Ianieros' room.

"I thought that was kind of odd, because if there was any trace of evidence there, it certainly would be gone by then," he said.

A Mexican lawyer told CTV News that "the reality of Mexico, and for the state of Quintana Roo, is that the corruption is all around.

But authorities in Mexico say the media is to blame for the all the confusion.

"It's true sensationalism sells, but that's as far as that goes," Felipe Duran, a spokesman for the state's attorney's office, told reporters.

"We don't, and shouldn't, provide information on unconfirmed situations," he said. "We understand that people are bothered, but we are just following the leads in the investigation."

Liberals call for action

Meanwhile, federal opposition parties called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to get involved and reason with the Mexican authorities.

"Where is Stephen Harper? What is he waiting for?," demanded Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis Tuesday.

"He (needs to) get on the phone to (President) Fox and say 'what the hell is going on?' These are Canadian people," Karygiannis told CTV Newsnet.

Meanwhile, interim Liberal Leader Bill Graham told reporters that it was clear from press accounts "that the Mexican process of investigation has been very different from the standards we would expect in this country."

An RCMP liaison officer has been in touch with the family, Canadian authorities said, but it wasn't until Saturday -- six days after the bodies were found -- that police in Canada said they had been asked to join the investigation.

After the forensic examination, the victim's bodies will be released to Fratelli Vescio Funeral Homes in Woodbridge, Ont., the suburb north of Toronto where the Ianieros lived.

On Monday night, family members of the slain couple gathered at a home in Woodbridge and refused to speak to the media.

With a report from CTV Atlantic's Tracy Prysiazniuk and CTV Toronto's Austin Delaney

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Alleged Mexico murder suspects proclaim innocence
CTV.ca News Staff

Two Canadian women who fear Mexican authorities consider them as suspects in the murders of an Ontario couple proclaimed their innocence Tuesday, saying the accusations are "ridiculous."

In a press conference held in Thunder Bay, Ont. on Tuesday night, Kimberley Kim and Cheryl Everald say they left their Mexican hotel last week with no idea that two other guests had been brutally slain.

"It's ridiculous, I don't even know how to express it in words," Kim said.

"Emotionally, you don't know what you're going to go through from minute to minute. One minute you're crying, the next minute -- it's terrifying and you get very upset. It's devastating. Everyday we wake up, you open your eyes thinking it's a dream and it's not."

Domenico Ianiero, 59, and his wife, Annunziata, 55, live in Woodbridge, a community just northwest of Toronto and almost 1,000 kilometres southeast of Thunder Bay as the crow flies.

They were in Mexico for their daughter's wedding. The couple were found murdered on Feb. 20 at the luxury Barcelo Maya Beach Resort near Playa del Carmen.

Everall and Kim described hearing crying and breaking glass down the hall from their room the night the Ianieros were killed, but say they didn't pay much attention.

Early in the investigation, Mexican police said the prime suspects in their investigation are two Canadian women who registered at the hotel with the names "King and Everald," names that sound similar to those of the Thunder Bay women.

Mexican police have also said the principal evidence in the murders is a trail of blood from the crime scene to the suspects' door.

The women said that if traces of blood were indeed found in their room, it's possible they unknowingly tracked it in from the hallway.

"We'd just like to express our deepest sympathy (to the Ianiero family)," Everall said.

"This has been traumatic for us and we can't imagine what that family is going through. This is awful; our thoughts and prayers are certainly with them."

Mexican officials have suggested that they will issue arrest warrants for the suspects once their investigation is complete.

A formal request for extradition would prompt a hearing before a Canadian judge to determine "whether there's any real evidence upon which anybody could be found guilty," Everall and Kim's lawyer Lee Baig said, adding that he's seen no such evidence.

Earlier on Tuesday, Baig told Canada AM that he had "considerable problems" with the strength of the case.

"I'm used to what I consider to be proper police investigations and this one does not seem to fall into that category ... particularly as the crime scene itself was not kept secure," he said.

Baig said the women were not questioned during their stay in Mexico and had so far not been contacted by Mexican authorities.

"We've talked to lots of people who were at the hotel and nobody was questioned -- either there or at the airport or when they got back to Thunder Bay," Baig added.

At the request of Interpol, Thunder Bay police will spend the next weeks talking to passengers from that Cancun flight who returned to the northern Ontario town.

Thunder Bay police confirmed Tuesday that their force has launched a local investigation into murders.

"What we're doing is gathering information," Chris Adams, spokesman for the Thunder Bay police, told CTV Toronto.

"What we are trying to do here is apply the very high standards of Canadian policing that people have come to expect from us."

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'Justice must be done' says slain couple's son
CTV.ca News Staff

The grieving son of an Ontario couple brutally slain in Mexico is urging Ottawa to "continue its involvement" in the investigation of the killings.

Anthony Ianiero said "justice must be done" and "the road to justice lies in answering the many questions that have been raised."

Ianiero was speaking 10 days after his parents -- Domenic, 59, and Annunziata, 55 -- were found with their throats slashed at a luxury resort near Cancun.

In a statement to reporters Wednesday, Ianiero said his parents were looking forward to what was supposed to be the happy occasion of his sister Lily's wedding.

"My parents were in the prime of life," Ianiero said. "We share the shock and disbelief that my parents' smiles and laughter have been forever silenced."

Ianiero, who refused to answer questions from reporters, thanked Canadians for their support, but called on the media to allow the family to grieve in private.

"The last days have been a blur and we're only at the very beginning stages of accepting the reality of the situation,'' he said near the family home in Woodbridge, Ont.

Investigation

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the RCMP is working closely with Mexican authorities, but had not received extradition requests for any suspects in the slayings.

At a news conference in Ottawa Wednesday, Harper said he will speak with Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista about the killings when Bautista visits Ottawa later this week.

"Obviously this is a terrible tragedy and I hope everyone will handle it with information rather than speculation," Harper told reporters.

Meanwhile, two Canadian women who fear Mexican authorities unjustly consider them suspects have proclaimed their innocence, describing the accusations as "ridiculous."

Kimberley Kim and Cheryl Everall told a press conference in Thunder Bay, Ont. on Tuesday that they left their five-star Mexican hotel last week with no idea about the brutal slayings.

"It's ridiculous, I don't even know how to express it in words," said Kim, a psychology student who works part-time at a hospice.

Everall, a medical student at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., echoed her friend's sentiments.

"Every day we wake up and you open your eyes and you think this is a dream, and it's not," Everall told the news conference.

At the request of Mexican authorities, Thunder Bay police will spend the next few weeks talking to some 50 passengers on the same flight that Everall and Kim took home.

Mexican officials earlier suggested they will issue arrest warrants for the suspects once their investigation is complete.

A formal request for extradition would prompt a hearing before a Canadian judge to determine "whether there's any real evidence upon which anybody could be found guilty," Everall and Kim's lawyer Lee Baig said Tuesday, adding that he's seen no such evidence.

The Mexican investigation into the slayings has been widely criticized as botched and part of a desperate attempt by the Mexican authorities to protect the country's lucrative tourism industry.

Meanwhile, Ontario's chief coroner said Tuesday that the examination of the Ianieros' bodies will likely take two days.

The Ontario Coroner's office received the bodies at 6.30 p.m. ET Monday, following their arrival at Toronto's Pearson International Airport.

However, CTV's Austin Delaney told CTV Toronto that the bodies had already been embalmed -- sparking fears that important forensic evidence had already been washed away.

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Backlash against travel to Mexico mounts
Updated Tue. Feb. 28 2006 9:38 PM ET

Canadian Press

TORONTO — Newspaper editorials slammed Mexican authorities and urged Canadian travellers to consider avoiding the country Tuesday amid a bizarre murder probe on the Yucatan Peninsula that's prompting allegations of coverup and shoddy police work.

Domenico Ianiero, 59, and wife Annunziata, 55, of the Toronto suburb of Woodbridge, Ont., were found dead in their hotel room in a resort near Cancun last week, their throats slashed.

It took only 24 hours for the authorities to declare that the killing was the work of a professional and that their key suspects were Canadian and had already fled Mexico, prompting charges the whole affair was being swept under the carpet.

In its Tuesday edition, the National Post encouraged Canadians to think about finding another place to spend their hard-earned tourism dollars.

"This case proves what many have long known: Mexico's law enforcement and justice system are in dire need of reform," the Post editorial read.

"Until that happens, Canadians planning their next vacation in Mexico might have reason to look elsewhere."

Mexico is among Canada's most popular tourism destinations, the Globe and Mail said Tuesday in an editorial that urged the federal government to start flexing its diplomatic muscles and its Mexican counterpart to also take action.

"It is not just the killings that are marring its name," the newspaper wrote. "It is the botched investigation -- and the hauntingly apparent coverup."

On Monday, Toronto radio talk show host Bill Carroll, in an editorial on Global TV's nightly newscast, urged spring break travellers to avoid the country altogether.

So far, only a "handful" of Canadian travellers destined for Mexico have called with concerns about Mexico since the controversy erupted, said Richard Vanderlubbe, president of online travel agency tripcentral.ca.

"If the story continues ...and we find out that it's related in some way to the hotel's operations or negligence or what have you, then obviously it could have some lasting effect," said Vanderlubbe, whose company handles hundreds of trips to the country per month this time of year.

Right now, however, travellers simply don't have enough information to make an informed decision about whether to change their plans, he added.

"If (the investigation) is bungled in terms of a public relations exercise, that's a self-inflicted wound, but I think the event itself we can keep in perspective."

From the start, critics have wondered aloud if Mexican authorities rushed their investigation into the killings for fear of hurting their multimillion-dollar tourist industry, accusing police of failing to properly preserve the murder scene and canvass possible witnesses.

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay is set to meet with Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista during his visit to Ottawa this week.

The pair are expected to discuss a range of bilateral issues on Friday, but it is not yet known whether the murders will be on the agenda.

Cheryl Everall and Kimberley Kim, the two Thunder Bay, Ont., women identified as suspects by the Mexican authorities, denounced the allegations against them at a news conference as ridiculous.

The pair stayed at the same seaside luxury resort as the victims and were allowed to board their scheduled flights back home the day after the bodies were discovered, despite the apparent concerns of police.

Other guests at the hotel, many of them Canadian, were never interviewed.

"If Canadians do not trust Mexico, vote with your pocketbook," read one posting on www.topix.net, a website that hosts discussion forums about various topics, including travel destinations.

"I suggest travel to Cuba, it is safe for tourists."

Next to the United States and the United Kingdom, Mexico is the top destination for tourists from Canada. Canadians spent $791 million in the country in 2004, according to the most recent figures available from Statistics Canada.

Tourism officials and Mexican authorities have continued to insist the incident is isolated and does not pose a threat to prospective tourists.

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The RCMP says it has confidence in a Mexican police investigation into the murders of a Toronto-area couple in Cancun.


"I've got full confidence in the Mexican police and their ability to conduct this investigation," Assistant Commissioner Raf Soucarr said Thursday of the probe into the deaths of Dominic and Annunziata Ianiero. "I've got no reason to be concerned about the way the investigation is unfolding."

Soucarr told a news conference that the Mounties were made aware of the murders shortly after they happened, and that Canadian investigators have been co-operating with their Mexican counterparts.

But he noted that the grisly deaths took place outside the jurisdiction of the RCMP and Canadian authorities are largely dependent on Mexican police.

"This is a Mexican investigation in Mexico," Soucarr said. "We have no jurisdiction in Mexico to go down without being requested to provide any type of assistance or to investigate on our own."

The RCMP have a man on the scene to observe and report developments to Canadian authorities, he said.

Questions have been raised about the competence and ethics of the Mexican police in a probe that some critics have said smacks of unprofessionalism.

But Soucarr, who said he has personally worked with the Mexican police on several previous occasions, said: "I am confident as to their professionalism, I am confident as to their ethics."

He did not comment on reports that the Ianieros' throats were slashed in a mob-style "hit," calling it a homicide investigation.

He said the Mounties are available to help in any way they can and have interviewed Canadians who were in Cancun at the time of the Ianieros' deaths.

"We'll offer whatever assistance - the full capacity, be it forensic assistance, be it investigative assistance, be it interviews that need to be conducted in Canada," he said.

"Whatever is required, we've assured them of our full co-operation."

The Ianieros, who were from Woodbridge, Ont., were found dead Feb. 20 while in Mexico to attend their daughter's wedding.

The couple's grieving son broke his family's silence Wednesday as he urged Ottawa to take an active role in the controversial criminal probe to ensure justice is done.

Anthony Ianiero, 35, trembled as he stood outside a suburban funeral home northwest of Toronto and called on the federal government "to continue their involvement and become even more informed of the details."

"Justice must be done, and the road to justice lies in answering the many questions that have been raised. Therefore, we ask that Canadian law enforcement officials work closely with their Mexican counterparts to find those answers."

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Cdns still prime suspects, Mexican official says
CTV.ca News Staff

The Mexican official in charge of the investigation into the brutal slayings of an Ontario couple says the principal evidence linking the two Canadian women to the murders is a trail of blood.

"A trail of blood led from the crime scene to the suspects' room," said Bello Melchor Rodriguez y Carrillo, attorney general for the state of Quintana Roo, where the murders of Domenico and Annunziata Ianiero took place.

"There are traces of blood on the key slot, the remote control, the refrigerator, the bathroom taps," he told CTV's Denelle Balfour in Spanish.

The attorney general conceded it's not yet clear who the bloody fingerprints belong to, and tests have yet to reveal if it's the same blood from the crime scene.

Still, he disagreed with witness reports that the blood was either tracked or cleaned up by hotel staff.

Authorities originally characterized the killings as the work of a professional -- fuelling speculation about a possible link to organized crime.

While Rodriguez later recanted that theory, he backtracked his statements in his interview with CTV News and repeated the initial allegations.

"The evidence is clear. The Canadian couple was killed by professionals with experience in these kinds of jobs. It was not done by an amateur," he said.

Rodriguez alleged the killers tried to clean the blood in the hall and in their room, but that traces were later revealed in forensic tests.

While he has stuck to his claims that two Thunder Bay women, Cheryl Everall and Kimberly Kim are suspects, he is not currently seeking their extradition.

"Not at this moment," he said. "They are only suspects. We don't know for sure if they committed the crime."

The investigation has faced intense scrutiny from critics who fear authorities botched the probe in their hasty efforts to protect the country's lucrative tourism industry.

But despite reports to the contrary, Rodriguez rejected witness accounts claiming the crime scene had been compromised and insisted the building was sealed, and that staff and guests were questioned.

"We don't have anything to hide. The crime scene is secure. We invite any of the authorities in Canada to review our work," he said.

While Mexican authorities believe the blood has been spread by the suspects, a senior Canadian official close to the investigation has told CTV News the blood was not spread by the women, but by a hotel maid.

The source said the maid likely transferred blood on a cleaning rag from the hallway to Everall and Kim's recently vacated room, information that was bolstered by a Canadian tourist who just returned from the resort.

"They cleaned the room, then they re-rented the room. And then they decided to look at that room ... after they'd rented it, and moved the people from that room, like at midnight. They woke them up, got them out of bed, and decided to search the room then," Brady Scavarelli told CTV.

RCMP stands by controversial probe

Despite allegations that the investigation has been botched, the RCMP's top brass is standing by the controversial probe.

"We have full confidence in the Mexican police and in their ability to carry out this investigation in the proper fashion. To date, there has been full co-operation," Assistant Commissioner of Federal and International Operations Raf Souccar said at a news conference on Thursday afternoon.

Souccar told reporters the RCMP liaison officer stationed in Mexico was informed of the deaths of Domenico and Annunziata Ianiero as soon as their bodies were informed. In turn, the liaison officer contacted the Mounties in Canada.

"We, in partnership with Interpol Ottawa and other law enforcement agencies have been in contact with the Mexican authorities, and we have offered them our full support," Souccar said.

He sought to assure the Ianiero family and all Canadians that the RCMP will continue to do everything in their power to see that the investigation was brought to a professional conclusion.

But he emphasized that the murders took place outside the jurisdiction of the Mounties.

"It's important to remember that this is a Mexican investigation, as with almost any investigation into crimes outside of Canada, international law limits the extent to which we can participate," he said.

Souccar downplayed suggestions that the crime scene has been tampered with, and that the investigation has been botched.

"They've collected whatever evidence needs to be collected. As I said, I've got full confidence in their ability to uncover what needs to be uncovered and to ask for what needs to be asked for," he said.

Meanwhile, police in Thunder Bay, Ont. say they've interviewed about 20 local residents who were at the same Mexican resort as the Ianieros.

The investigation in the northwestern Ontario city was launched after local authorities received a request from Mexican police through Interpol earlier this week.

"We're still working with a list of approximately 50 and we have just shy of 20 that we've interviewed so far," police spokesman Chris Adams told The Canadian Press.

Neither Souccar nor Adams would comment on the status of Everall and Kim.

"At this point we don't exclude anybody, we don't include anybody," Souccar said, noting that the RCMP had not received any extradition requests.

"All individuals we have reason to speak to, we will speak to."

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay is scheduled to meet Friday in Ottawa with his Mexican counterpart Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista.

With a report from CTV's Denelle Balfour and Jill Macyshon

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Thunder Bay women may be free and clear of murder
CTV.ca News Staff

After living under a cloud of suspicion for the brutal slaying of two Canadian tourists in Mexico, two women from Thunder Bay, Ont. may be free and clear.

According to a report from the Globe and Mail, investigators in Mexico no longer suspect Cheryl Everall and Kimberley Kim played a role in the killings.

The women were staying on the same floor at the Cancun hotel where Domenico and Annunziata Ianiero were murdered.

Mexican investigators said a trail of blood was found leading from the murder scene to the Everall and Kim's room. The women vehemently denied having anything to do with the double killing.

The Globe and Mail quotes sources saying Mexican police are now inclined to believe the Ianieros knew their attackers. The newspaper says investigators are turning their attention to friends and relatives who were with the slain couple.

The Ianieros and 16 friends and family members were staying at the luxury Barcelo Maya Beach Resort for the wedding of one of the Ianiero's twin daughters.

The celebration was cut short on Feb. 20 when the victims were found with their throats slashed in their hotel room.

The investigation by Mexican authorities generated concerns in both nations about corruption, incompetence and a rush to judgment by suspecting Everall and Kim.

Meeting with Prime Minister Paul Martin and Foreign Affairs Minister Peter McKay on Friday, Mexico's foreign secretary promised a "clear and thorough" investigation of the murders.

Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista said the Mexican government would allow Canadian police to participate in the investigation.

"I would like to send the message clear to everyone, that we will be working together and the information will be there so that people will know that this investigation took place transparently, openly, and in the most professional way possible," Derbez said Friday.

Meanwhile, Mexican authorities are probing a possible link to organized crime, saying that Canadian authorities have indicated one of the victims may have had links to "illicit activities."

"There have been ... statements by the (Royal) Canadian Mounted Police indicating that the slain person had ties with illicit activities," said Bello Melchor Rodriguez y Carrillo, attorney general for the state of Quintana Roo.

He did not elaborate on the type of illicit activities, nor did he say whether the organized crime elements stemmed from Canada or Mexico.

The RCMP declined comment on the attorney general's claims.

"I can't comment on this either way," said Const. Nathalie Deschenes. "Privacy laws prevent us from talking about personal information."

The Ianiero family has denied any link to illegal activities or organized crime.

With files from The Canadian Press.

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Funeral held today for Ont. couple slain in Mexico
CTV.ca News Staff

Hundreds of mourners attended a private funeral service this morning for Dominic and Nancy Ianiero, the Ontario couple slain in Mexico two weeks ago.

The couple's niece, Rosanne Ianiero, delivered what CTV reporter Peter Murphy described as "a very moving and emotional eulogy" during the service at St. Clare of Assissi parish in Woodbridge, north of Toronto.

"She described the couple as dedicated to each other after 37 years of marriage, dedicated to their children and their family. They loved nothing more than a roomful of music and laughter, and they lived to make anyone happy and to spread goodness," said Murphy.

She also lashed out at Mexican officials who have suggested the murders are somehow linked to organized crime. Rosanne Ianiero said the family should not have to defend their name in their time of grief.

Murphy said the mourners he spoke to "had nothing but wonderful things to say about the Ianieros, calling, them loving, generous, kind and certainly respected in the community -- and also what a tragedy it's been that they were going down (to Mexico) two weeks ago this day to celebrate the wedding of their daughter, and now, of course they're being buried today here in Woodbridge."

There was a heavy police presence directing traffic from the many mourners and media gathered at Woodbridge's St. Clare of Assisi parish.

The Ianieros' bodies were found in their room at a five-star luxury resort on the Mayan Riviera on Feb. 20, where they had gone to attend their daughter's wedding.

The visitation at a Woodbridge funeral home on Sunday was monitored by police as the investigation focused on friends and family members who were in Mexico to attend the wedding.

An investigator sat in a parked car just outside the funeral home, noting the cars and people entering.

"We have been engaged officially by the RCMP... to assist in the interviewing of local residents who were at the gathering in Mexico at the time of the murders," York Const. Laurie Perks told the Toronto Star Sunday.

"I don't have any details and will not speculate or comment on the investigation. It's an RCMP matter," Perks added.

Meanwhile, although the investigation in Mexico has raised more questions then answers, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay has said he is satisfied with the co-operation of the Mexican government.

MacKay, who met with Mexico's Secretary for Foreign Affairs Luis Ernesto Derbez on Friday, said the Mexican government has agreed to allow more RCMP officers to participate directly in the investigation.

"This is something that we take very seriously and it's a show of good faith," MacKay told CTV's Question Period Sunday.

"We put considerable weight on the co-operation of the Mexican officials. Prime Minister Harper's involvement and that of President Fox demonstrate that both governments are taking the investigation extremely seriously."

Initial reports suggested the Ianieros had their throats slashed by a professional hit man, but Mexican authorities later retracted that claim.

Two Canadian mothers from Thunder Bay, Ont. were then linked to the slaying, but subsequently cleared.

Mexican authorities remain the lead investigators in the slayings, while the RCMP are the lead agency in Canada.

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WOODBRIDGE, Ont. (CP) - A grieving family member at the funeral of a Canadian couple slain in Mexico said Monday that they shouldn't have to defend the family's good name.


Hundreds of mourners filed into a funeral home to say goodbye to Dominic and Nancy Ianiero. The couple's niece, who delivered the eulogy, lashed out at Mexican officials who have suggested the murders are somehow linked to organized crime.

"At this time, you should not have to defend your name," said Rosanna Ianiero. "We can all cherish the way Dominic and Nancy touched our lives."

The bodies of the Ianieros were found in their room at an all-inclusive Mexican resort near Cancun two weeks ago.

Bello Melchor Rodriguez y Carrillo, the attorney general for the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, has made contradictory statements about whether authorities there believe the slayings were related to organized crime.

Liberal MP Maurizio Bevilacqua, who represents the riding of Vaughan north of Toronto, said the truth behind the killings must be brought to light.

"We really celebrate the lives of two people today, but hopefully one day we'll also celebrate justice," Bevilacqua said after the service.

"People that commit these types of crimes need to be brought to justice and need to pay the price."

Visitations were held at the funeral home over the weekend, with officers from York region police keeping a watchful eye on all those who entered.

York police Const. Laurie Perks said the department was asked by the RCMP to help interview residents who were at the gathering in Mexico at the time of the murders.

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Evidence recovered in Mexico killings: reports
CTV.ca News Staff

Investigators in Mexico recovered evidence from the body of an Ontario woman who was brutally slain along with her husband at a luxury resort, media reports say.

The Toronto Sun is reporting that investigators lifted traces of hair from Nancy Ianiero's hand before her body was returned to Canada.

Ianiero, 55, and her husband Dominic, 59, had their throats slashed last month at a five-star resort on the Mayan Riviera, where they had gone to attend their daughter's wedding.

The hair sample is being analyzed by a laboratory in Mexico City and is believed to belong to the killer, a Mexican journalist is reported as saying.

A unnamed source in the Mexican Attorney General's office has confirmed that lab results should be available in the coming days, the Sun reports.

The source also says Mexican police took statements and hair samples from the wedding party before they returned to Canada.

The latest developments in the case come a day after unconfirmed media reports said Mexican authorities were seeking four hotel employees as part of their investigation.

This contradicts earlier reports, where Mexican investigators ruled out hotel workers.

Meanwhile, two veteran RCMP investigators have arrived in Mexico to help with the investigation.

The Canadian investigators left for Mexico earlier in the week, and are now working alongside the Mexican police who are leading the investigation.

The Ianieros were laid to rest Monday. More than seven hundred mourners attended the private funeral service in Woodbridge, north of Toronto.

Local police photographed license plates of the vehicles of many of those who attended as part of the investigation.

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OTTAWA -- More police manpower is being sent to Mexico to help in the investigation of last month's murders of a Woodbridge, Ont., couple at a posh resort near Cancun, the RCMP confirmed yesterday.

"Additional resources are being deployed to assist with the forensic aspect of the investigation," said RCMP spokesman Sgt. Martin Blais, who would not reveal the number of officers being sent to Mexico to join three others already on the scene.

The bodies of Domenic and Nancy Ianiero were found in their room on Feb. 20. Their throats had been slashed.

Blais said the increased resources were the result of the assessment of the officers at the crime scene.

"We're still consulting with our Mexican partner on an ongoing basis and offering assistance as best we can," Sgt. Blais said.

The Mexican government invited the Mounties to take an active role in the probe earlier this month after days of criticism and growing suspicion of the thoroughness of the investigation being conducted by local authorities.

On a March 4 visit to Ottawa, Mexico's Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista said he had no problem offering authority to the RCMP to gather and analyze evidence to ensure complete confidence in the Mexican murder probe.

"We are here to say that the Canadian police will have open doors to participate," he said at the time.

The Ianieros were in Mexico for a family wedding.

Following the discovery of their bodies, authorities almost immediately began pointing fingers at two Thunder Bay single mothers who had been staying in a nearby room at the resort at the time of the murders.

In recent days, suspicion has shifted to four hotel employees who haven't been seen by their employer since the discovery of the bodies.

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Newspaper gets anonymous tip about slain couple
CTV.ca News Staff

An anonymous letter sent to a Mexican newspaper suggests police should look for two Canadians who flew to Cancun the same week Dominic and Nancy Ianiero were killed.

The Woodbridge, Ont. couple were murdered in February while in Mexico to attend their daughter's wedding. They were staying in a resort just south of Cancun.

The typed letter, which was stamped on March 3 at a post office near Hamilton, Ont., reads: "Will you please ask the police to check out the possibility of Canadians flying from Cuba to Cancun on the week that the murders took place.''

The letter describes three men. Two of the travellers are Canadian; one tall and thin, the other heavyset. The third is a Latino, "possibly Mexican," according to the letter.

It was sent to the Mexican newspaper Novedades Quintana Roo.

Meanwhile, a report in the Toronto Star on Sunday says Mexican investigators now plan to come to Canada to pursue leads. The newspaper quotes unnamed sources close to the investigation, but does not say when the investigators are expected to arrive.

Mexican officials are currently trying to reassure Canadians that the country is a safe place to visit, after a prominent lawyer warned tourists that the killers may still be at large in the Cancun area.

Lawyer Edward Greenspan, who represents the family of Dominic and Nancy Ianiero, advised Canadians on Friday to "stay out of Mexico" until the killers are caught.

However, press attache Mauricio Guerrero said Mexico is still safe, and called the Ianiero murder "one case out of a million."

Guerrero also said Greenspan is deliberately trying to hurt Mexico's tourism industry by misleading the public.

Crime scene investigator scolded

On Saturday, Mexico's attorney general announced he had disciplined a crime scene investigator who admitted to leaking graphic photos of the murdered couple to a tabloid newspaper.

The photos show the Ianieros lying in a large pool of blood in their hotel room at a Cancun holiday resort.

Attorney General Bello Melchor Rodriguez said Jorge Fernando Lopez, an investigator in the case, had admitted to releasing the photos. No decision had been made on whether Lopez would face criminal charges, but Rodriguez delivered a stern scolding.

"This type of employee doesn't deserve to stay inside this institution," he said in a statement.

The gruesome images were run on the front page of the Mexican newspaper Quequi, on Thursday, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with Mexican President Vicente Fox and U.S. President George Bush.

Dominic Ianiero is shown with his throat slashed, while Nancy Ianiero is pictured lying face down near the door, wearing what appears to be a night gown.

As soon as the photos were published, Rodriguez announced the leak was under investigation, and by Saturday Lopez had admitted passing the photos on to the paper.

Greenspan said on Friday that the investigation had been bungled at the highest levels, and even accused the Mexican president of interfering.

"We were all quite astounded when the President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, saw fit to publicly talk about the murders," Lawyer Edward Greenspan told reporters in Toronto.

"It is beyond the pale, and totally improper in a volatile domestic homicide for the leader of a country -- even a country not known for its reticence -- to publicly announce before an investigation is half underway that the criminals are Canadian, and in fact may be within the wedding party."

The Ianieros' relatives have hired Greenspan in the hopes of ensuring a proper criminal investigation is carried out in Mexico.

Greenspan alleges Fox is trying to protect Mexico's tourism industry, and he is urging Canadians to stay away from the popular vacation destination.

"Mexico is not a very safe country at all. In my view, until a killer is brought to justice, Canadians should stay out of Mexico for their own safety," he claimed.

Greenspan added that, for "all practical purposes, (Fox) has destroyed any confidence that the investigation will be conducted with the fairness and impartiality that is required to bring about a just charge."

[Sher]

Ianiero family hires private detective: report
CTV.ca News Staff

The family of the Toronto-area couple slain in Mexico have hired a private detective to investigate the deaths, according to criminal lawyer Eddie Greenspan.

"We've hired an investigator now who is actively looking into the case," said Greenspan, lawyer for the family of Nancy and Domenic Ianiero, as quoted in the Toronto Sun newspaper.

The couple from Woodbridge, Ont. were murdered Feb. 20 while in Mexico to attend their daughter's wedding. They were staying at the posh Barcelo Maya Beach Resort, just south of Cancun in Quintana Roo.

Greenspan and Anthony Ianiero, son of Domenic and Nancy, have recently been expressing their dissatisfaction with not only Mexican authorities, but Mexico's President Vicente Fox, for publicly stating that evidence points to Canadian suspects.

"What that tells me is that he's only interested in making sure that the tourist industry in Mexico is not affected," Greenspan said on CTV's Canada AM.

Meanwhile, the Mexican prosecutor who leading the murder investigation says four legal experts and police officers who are heading to Canada to pursue leads will likely stay in the country for about a week, reported Tuesday's Globe and Mail.

Bello Melchor Rodriguez Carrillo, the state attorney for Quintana Roo, told the newspaper that the investigators will travel to various Canadian locales.

He suggested that their itinerary might include Thunder Bay, Ont., where two Canadian female tourists, singled out by Mexican authorities as suspects, reside.

"We continue to investigate them," Rodriguez said. "We haven't ruled out anybody."

No specific dates, however, have been given for Mexican investigators to arrive, and Canadian authorities have not been able to confirm news that the Mexican investigation has extended to Canada.

Police in York region, where the Ianieros lived, said they have heard nothing from their counterparts in Mexico.

The Globe reports that the Mexican investigators' planned trip to Canada grew out of the recent trilateral summit between Fox, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President George Bush.

Rodriguez said one of his assistants was looking into a new development in the case -- an anonymous letter sent to a Mexican newspaper suggesting police look for two Canadians who flew to Cancun the same week the Ianieros were killed.

The typed letter, which was stamped on March 3 at a post office near Hamilton, Ont., reads: "Will you please ask the police to check out the possibility of Canadians flying from Cuba to Cancun on the week that the murders took place.''

The letter describes three men. Two of the travellers are Canadian; one tall and thin, the other heavyset. The third is a Latino, "possibly Mexican," according to the letter.

It was sent to the Mexican newspaper Novedades Quintana Roo.

[Sher]

A "highly-skilled" former member of the Mexican Army who worked at the Mexican resort where a Canadian couple was murdered is the prime suspect in the killing, the family's lawyer said.


Eddie Greenspan said Blas Delgado Fajardo had the expertise to commit the brutal double slaying of Domenic and Nancy Ianiero in their hotel room In February.

"He is expertly trained to kill," Greenspan told reporters Tuesday.

"We believe, and the police believe, he is the same man who assisted Mr. and Mrs. Ianiero while working as a security guard the night before in escorting them back to their hotel room."

Greenspan said Fajardo is the same person who helped Domenic with the symptoms of gout in his foot the night the couple checked into the hotel.

Greenspan constructed his theory after sending private investigators to Mexico to work with the lead detective in the case.

The private investigation team was not allowed to photocopy the police file -- pursuant to Mexican law -- but was able to examine it. Greenspan they sifted through the files "12 hours a day" for four straight days.

Canadian suspects uninvolved

Greenspan said the two Thunder Bay, Ont., women who were initially implicated by Mexican police as suspects were a "tragic sideshow" as they had nothing to do with the crime.

He said blood found in the room of Cheryl Everall and Kimberly Kim came from the cleaning staff who mopped up the crime scene.

Greenspan plans to pursue a lawsuit against the Barcelo Maya Beach Resort for cleaning the scene before police could collect crucial forensic evidence.

"The woman are undoubtedly innocent, always have been," Greenspan said.

His words, while not an official clearance, came as a relief for the two women.

"It was really overwhelming today," Cheryl Everall said Tuesday evening.

"Kim and I watched it together in my living room and both of us were so overwhelmed we both started crying and we were both relieved to finally here that there was some sort of vindication in this case."

During an interview with CTV Newsnet they spoke about the emotional toll of being under suspicion for the crime. Both have experienced nightmares and have felt the stress of suddenly being in the public eye.

Kim described watching Greenspan's afternoon press conference as "a wonderful moment."

"All this coming out definitely does bring up some emotions from the beginning but it feels like some closure, finally," Kim said. "I think that's very important for both of us."

Investigation focuses on Fajardo

Greenspan's attention is focused on Fajardo, his history and sudden disappearance. He claims that Mexican investigators have been treating Fajardo as a prime suspect as well, but he cannot be found.

"The hotel has not heard from him or seen from him since," Greenspan said.

According to the police investigation, Fajardo was scheduled to work on Feb. 20, the morning the couple's bodies were found.

"However, he was seen by security staff on the hotel property in an area exclusively for guests of the hotel (that night)," Greenspan said.

"There was a security report made of this sighting prior to the death of the Ianierios."

Interviews and reports written by resort security staff said that Fajardo was not only on the property on the night of Feb. 19, but was seen at 10:40 p.m. near the hotel's disco.

Witnesses reportedly said Fajardo was not wearing his security guard's uniform. Instead, he was dressed entirely in black, including dark glasses, a cap and military-style boots.

A more important detail, according to Greenspan, is that resort staff members are forbidden to be on the property when not working.

Greenspan said there is no apparent motive for the killings, as the couple's jewelry was found intact. However, Domenic's watch was taken.

Despite that, Greenspan speculates that robbery was the motive in the slaying.

"There was a wedding and he (Fajardo) knew that," Greenspan said. "There were family members and he knew it and he probably expected that there would be lots of cash in the Ianieros' room. I don't know for sure, but I believe that is undoubtedly the motive."

Greenspan would not speculate on what happened in the hotel room, but said looking at the forensic evidence he agrees with the Mexican investigator that "whoever killed them was in the room and known to them from the surrounding circumstances."

Fajardo's mysterious history

Fajardo was born in Quintana Roo and joined the Mexico's army in 1987.

Police files revealed that he started in the 55th Battalion as an infantry private. Then in 1991 he was transferred to a position responsible for weapons. After that, Fajardo trained to be a paratrooper and became and worked in Mexico's battle against the drug trade.

Fajardo rose through the military's training regime, receiving survival training in the mountains of Durango and Chihuahua. He received expert training in the use of all types of weapons, including knives.

Eventually, Fajardo became a member of an elite force within the Mexican military.

His military career was without blemish, and Fajardo received an honourable discharge sometime in 1995.

During his last few years of military service, Fajardo was appointed as a personal body guard for the governor of Quintana Roo, giving him the title of sergeant. Greenspan said Fajardo never worked for the police service, as had been suggested in previous Canadian news reports.

When the governor resigned, Fajardo lost his position. In 1995 he took a job as a security guard at a Mexican hotel. He resigned for what are described as personal reasons two years later.

Fajardo then went to work for a private security company in Playa del Carman. He kept that job until 2002.

It is at this point Fajardo seems to disappear. Investigators are trying to fill in a four-year blank.

"What this man did for a living or otherwise between 2002 and 2006 is a mystery, not only to us, but to the Mexican authorities," Greenspan said.

Suddenly, Fajardo reappeared and started working for the Barcello resort in Jan. 2006, a mere six weeks before the Ianieros were murdered.

Since the murder, neither the resort nor police have seen Fajardo and they apparently do not know where he is.

"He never showed up for work that day or ever again and never called in to offer any explanation for his absence. The hotel has not heard from him or seen him since."

"The Ianiero family fully expects that the Mexican authorities will concentrate all their efforts on finding, apprehending and prosecuting (him)."

"The family has waited long enough for the justice they deserve," Greenspan said.

Family tragedy

The Ianieros, from Woodbridge, Ont., were found dead in their hotel room near Cancun just days before the wedding of their daughter Lily.

They had been staying at the five-star resort with family and friends. The wedding celebration was cut short less than two days after they arrived.

Greenspan earlier called the Mexican probe "woeful, irresponsible and tragically disorganized," while the Ianieros' son Anthony said he believed the murders resulted from a robbery involving a hotel employee.

No arrests have been made by police in either Mexico or Canada.

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