Harper to press Mexico

Betsy Powell, Crime reporter

More than a week after their parents were found with their throats slashed at an all-inclusive Mexican resort, the Ianiero family is searching for answers but too stricken with grief to offer answers of their own.

The Woodbridge couple's only son, Anthony Ianiero, with his wife, Stephanie, clutching his arm, urged the Canadian government and law-enforcement officials yesterday to work closely with their Mexican counterparts to find the people who killed Dominic and Nancy Ianiero, who were in the "prime of life."

"The road to justice lies in answering the many questions that have been raised," said the 35-year-old.

He said he was making a statement on behalf of his family and friends after flying to Mexico to return home Monday with his parents' bodies, which remained at the downtown Toronto coroner's office yesterday. Clustered around him were his three tearful sisters, Rosina and twins Nancy and Lily, the latter who was to be married on the beach at the Barcelo Maya Beach Resort.

Anthony and Rosina were in Canada when the slayings occurred. All members of the wedding party of 18 who travelled to the Mayan Riviera resort, an hour south of Cancun, are back in Canada.

Facing a throng of reporters and photographers outside a Woodbridge funeral home, Ianiero said the last few days have been a blur.

"We are only at the very beginning stages of accepting the reality of the situation." He thanked Canadians for their "outpouring of affection and genuine caring," and asked for privacy "so that we may have time to grieve this tragic loss."

He also expressed confidence the Canadian government will help ensure justice is served.

He stuck to the family's advance word that they would not respond to questions, so no answers were forthcoming on what family members thought about how Mexican police handled the crime scene, which was tainted, and the subsequent investigation.

There have been suggestions that protecting Mexican tourism was what motivated Quintana Roo state Attorney General Bello Melchor Rodriguez to blame three Canadian women for the grisly crime after initially declaring the homicides to be the work of someone carrying out a premeditated, professional hit.

That prompted two Thunder Bay women, Cheryl Everall and Kimberly Kim, who were at the resort for a different wedding, to proclaim their innocence at a news conference this week, fearful Mexican authorities are out to frame them. Manuel Sarmiento Silva, deputy attorney general for the state of Quintana Roo, said yesterday the two remain suspects. He ruled out resort employees as suspects.

No details emerged from the Ianiero statement on how the family was treated in Mexico; if they have any suspicions of their own; what they recall about the 36 hours preceding the slayings; whether robbery could have been a motive; and whether anything was missing from their parents' room.

An official at the funeral home acted like an events co-ordinator, providing reporters with a rundown on how the proceedings would unfold, insisting no questions be asked and returning after the family went back inside the large red-brick building to hand out copies of the two-page statement.

A small complement of York Regional Police officers stood around the building.

In Ottawa yesterday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he'll do whatever it takes to help solve the slayings, including possibly raising the case with Mexico's foreign secretary, Luis Ernesto Derbez, when they meet today in Ottawa at a previously scheduled session.

Harper said the investigation is in early stages, Mexican authorities are co-operating and the RCMP is in "active contact with Mexican police authorities investigating these deaths." "Obviously, this is a terrible tragedy, and I hope everyone will handle it with sufficient discretion and with information, rather than speculation," Harper said. Harper said he would not shy away from broaching the subject with Derbez. "In terms of any broader concerns or discussions ... if there's anything necessary to raise there, obviously we'll be raising it."

RCMP investigator James Carmichael has been on the scene for several days, reviewing crime scenes, evidence and case files, Canadian Press reports.

In a phone interview with Canadian Press from Mexico yesterday, Felipe Duran in the Quintana Roo attorney general's office said no further comment would be made until the investigation is concluded.

With files from dale brazao and canadian press

The Toronto Star
02/03/2006