Domenic and Nancy Ianiero, Mexico

Liberal MP plays politics with murders in Mexico

The bodies of two Canadians, Domenic and Nancy Ianiero, were found in their hotel room at the Barcelo Maya Beach resort in Mexico on February 20. Their throats had been slashed.

Immediately upon the discovery of the crime scene, the Mexican authorities stated that Mexicans could not have been responsible. There was no sign of forced entry; apparently none of the Mexican hotel employees had access to the rooms and the authorities seemed certain that the Ianieros would not have willingly opened their door to anyone other than another tourist. The Mexican officials then announced that the deaths were a "professional hit". They soon backed away from this theory that was probably based on nothing more than the surname of the victims.

A short time later, the authorities stated that they had two suspects; two "strong" women who had "fled" back to Canada after committing this dastardly crime. Based upon the mangled names of two of the hotels guests, their room number, and their time of departure from Mexico, two women in Thunder Bay Ontario came forward as the ones being described in Mexico. Kimberly Kim and Cheryl Everall, both single moms in their 30s, had been in Mexico to attend a wedding and had returned to Canada at the pre-arranged end of their vacation. Both of these "strong women" are slim and approximately 5 foot 6 in height. Kim and Everall explained to the media that if there was in fact blood in their room, they must have picked it up from the hallway while walking past the Ianieros room.

Although it cannot be said with certainty that Kim and Everall had nothing to do with the murders of the Ianieros, it is clear that the Mexican authorities are saying anything to deflect blame from locals in order to protect their lucrative tourist trade. If what happened did not involve the brutal murder of two Canadians and the threat of extradition hanging over the heads of two more, it would be something right out of a B comedy movie.

It didnt take long for some opposition MPs to jump into the fray; the most vocal being Toronto Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis. Karygiannis said that Prime Minister Stephen Harper should get on the phone to Mexican President Vicente Fox and tell him to require the Mexican police to carry out a proper investigation. Can you imagine what would happen if the situation was reversed? If two Mexicans, or better yet two Americans were murdered in Canada and George Bush called Stephen Harper and told him to take control of the investigation. Such type of action would have led to war if this was the olden days when Canada did wars. Karygiannis was doing nothing more than trying to score cheap political points at the expense of the victims, both living and dead.

What is most troubling about the MPs comments were that they came less than two weeks after the murders. Facts, albeit bizarre ones, are still being released surrounding the deaths of Domenic and Nancy Ianiero. There may come a time when the government of Canada should take some public action but now is not the time. The government should be working behind the scenes and Harper has assured Canadians that that is what is being done.

Karygiannis can be forgiven for thinking that carrying on discussions with Mexico behind closed doors is doing nothing. That was usually the case when his government was in power. The case of William Sampson comes to mind. The dual Canadian and British citizen was arrested on trumped up charges in Saudi Arabia, tortured and ordered beheaded. The Liberal government didnt press the torture issue with the Saudis because they didnt want to make it "worse" for Sampson. Sampson was so impressed with the Liberal governments actions that he went to the U.K., his other country of citizenship, for relief after his release from prison. The current Canadian government should be given more time to attempt to resolve the matter; its still less than 2 weeks since the murder.

Note to Jim Karygiannis: If this is the best thing you can come up with to criticize Stephen Harper for, youre going to have a hard time adjusting to the opposition benches.

Arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and Associate Editor of Toronto Free Press. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Men's News Daily, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck and The Rant. Arthur can be reached at: Columns 2006 '05 '04 '03 '02 '01 '00 1999 Media 2006 '05 '04 '03 '02 Toronto 2006 '05 '04