What happened to Shirley Zailo’s boyfriend Paul Bergshoeff?
This is a picture taken at the 2007 Re/Max Camosun Christmas party. Does Lindsay look happy in this picture? No, clearly she does not. Yet there is Paul & Shirley putting on the Ritz like they are one big happy family. Just six weeks later Lindsay is murdered.
When Shirley Zailo first met Paul Bergshoeff
in 2003 he was the owner/operator of JJ’s Coffee House located at #102 2800 Bryn Maur Road just around the corner from the Re/Max Westshore office. It was a popular hang-out, had a warm friendly atmosphere and Paul was a friendly likeable guy. At the time, Paul was in a relationship and engaged to be married to a lovely woman in Victoria. However, Shirley had her eyes set on Paul and was going to have him for herself no matter what. Allegedly, she began stalking Paul’s fiancée, showing up at her workplace, following her in her vehicle, and spreading unfounded rumors. Paul’s fiancée made reports to the police, but the police told her without evidence, there was nothing they could do. She went to visit family out of country for a few weeks, hoping maybe it would stop when she returned home.
Shirley, of course had taken that time to get closer to Paul and it had worked. The stalking & threats continued. Finally, Paul’s fiancée felt she had no other choice but to break off her engagement. She just knew her life was in danger and Shirley was never going to stop. It wasn’t long after that the Langford coffee shop closed down, but Paul continued to operate the JJ’s Coffee House that he owned in Brentwood Bay.
It was a popular corner and was usually very busy. In the spring of 2007 Shirley purchased a luxury condo at 68 Songhees Road. That same month she purchased a $1.3 million waterfront property on Shawnigan Lake. Then in October she purchased a commercial space at 7088 West Saanich Road in Brentwood Bay, which just happened to be the same location where her boyfriend Paul operated his JJ’s Coffee House. There certainly was no lack of cash floating around that year.
Evidence clearly shows Shirley Zailo and Paul Bergshoeff had been together since 2003. When Paul would advertise for a barista at one of his coffee shops the ad would always read – fax resume to 478-9917. This was Shirley Zailo’s home phone number back then and it still is today.
Based on the premise that Lindsay could have arrived 15 minutes early, and/or spent up to 1 hour showing the home,
the planners needed to ensure that there would be no other showings on the property between 5:00 & 6:30 pm. There were two partnered listing realtors on the 1702 DeSousa Place property, Laurie Lidstone & Nancy DiCastri. One of these women worked in the Re/Max Westshore office, while the other was at the Re/Max Camosun office. Either one of these ladies could have received a call for a showing.
Even if Shirley Zailo made a frequent check of the mail-slots
that the receptionist put the messages into, it could not guarantee confirmation of who was showing the property, or what time. A call for a showing could have gone directly to Nancy or Laurie’s cell phone, leaving no evidence at either office of the showing. You can count out Lindsay’s friend Rianne who worked as a receptionist at the office – it would be the same scenario. Not only that Rianne did not work on Saturdays.
It could be that when Lindsay called the listing realtor to set up a time for the showing, she asked “will there be any other showings at the time I am there”? However, that would be a highly unusual question for a realtor to ask unless she had been prompted to do so. And if Lindsay set up the appointment on the Friday that would still have left Saturday where realtors could have phoned to set up an appointment for that evening.
This leaves only one person who would have full knowledge of the showings for that Saturday, and that is Joe DeSousa. I don’t believe Joe had anything to do with Lindsay’s murder, but without a doubt he was used/played in the process of the planning. I question where Joe was on the Friday evening before the murder. We know Shirley had stopped by Lindsay’s condo, and just maybe her boyfriend Paul Bergshoeff was out for a beer with his friend Joe. If not, maybe Paul called Joe on the Saturday to see if wanted to get together that night. Paul could have squeezed in the question, “how are the showings going on the house, got any bites yet.” That would leave the door open for a discussion on upcoming showings.
If Joe really did say, and I believe he did, “the little bitch got what she deserved”,
then Joe had been fed a lot of garbage about Lindsay, and the only person that could be responsible for doing that was Paul or Shirley. You can only have so many people involved in the planning of this murder, As for Paul Bergshoeff, he had been with Shirley Zailo since late 2003, so would have known exactly what was going on. Maybe he didn’t know everything that was going to go down, but he sure had to know that something wasn’t quite right.
The only other possibility and a very unlikely one, is that the planners took a hell of a risk, and carried out the plan without knowing who might show up at the house.
WHY DOES THE TRAIL ALWAYS LEADS BACK TO SHIRLEY ZAILO?
At the time of Lindsay’s murder nothing was ever said about Paul Bergshoeff.
It was as if Paul didn’t exist. As far as anyone knew Paul and Shirley were living together on Haida Drive at the time, although they had spent most of their summer at the Pillow Road – Shawnigan Lake property. We know that Jason and Ryan have solid alibis for the night of Lindsay’s murder, but the same cannot be said for Paul & Shirley. Just where were the two of them between 4:30 and 6:30 that night. Shirley claims she was at home on Haida Drive when she got the call from Jason. He had called his mother from the DeSousa property to ask for the garage door code because the front door was locked and he couldn’t get into the house. Eventually his mother called with the code, but when Jason put the numbers in, it didn’t work.
If Shirley was alone, then it is not a solid alibi. If Paul was at home with her, and he is her alibi, well that doesn’t hold water either. Then we hear that Shirley is in a panicked state and on her way over to the DeSousa property to find out what the heck is going on. Just what was the urgency to get over there? And if she was so concerned why didn’t she take her live-in boyfriend Paul with her? Paul was good friends with Joe DeSousa, the owner of the home, so why didn’t Paul make a quick call to Joe and ask him for the garage door code?
We heard THAT Shirley arrivED at the desousa property on foot.
This comes as no surprise as the roads had already been cordoned off with no traffic allowed through. Undoubtedly she has parked her car as close to the property as she could – then walked the rest of the way. Shirley quickly learned from a police officer at the scene that Jason had been taken to the police station so of course that is where she headed next. The next thing Shirley did that night was to call the high profile criminal lawyer Brad Hickford. Do innocent people immediately need to call in a criminal lawyer?
It would be interesting to know where Paul was on the Friday evening too, the night before the murder. We know that Shirley dropped by Lindsay’s condo for a visit at 7:15 but just where was Paul Bergshoeff? The guy is somewhat of a mystery but why is that?
In March 2009 the Saanich Police cleared Jason Zailo of having any involvement in Lindsay’s murder, then cleared the entire Zailo family in November 2010 shortly after NBC’s Dateline Dreamhouse Mystery aired. No one should be publicly cleared in a murder investigation until arrests are made. Who made the decision to clear every member of this family? Was Paul cleared too? After all he was living with Shirley Zailo, and was part of the family. Did the police ever take a close at Paul Bergshoeff? Why wasn’t he cleared at the same time?
DID SOMEONE EVER REACH OUT TO PAUL BERGSHOEFF AFTER THE MURDER?
It was said that Lindsay’s father tried to contact Paul on a number of occasions, through email and messenger, but Paul never responded. That was very sad indeed. Paul Bergshoeff had two children of his own so you would think that the man would have shown some compassion/empathy towards the victim’s father. Paul chose to stay silent. In fairness, it is possible that Paul was instructed by the Saanich Police not to discuss the case with anyone. Perhaps because he could be called as a witness one day.
But that doesn’t really make sense either, because the Zailo’s were all cleared of any wrongdoing in 2010. In other words the police were fully supportive of the Zailo family and believed every word that came out of their mouth. In the eyes of the Saanich police they were the good guys and the secondary victims of a terrible crime. If only Paul had the wherewithal to reach out to Lindsay’s dad, so many things could have been cleared up in one brief conversation but unfortunately Paul chose not to call him.
Another theory out there, is the Saanich Police cleared the Zailo’s in order to make them feel comfortable and believe they were home free. Just maybe that was nothing more than a strategic move on the part of law enforcement. It could be that the Zailos have been suspects all along and still are today.
Where was Paul Bergshoeff the night of the murder? What was his relationship like with Shirley at the time? Did he know what Lindsay saw that she shouldn’t have seen? At that time Paul chose to stay silent, 14 years later he still remains silent. Hardly the actions of an honorable man. There is no logical explanation for why he has refused to speak to the victim’s father. It is not known when the relationship between Paul & Shirley began to sour, or when Paul moved out of Shirley’s home on Haida Drive. Likely there was a tremendous amount of pressure those first few years after Lindsay’s murder, the wagons had circled and the cone of silence was in full gear.
We know that Shirley’s boyfriend Paul was friends with builder Joe DeSousa. Not for long though, because Paul only met Joe after he and Shirley started dating in 2003. Right after Lindsay’s murder Joe DeSousa told someone that “the little bitch got what she deserved.” Joe never once denied that he made that remark, and if Joe did not know Lindsay personally, and I understand that he did not, then that remark had to have come from Paul or Shirley. Either Paul did not like Lindsay and expressed his own personal feelings to Joe, or it is a comment that Shirley made and Paul repeated it to Joe. It would be interesting to know if the police ever looked at where the comment originated and why it was said.
Had Paul Bergshoeff ever been in the 1702 DeSousa property, the home that Joe had built?
If so, he would have known the layout of the interior, and the exact location of the master bedroom. Whoever murdered Lindsay had known where the blind spot in the master bedroom was, the location where they could commit the murder without being seen from the street below. If the Saanich Police could prove that Paul, or any member of the Zailo family had been inside the DeSousa home in the months leading up to Lindsay’s murder they would have evidence of familiarity.
There is one Zailo family member we know for certain was in that home prior to Lindsay’s murder, and that was Shirley Zailo.
She went in at the request of Joe DeSousa just prior to him listing his home with the Re/Max office. Now that is familiarity! If Paul accompanied Shirley on that appointment then we have two people close to the victim that had been in the DeSousa home prior to the murder. The 1702 DeSousa home was listed in early November 2007, then taken off the market over Christmas and relisted on January 9th 2008. The question is, did Shirley do a CMA on Joe’s home prior to him listing it in early November, or did she do it just before he relisted it on January 9th 2008? When Joe re-listed the property in January he listed it with the same two realtors that he gave the listing to in November. And those two women worked in the Re/Max Camosun & Westshore office.
Why is it that Shirley did not get the listing?
It’s been said that Shirley turned the listing down because Joe wanted to list the property at too high a price. What realtor turns a listing down? Even if the property is priced too high, the realtor would get business from sign calls, real estate ads, etc. Why didn’t Shirley suggest to Joe that he give the listing to her sons? Or Lindsay for that matter. When was the murder planned? When was the DeSousa home chosen to be the murder house? If the listing only came back on the market on January 6th, not that many people would have even known it was back on the market?
In 2011, Paul had moved on to greener pastures. He had started a new business called “Van Isle Posts” and was installing real estate posts/signs for the Binab Strasser Real Estate Group.
And here is Paul Bergshoeff at the South Shawnigan Station Grand Opening BBQ with his new business partners.
OCTOBER 2011 – South Shawnigan Station Grand Opening BBQ
The Grand Opening at Shawnigan Station was held on October 1st 2011 and brought out a slew of potential buyers looking for a gorgeous home just outside of Victoria. The developers held a barbeque and gave out some great prizes to people that made the trip out for the afternoon. South Shawnigan Station is Phase 2 of The Estates
A comment by Paul October 2011 said,
“Need a place in Victoria? Go to Binab Strasser and all your worries will be over”
A COMMENT BY PAUL FEBRUARY 1/2012
PAUL BERGSHOEFF TO BINAB GROUP/THE AGENCY
With the best Real Estate signs from Vancouver Island Posts I know it will all work out. Good luck to Jason Binab and his crew on this new adventure.
FEBRUARY 2/2012 BINAB GROUP TO PAUL BERGSHOEFF
Thanks Paul Bergshoeff, owner of JJ’s Coffee House in Brentwood Bay and our very own “sign guy” of Van Isle Posts for sending us this beautiful view from the Malahat on his way up to Duncan yesterday.
In late 2012 Paul Bergshoeff packed up and moved to the Netherlands. He returned his leased vehicle, a Ford truck, to Glen Oak Ford, told the salesman he had sold his business and was leaving the country. A few days later Paul was gone. His ex-wife and his two sons still live in Sidney and whether Paul has ever been back to visit is unknown.
Back in February 2021, the Saanich Police brought in a new team of investigators, including the FBI to take a fresh look at at Lindsay’s case. Having said that we know that the FBI can only act in an advisory capacity, they do not have the authority to take part in an active investigation.
I have to wonder if the Saanich Police have taken the opportunity to re-interview Paul Bergshoeff? That’s if they ever interviewed him at the time of the murder in 2008 or in the years that followed? Paul Bergshoeff is no innocent. He was part of that family and you can be sure if any member of the Zailo family was involved in conspiring to murder Lindsay Paul Bergshoeff would have known about it and may have even been involved.
INNOCENT PEOPLE DON’T HIDE.
EMAIL ADDRESS: murderondesousa@gmail.com