Jenkins’ mother expresses ‘condolences’ to murder victim

VANCOUVER — The mother of Ryan Jenkins, the international fugitive who was charged with killing and mutilating his ex-wife before taking his own life, has expressed her sorrow to the family of the victim, swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore.

“My condolences to Jasmine’s family,” Nada Antic, who lives in Vancouver, said in a telephone interview with Global BC. “I’m sure they’re going through the same thing we’re going through. It’s heartbreaking.”

Antic said she insists that her son is not responsible for the murder of Fiore, struggling to grasp the first-degree murder accusations against her son after Fiore’s body was found stuffed in a suitcase in a Dumpster near Los Angeles on Aug. 15.

“It’s a nightmare. He’s innocent as far as I’m concerned,” Antic said, adding that she is left to plan for his funeral. “We have to bury my son. I need time to organize all that.

“I’m devastated and I’m really, really numb. I don’t know what to say.”

Meanwhile, speculation continues to mount about the identity of the woman who helped Jenkins check in to the Hope, B.C., hotel room where he was found dead, with media reports that she is a relative of Jenkins.

RCMP said Monday that the force had identified the woman who helped Jenkins pay for the room — but are stressing that she is not a danger to the public.

Citing multiple sources, CTV News reported Tuesday night that the RCMP are speaking with Alena Jenkins, who they identify as Jenkins’ half-sister.

An online profile says the 19-year-old is a model, photographer and poet specializing in “beauty, boudoir and fashion accessory photography.”

Her mother, Karen Jenkins, reportedly has property in Point Roberts, Wash., where Jenkins is believed to have crossed into Canada.

Police said they are not asking for the public’s assistance in locating her, but Cpl. Norm Massie of the RCMP border integrity program said the force would not reveal her identity.

When asked about any possible relationships between Jenkins and the woman, Massie said, “saying anything like that would be indicators as to who that person is and we’re not going to do that.”

Massie would neither confirm nor deny if Alena Jenkins is the woman in question.

Jenkins, 32, wanted in the murder of Fiore in California, was found dead inside a room at the Thunderbird Motel in Hope, about 135 kilometres east of Vancouver.

The BC Coroners Service said that their preliminary autopsy findings suggest Jenkins’ death was “consistent with hanging.”

“Nothing a this time indicates that we expect to find any drugs or alcohol in the system that will change the preliminary findings of suicide by self-hanging,” said Coroners Service spokesman Jeff Dolan.

The former real estate developer and reality-TV contestant from Calgary was charged Thursday in California with the murder of Fiore, 28, whose mutilated body was discovered in a trash receptacle on Aug. 15 in Buena Park, Calif., about 30 kilometres southeast of Los Angeles.

“The victim had been badly beaten, all of her fingers had been cut off, and all of her teeth had been forcibly removed,” the district attorney’s office said. It was later revealed that Fiore’s body was identified when coroner’s officials traced the serial number on her breast implants. A coroner’s report verifies Fiore died of strangulation.

The manager of the Thunderbird Motel said a woman checked in on Aug. 20, saying she needed a room for at least three days, maybe longer, and paid cash through Sunday.

Outside, a man waited in a PT Cruiser with Alberta licence plates.

After entering the motel room, the mystery woman — described as being in her early to mid-20s — stayed for about 20 minutes, then left.

On Sunday, when no one came to check out by the required time of 11 a.m., Kevin Walker went to the room and discovered the body.

After knocking and saying “hello” without a reply, he used a second motel key and opened the locked door, just a crack.

“I opened the door wider and he was hanging from the coat rack by a belt,” said Walker.

“After I swung the door open and saw him hanging there — I didn’t notice anything after that.”

Walker said the woman resembled some photos of Jenkins’ ex-girlfriend, Paulina Chmielecka.

“She was sweet, calm and we made small talk,” he said.

Global BC and Canwest News Service, with files from Vancouver Sun