Community consultations a prelude to inquest into 2015 Borutski murders
Renfrew County Women's Sexual Assault Centre and End Violence Against Women Renfrew County will hold a series of public community consultations and provide other opportunities for people to share their thoughts, feelings and ideas.
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PEMBROKE — Sept. 22, 2015, is a date forever burned into the memories of people in Renfrew County. That was the day that Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk and Nathalie Warmerdam were murdered in cold blood, one after another, by a man known to all three and known to be violent, forever changing the community.
Six years have passed since the murderous rampage and the families of the victims, friends and local women’s advocacy groups are still searching for answers as to how such a person was able to navigate the justice system and ruthlessly take the lives of three women.
In August 2019, the Regional Supervising Coroner for Inquests, Dr. David Cameron, announced that an inquest would be held into the women’s deaths. It will explore the circumstances of the deaths with a focus on intimate partner violence and femicide in rural communities. The jury will be asked to consider recommendations directed at preventing further deaths and protecting victims of intimate partner violence in rural communities.
In preparation for the inquest, Renfrew County Women’s Sexual Assault Centre and End Violence Against Women Renfrew County will be holding a series of public community consultations and providing other opportunities for people to share their thoughts, feelings and ideas. A release issued from the Women’s Sexual Assault Centre said a Stone Pebble Monument will be created with community participation to reflect the impact of the murders on the community. The community art collaboration will give members of the community the opportunity to participate in workshops to create individual mosaics that will become part of a permanent public artwork in Barry’s Bay.
“It is important for community voices to be heard in this process,” said feminist lawyer Pamela Cross, who will lead the community consultation process. “The entire community was affected by the murders of Carol, Anastasia and Nathalie. We hope people will join us in thinking about structural and systemic changes to ensure such a tragedy never happens again; either here or in another rural community.”
The media release states that public consultations will be held in late April and early May. An online forum will be available starting in mid-March. Once the consultation process is complete, a report will be prepared and shared with the inquest.
“We hope this process will provide spaces for all members of our communities to be part of making systemic change to end violence against women in our community and elsewhere,” the release said.
The Office of the Chief Coroner has said the inquest will take place in Renfrew County in June 2022, likely in the Pembroke area.
Consultation schedule
Saturday, April 30, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Killaloe Community Resource Centre, North Room
15 Lake Street, Killaloe
Monday, May 2, 2 – 4 p.m.
Cobden Legion Upper Hall
43A Main Street, Cobden
Monday, May 2, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Pembroke Public Library Board Room
237 Victoria Street, Pembroke
Tuesday, May 3, 2 – 4 p.m.
Bonnechere Union Public Library
74-A Maple Street, Eganville
All public consultations will follow the public health protocols in place at the time.
An online forum is available for those who cannot or do not want to attend a public consultation. This forum can be accessed at:
https://wsac.ca/community-engagement/
https://wsac.ca/community-consultation-information/
On the same day in 2015 that Basil Borutski conducted the three murders, he eventually surrendered to police by Kinburn and was arrested and taken into custody. Over two years later, on Dec. 6, 2017, Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Maranger sentenced Borutski to consecutive life sentences with no chance of parole for 70 years. Maranger presided over the six-week trial, describing the murders as a vicious, cold-blooded killing spree devoid of mercy.
The trial and media coverage of the case pointed to problems with the existing systems in place to protect women from a known threat.
In this case, the man who was convicted of three counts of murder, had displayed a pattern of aggressive behaviour and disregard for no-contact orders, as well as unwillingness to attend a court-ordered partner assault education program, among other things.
Many in the south-western area of Renfrew County said they knew him to be violent and vindictive. Evidence pointed to two of his victims being aware of the threat he posed. Police found a “domestic violence panic alarm” on Warmerdam’s bed, right next to her pillow. Court heard of jail time Borutski served for prior domestic criminal charges in his relationship with Warmerdam, including that he was charged in 2012 with threatening her son; he assaulted Kuzyk in 2014 and was released from jail nine months before the killings.
adixon@postmedia.com
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