Basil Borutski triple-murder inquest set to begin in new year

On January 22, 2022, exactly six years and five months after former Round Lake Centre resident Basil Borutski went on a murderous rampage, an announcement is scheduled to take place in Pembroke regarding a formal Coroner’s Inquest into the events leading up to that fateful day.

The Coroner’s Office has not stated publicly if the inquest will take place within Renfrew County, but with the announcement scheduled for Pembroke, it appears the process is ready to begin in the same county where two of the three murders occurred on September 22, 2015.

Although it has been more than six years since the murders of Natalie Warmerdam, 48, of Cormac, Anastasia Kuzyk, 36, of Wilno, and Ottawa resident Carol Culleton, 66, who owned a cottage near Combermere, the victim’s families, friends and local women’s advocacy groups are still searching for answers as to how a man like Borutski was able to navigate the justice system and ruthlessly take the lives of three innocent women.

Inquest years in the making

An inquest is a public hearing conducted by a coroner before a jury of five community members and inquests are held to inform the public about the circumstances of a death.

The first announcement of some type of inquest was made at the end of August 2019 by the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario. However, what was not included was a location for the hearing. This led to cries of opposition in all parts of the county.

Just as the trial was moved to Ottawa over the strong objections of the Crown Attorney’s office and the families of the victims, it appeared that once again Renfrew County would be pushed aside in favour of an Ottawa location for the inquest.

Admaston/Bromley Mayor Michael Donahue raised the issue at a county council meeting in September 2019, and called the thought of holding the inquest anywhere else particularly offensive.

“I don’t know why there would be any consideration that it would not be held in the community that had the trauma and tragedy visited upon it,” he told his county council colleagues at the time. “I can’t conceive anywhere else in Ontario where they would have a triple murder in the community and not expect that inquest would be held in that community.”

In a recorded vote, county council unanimously agreed to have a letter sent from the County of Renfrew to the Chief Coroner’s office indicating it would be unacceptable to hold the inquest anywhere other than Renfrew County.

Former Renfrew County Crown Attorney Jeffery Richardson, now Justice Richardson, was one of two Crown Attorneys who successfully led the prosecution during his trial. During the pre-trial phase held in in Pembroke, Richardson argued against a request by Borutski’s legal counsel to have him tried in Ottawa. They argued a local jury would be bias in addition to other concerns. Despite Richardson’s objections, Justice James McNamara ruled for the trial to be held in Ottawa.

When the inquest was announced, Richardson said at the time he would have preferred the inquiry be held in the county but he had no input into its location. 

“The Crown Attorney does not have input with respect to the location of the inquiry,” he said at the time. “Those decisions are typically made by the Coroner conducting the inquest along with Coroner’s counsel.”

Looking for solutions

When the trial was completed in December 2017, a coalition of women’s groups highlighted some of the disturbing questions that arose from the trial and are hopeful their questions will help form the mandate of the inquest. 

Some of those questions include why he was released from custody after serving a jail term for assaulting Kuzyk, even though he refused to sign a non-contact order. Also, why was he never held to account for failing to participate in a court-ordered partner assault education program and never attended a single session.

They also hope the inquest will examine how he was able to obtain a shotgun and ammunition when he had a long history of threatening, harassing and assaulting women. 

When the pre-inquest notification was made in July of this year, it provided a general outline of some of the areas under investigation when it stated, “This Inquest will explore the circumstances of their deaths with a focus on the dynamics of gender-based, intimate partner violence and femicide in rural communities. The inquest jury will be asked to consider recommendations directed at preventing future deaths and protecting victims of intimate partner violence in rural communities.”

Local groups seek standing at inquest

JoAnne Brooks, director of the Women’s Sexual Assault Centre of Renfrew County, is also the coordinator for the Ending Violence Against Women Committee of Renfrew County. It is a coalition of local advocacy groups with direct involvement with abused women that is seeking standing at the inquest.

“We received a grant to set up a community engagement process that will have a knowledgeable and experienced individual who will meet face-to-face with individuals and groups who are interested in the inquest and want to express their thoughts,” she said. “It is unlikely the inquest will have the time or mandate to listen to several individuals, so this way we can present a unified and concise set of findings and recommendations based on our experience.”

Brooks said the committee was thrilled when Pamela Cross agreed to facilitate the process due to her experience and stature in the legal community as a leading advocate on these issues. 

“Pamela is one of the country’s top lawyers who specializes in the area of violence against women and she has been to the Valley on several occasions and she understands the challenges that victims of abuse encounter when living in a rural community.”

Brooks and other local advocates agree the inquest and whatever recommendations come out of the process will not put an end to violence against women.

“There will still be people out there who will prey on the vulnerable and physically abuse their partners and sadly, that will not change,” she said. “What we want to see is an end to the systematic acceptance of abuse and for the justice system to start holding abusers to account for their actions. None of us ever want to go through a tragedy like we did in 2015. 

“We lost three angels that day and sadly we have lost more over the years and we hope this inquest helps in the healing process and provides solutions.”