Domestic Abuser Released from Jail, Murders Woman He Was Convicted of Abusing, Two Other Exes

A Canadian man imprisoned for choking a woman two years ago was released in December. Months later, he’s accused of murdering that woman and two others, all believed to be his ex-girlfriends. New reports have also revealed that the suspect, Basil Borutski, had a long history of violent and disturbing behavior against women, including frequent threats to kill them.

Borutski, 57, was arrested Tuesday in Ottawa and accused of the shooting deaths of three women in the rural area surrounding Wilno, Ontario, whose bodies were all discovered early Tuesday morning. One is 36-year-old realtor Anastasia Kuzyk, with whom Borutski was briefly in a relationship. The other two were Carol Culleton, 66, who had just retired from a job at Canada’s agriculture department, and Nathalie Warmerdam, 48, whose 20-year-old son was at home when the gunman arrived, and who was able to flee the house to safety.

Borutski was convicted in September 2014 for assaulting Kuzyk in December of 2013. Court documents obtained by CBC show that he was convicted of choking her—a huge predictor that domestic abuse will eventually turn fatal, according to experts—and burning a beloved antique rocking horse she owned.

In September 2014, Borutski was issued a no-contact order, telling him to stay away from Kuzyk; in the place where his signature should have been are the words, “Offender refused to sign.” (Bortuski would still have been bound by the no-contact order even if he did not sign it.)

CBC also found that weeks after the assault, Borutski stole a car belonging to Kuzyk’s mother. He wasn’t supposed to be driving, and when he was arrested for that one, he was found with a crossbow, which he also wasn’t supposed to possess.

Borutski is also accused of threatening to kill an animal belonging to Wammerdam when they were dating in 2012, as well as threatening to hurt one of her relatives and breaking a mirror in her home in a fit of rage. He served one week in jail on those charges.

CBC has found complaints against Borutski by various women, including his ex-wife, dating back to the early 2000s. The ex-wife, who has not been named, said he threatened to kill her too. He was charged with assaulting a woman in 2011 and harassing another in 2010, according to the Ottawa Sun.

A neighbor who lived near Bortuski earlier this year said he’d accused Culleton, his most recent ex, of cheating on him. The neighbor recalled the man saying darkly, “Karma’s gonna get her.”

A booking photo of Bortuski. Screengrab via CBC