Distinction made between murder, killing

OTTAWA — The man accused of murdering three women in the Ottawa Valley two years ago told police after his arrest that he saw a distinction between murder and killing. The first evidence was shown in court this morning in the trial of Basil Borutski.

The 59-year-old former millwright at Atomic Energy of Canada is charged with three counts of first degree murder in the September 2015 deaths of 66-year-old Carol Culleton, 36-year-old Anastasia Kuzyk and 48-year-old Nathalie Warmerdam.

In a video of the first police interview Borutski gave the day after the deaths, he says he was there not for murder, but for killing. In the first 45-minutes of the five-hour interview played in court, Borutski also refused to talk to a lawyer and repeatedly expressed dislike for police, who he says have always treated him badly.