No parole for 70 years for killer of 3 women

PEMBROKE, Ont. — A 60-year-old man convicted of killing three women during an hour-long rampage in the Ottawa Valley two years ago has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 70 years.

Basil Borutski was convicted late last month of first-degree murder in the deaths of 36-yearold Anastasia Kuzyk and 48-yearold Nathalie Warmerdam, and of second-degree murder in slaying of Carol Culleton.

Culleton was strangled with a television coaxial cable. Kuzyk and Warmerdam were killed with a 12-gauge shotgun fired at close range. They all died within about an hour of each other at their residences in Renfrew County on the morning of Sept. 22, 2015.

Court heard Borutski shot Kuzyk while she cowered behind her kitchen island and chased Warmerdam around her farmhouse before shooting her as she tried to run up the stairs.

He broke into Culleton’s cottage, picked up a coaxial cable and wrapped it around the 66-year-old’s neck six times, the Crown told court.

Justice Robert Maranger ruled Wednesday that Borutski will serve two consecutive life sentences — which each carry a parole ineligibilty of 25 years — for first-degree murder followed by at least 20 years of a life sentence for second-degree murder.

In a video-recorded interview played at trial, Borutski expressed a degree of remorse for his actions, which he said were fuelled by rage at what he considered to be the lies and betrayals of his victims: “They were guilty. I was innocent. I’ve done nothing wrong.”