Victim didn’t know about Borutski’s past, friends say
If Carol Culleton had known anything about her alleged killer’s violent past, she might still be alive, her friends and family speculated Saturday.
Culleton, 66, was the first of three women killed Sept. 22 in a rampage in the Wilno region that shocked the nation. Anastasia Kuzyk, 36, and Nathalie Warmerdam, 48, were also killed that day.
Basil Joseph Borutski, 57, is charged with three counts of firstdegree murder in connection with the slayings. Borutski has a long history of violence toward women, including stints in prison for assaulting Kuzyk and threatening Warmerdam’s son. Borutski has a court appearance scheduled for Monday in Pembroke.
“Carol was such a wonderful and trusting person, which is how he got into her life,” said Carol Rowlee, who worked with Culleton at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for years. “I’m sure if she had known (about Borutski’s past), it would be a totally different story,” she said.
Rowlee gathered with dozens of Culleton’s friends and family members Saturday morning to say goodbye at a chapel in Kars, south of Ottawa. There were so many people that they didn’t all fit in the main chapel room. Funeral home staff had to line the hallways with chairs, and still, some people had to stand.
Afterwards, many of the mourners gathered at a popular Kars pub, the Swan, to reminisce.
Culleton had recently retired from her job at Agriculture and AgriFood Canada and wanted to start a new chapter in her life. Part of that involved fixing up and selling her cottage on Kamaniskeg Lake, near Combermere. Her friends say she’d been working on the place when Borutski approached her and offered to help her put up new siding.
He was on disability and Culleton wasn’t paying him for the help, said Darlene Tannahill, who also worked with Culleton at Agriculture Canada.
But, according to her friends, things started to get worrisome. Borutski wouldn’t listen to Culleton’s directions, and would sometimes go to the cottage alone to begin projects she hadn’t asked for, including a deck and replacing steps to the waterfront. When Culleton asked him to stop, he wouldn’t listen, her friends said.
“She started to feel like it was a bit creepy,” Tannahill said, “like he was stalking her.”
At one point, he showed up uninvited to Culleton’s home in North Gower, Rowlee said.
But because of her trusting nature, Culleton never felt afraid of Borutski, both friends insist. When Tannahill last asked Culleton about it, she said, “We talked, it’s OK, he understands.”
Friday, Sept. 18, was Culleton’s last day of work. She told Tannahill she was, “just gonna go to the cottage and spend a few days alone, to figure out what to do next.” She was found dead in that cottage the following Tuesday morning.
The other two victims, Kuzyk and Warmerdam, both dated Borutski. There was speculation that Culleton had as well but Cathy Breedyk Law, who has known Culleton for 30 years, insists that is not true.
“I never even heard her mention him,” she said.
While they were friends for decades, Breedyk Law said she and Culleton became much closer after Culleton’s husband, Bob, died of cancer. Breedyk Law had also recently lost her husband, and the two women bonded over their pain. They would often talk about the grieving process, and whether either of them was ready for new relationships. Culleton definitely wasn’t, Breedyk Law said.
“She was still grieving over Bob. She didn’t talk about him (Borutski) at all, period,” Breedyk Law said.
At the funeral service, Culleton’s brother Kevin and her sister Shirley both thanked the large crowd for their support.
Just before her death, Shirley said she posted a photo of a retirement cake on Culleton’s Facebook page. Culleton replied with a joke about being afraid she would miss her work too much.
“She really liked her work. She was a great lover of animals too, dogs, cats, she loved all animals. She was just such a beautiful person,” Shirley said, through tears.