Judge arraigns accused in triple slaying
Basil Borutski was formally arraigned Tuesday on charges of first-degree murder in the deaths of three Renfrew County women.
During a brief appearance in the Ontario Court of Justice in Pembroke, the 58-year-old Borutski said nothing and stared directly at the public gallery as Justice Robert Selkirk ordered the accused to stand trial in Ontario Superior Court.
Slain on Sept. 22, 2015, were Anastasia Kuzyk, whose body was found in her Wilno home, Nathalie Warmerdam, who died in her rural home near Cormac, and Carol Culleton, who was killed in her cottage on Kamaniskeg Lake, south of Barry’s Bay.
“As has been his custom, Mr. Borutski remains mute,” Selkirk told the courtroom after Borutski refused to acknowledge the justice when asked if he wanted a preliminary hearing, the process by which the court determines if there is substantial evidence to commit the accused to trial on the charges he faces.
Borutski refused to stand or even look at the master clerk as she formally read the three charges during the arraignment. With the defendant remaining quiet even after the charges were read, a plea of not guilty was automatically entered. The court also elected trial by judge and jury.
Duty counsel Biagio Del Greco informed the court that he had spoken to Borutski, who remains in custody at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, but that the accused gave him no instructions.
Crown attorney Jeff Richardson informed the court he would file an application for a court-appointed lawyer for Borutski.
The case next moves to a judicial pre-trial on June 13.