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An Ontario man convicted in the brutal deaths of three former partners in 2015 has died in prison, the Correctional Service of Canada says.
Basil Borutski, 66, who had been serving an indefinite sentence at Millhaven Institution, died Thursday of apparent natural causes, officials prison said in a media release Tuesday.
Borutski was found guilty in November 2017 of first-degree murder in the point-blank shotgun killings of 36-year-old Anastasia Kuzyk and 48-year-old Nathalie Warmerdam, and guilty of a second-degree murder charge in the strangling death of Carol Culleton, 66.
All three women were killed on their properties in the Renfrew County area of Ontario Sept. 22, 2015, in the space of less than an hour.
The rage-fueled killings left advocates denouncing the justice system and urging politicians to go beyond rhetoric on violence against women, given Borutski’s well-known reputation among locals in the community for threats and a propensity towards violence.
Mourners opposing violence against women stand in solidarity at the courthouse in Pembroke, Ont. on Sept. 23, 2015.
Justin Tang / The Canadian Press
Prior to the murders, Borutski had twice spent time in jail after two of the women accused him of assault and uttering threats.
A coroner’s inquest examining the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the three women held in 2022 made 86 recommendations aimed at preventing similar tragedies.
The recommendations were largely directed at the Ontario government, including formally declaring intimate partner violence an epidemic and establishing an independent commission dedicated to eradicating it.
The Correctional Service of Canada says police and the coroner have been notified of Borutski’s death.
As in all cases involving the death of an inmate, the CSC says it will review the circumstances of Borutski’s death.
–With files from The Canadian Press