'He has a rifle': Homicide victim had protection order against estranged ex

A Winnipeg woman killed in St. Boniface Friday had a protection order against her estranged ex, who she said had been stalking her for months. 

Camille Runke, 49, was killed Friday, police said she was the victim of a shooting. She worked at JB Trophy on Marion Street, the area where her body was found Friday morning.

Winnipeg police have not made an arrest nor have they said they are looking for a specific suspect.

Court documents state Runke was afraid.

"He has been stalking my home, and I have witnesses other than myself," Runke wrote about her estranged husband, Kevin Runke, in her application for the protection order. It was granted and active until July 24, 2018.

She also cited stalking behaviour that led her to fear for her safety, including Runke showing up at her house at 3:55 a.m. with an air gun. 

"He has a rifle," she wrote in the application. She also said he damaged her property and vehicle by cutting belts and hoses. "He was brazen enough to enter my locked yard when he thought I wasn't home," she wrote. "I fear for what he will do next."

Ex applied for protection order, too

Kevin Runke applied for his own protection order against Camille Runke.

"She says she will take me down and ruin me," he wrote in the application. She was causing mental stress by calling his employer, he said.

I could tell by her demeanor this was not a woman that was embellishing the facts, this was a real fear.- Ramona Kalid

His application was dismissed.

Another woman was also granted a protection order against Kevin Runke. A third woman, an ex-girlfriend, applied to the courts for protection from him as well, citing stalking behaviour and damage to her property and vehicle, but she didn't receive a protection order.

Kevin Runke has outstanding criminal charges for mischief. 

'It was obviously getting worse'

Barb Willer, a neighbour who lived down the street from the couple's Elmwood condo, said the harassment Camille endured from her ex was getting worse and worse.

"She would mention things that he had done to her vehicle, and one night the police were here because he tried to do something," Willer said. "Maybe an airgun, flooding her basement or something…. It was obviously getting worse."

After getting the protection order, Willer said Camille put up security cameras and floodlights outside her home. That is also when things started to escalate with Kevin Runke, Willer added.

• Victim of St. Boniface homicide identified as Camille Runke, 49

"The police had recommended that she put up cameras and lights so he could be caught on camera if he entered the property," Willer said.

"It's awful to think of somebody that was your neighbour, and that you just saw a few months ago, and to hear of their life being taken, it's so unfair."

'She was terrorized by this man'

Ramona Kalid, another neighbour of Camille's, moved into the same complex two weeks ago. She, too, noticed there was something troubling going on.

"I believe that she was terrorized by this man," Kalid said. "Her place was like a fortress: there were cameras everywhere. And that's what started our conversation. I noticed she had added another camera."

Kalid said Camille opened up to her about the struggles she was having with her ex just days before she was shot to death.

"She told me that her [ex] was stalking her, that he had physically damaged her property, her home, her vehicle, and that she was very, very frightened," said Kalid.

"I said to her that I was very sorry that this was going on, and I could tell by her demeanor this was not a woman that was embellishing the facts, this was a real fear."

Kalid said in the days after she first moved in, she got the impression that Camille was kind and trying to reach out to her to form a friendship.

"I still can't believe this has happened to her. You only see things like this in the movie," Kalid said. 

"I think in the beginning, you want to blame somebody, and you're angry at the police and it's like, 'How could no one keep her safe?' Her cameras couldn't keep her safe, she lived by herself."

St. Malo police presence

Meanwhile, a large Winnipeg police presence remained on a property in the St. Malo area late into the evening Monday night.

A large portion of Highway 59 was blocked off during the day while RCMP and Winnipeg Police investigated the area.

Neither Winnipeg Police nor the RCMP would confirm whether the investigation was linked to Runke's homicide. 

However, Kevin Runke has family in St. Malo, his previous employer told CBC news.