Jury selected for trial of accused triple murderer
Kristy Nease | CBC News | Posted: October 3, 2017 4:19 PM | Last Updated: October 4, 2017
Basil Borutski, accused of killing 3 women in 2015, remains uncommunicative in court
A jury has been selected for the trial of Basil Borutski, the man accused of murdering three women west of Ottawa in September 2015.
Fourteen jurors have been selected, including two alternates who will be dismissed just before evidence is about to be called.
Instructions will be given to the jurors Wednesday at 2 p.m., followed by opening statements from the Crown.
The bodies of 36-year-old Anastasia Kuzyk, 48-year-old Nathalie Warmerdam and 66-year-old Carol Culleton were found at separate crime scenes in and around the small community of Wilno, Ont., in September 2015.
Culleton was beaten and strangled to death either late in the night Sept. 21, or early in the morning Sept. 22, at her cottage at 670 Kamaniskeg Lake Rd. near Combermere, Ont., in Hastings County, Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Maranger told prospective jurors.
Kuzyk was shot to death with a 12-gauge shotgun at her home at 37 Szczipior Rd. in Wilno, in Haggarty Richards Township, at about 8:50 a.m. Sept. 22.
Warmerdam, the last victim, was shot to death with a 12-gauge shotgun half an hour later, at about 9:20 a.m., at her home at 594 Foymount Rd. near Eganville, Ont., in Bonnechere Valley Township.
Basil Borutski, then 57, was arrested later that day in Ottawa and is charged with three counts of first-degree murder.
Borutski unresponsive in court
Now 59, Borutski has not hired a lawyer and is representing himself, but in court so far he has refused to participate in arraignments or the jury selection process.
He does not respond to questions, does not stand or identify himself when asked to do so, and has not entered a plea.
Borutski sits in the glass-walled prisoner's box of the large jury selection courtroom, wearing a loose-fitting white T-shirt, grey hair down to his shoulders and a goatee, and keeps his eyes squeezed shut most of the time.
A plea of not guilty has been entered on Borutski's behalf, per section 606 of the Criminal Code, which stipulates that when an accused person fails to enter a plea or doesn't answer directly, the court will enter a plea of not guilty on their behalf.
Silence taken as acquiescence
Maranger told court that when Borutski fails to respond, his silence is being taken as acquiescence to the proceedings.
But to ensure his right to a fair trial, the court has appointed an amicus curiae, also known as a friend of the court, to raise any important issues, ask questions, make submissions and make objections during the trial.
Amicus curiae are not defence lawyers and are not permitted to act as such. The bar for raising any issues is higher for an amicus curiae than for a traditional defence lawyer, and is limited to interventions aimed at preventing a miscarriage of justice.
James Foord was appointed to the role, and another lawyer, Patrick McCann, was appointed to cross-examine a few witnesses who don't feel comfortable being asked questions by Borutski, if he chooses to ask them.
The trial is scheduled to run for 17 weeks, into January.