Inquest probes probation officers’s options for deceptive offenders

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The man who murdered three women in Renfrew County on the morning of Sept. 15, 2015, was manipulative.

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Convicted twice before of domestic violence, Basil Borutski repeatedly ducked a court order that he attend the Partner Assault Response (PAR) program, arguing to his probation officer that he didn’t have transportation or that he suffered from anxiety.

Borutski also apparently evaded revealing vital information to his probation officer, an inquest into the three deaths heard on Wednesday in Pembroke.

The probation officer’s case notes made no reference to Carol Culleton, the first victim in his murderous rampage. After Culleton was killed, Borutski drove to Wilno and shot and killed Anastasia Kuzyk before driving to Foymount Road, where he shot and killed Nathalie Warmerdam.

Borutski had been convicted of domestic violence against both Kuzyk and Warmerdam and was known to police and other justice systems officials over these two cases. He also had a history of flouting court orders. But Culleton was not on their radar as being in danger.

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Borutski was found to be at high risk of reoffending as early as the fall of 2013. When he was released from jail in December 2014, following his conviction for a brutal attack on Kuzyk, Borutski had one of the highest scores for domestic violence recidivism.

Questions were raised Wednesday about how probation officers knew they had reached the right “collateral contacts” — people who know an offender — to ensure that the offender is not going to hurt more women.

Probation officers may contact anyone they think may be helpful in ensuring an offender is adhering to conditions, from former partners to a landlord, Jamie Pearson, the probation and parole quality assurance manager for Eastern Ontario, told the inquest.

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“We are always concerned that they’re not telling the truth,” he said in response to questions.

If his probation officer had known that an offender with Borutski’s history of violence against women was spending time at Culleton’s cottage, the officer would have had reason to reach out to Culleton, said Pearson, who was a probation officer for 11 years.

Failure to attend the PAR program put Borutski in breach of court-ordered conditions. In 2015, a probation officer had five business days after confirming a breach to investigate and decide what action to take. When a domestic violence offender is deemed high risk, that process is accelerated and victims’ public safety is taken into consideration, Pearson said.

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A probation officer’s actions in regard to a breach of conditions can range from documenting it in case notes to asking the Crown to consider a charge, he said. The idea is to use to least-intensive method that does not expose the public to danger and increases the chance the perpetrator will re-offend.

In 2012, Borutski received a “variance” to attend PAR after he argued the course was held in Eganville and he had been ordered by the court to stay away because Warmerdam worked from an office there. He did not take the program.

It is important that high-risk offenders attend the PAR program as soon as possible after release from jail, the inquest heard.

When Borutski was ordered again to take the program after his release from jail late in December 2014, he said he had no transportation, but that would change. This could be considered a “reasonable excuse,” in a rural area like Renfrew County, where there are considerable distances between communities, but no public transit, Pearson told the inquest.

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Borutski continued to dodge the court order. He told his parole officer he was confused about whether he had to call PAR or whether the facilitator would call him. He also said he suffered from anxiety and felt he wouldn’t benefit from the program. In April 2015, he suggested it would be better if he took the program in Belleville or Bancroft.

Over the past few years, there has been increased collaboration and communications between parole officers, police and other agencies, Pearson told the inquest, but he also pointed out there are privacy issues in some cases.

The Ministry of the Attorney General has made some changes to the probation system, including embedding a liaison officer in courts to act as “eyes and ears” for the probation service, Pearson said. In the past two years, the province has hired 25 more front-line workers to manage the release of high-risk offenders, including domestic violence offenders, plus 25 new probation officers.

There have also been a number of policy revisions, including direction that probation officers can reach out to current partners of offenders to let them about previous convictions. Breach of conviction enforcement for those convicted of domestic violence has also been expedited. These decisions are now to be made within a day, Pearson said.

The inquest, which began June 6, was scheduled to last three weeks, with recommendations  to be delivered on Friday. However, it is running behind schedule and there is a possibility the recommendations will not be released until Tuesday.