Coroner’s Office corrects media reports of date of Culleton Kuzyk Warmerdam inquest

The Current today contacted the Ontario Coroner’s Office to obtain confirmation of what The Eganville Leader and other media outlets had published concerning the date of the inquest into the murders of Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk and Nathalie Warmerdam on Sept.22, 2015. The contact was prompted because The Current had not seen any official media release about an inquest date of June 6, as this is the usual practice of the Coroner’s Office. Above from left: Anastasia Kuzyk, Carol Culleton, Nathalie Warmerdam

We spoke to Prabhu Rajan, Chief Counsel to the Chief Coroner for Ontario, who immediately volunteered that he had concerns about some media reports from the standpoint of their accuracy. He confirmed that there had been no official announcement because a firm date has not yet been determined for the commencement of the inquest. He told The Current, “We’re hopeful that we can proceed in June but it is very possible it does not happen then.” He said the reason why the date has not been finalized is “the intent is to do it in person in Pembroke, but as you know everything is uncertain these days.” Rajan said that three weeks has been set aside for the duration of the inquest.

Rajan mentioned that there were “all sorts of errors” in the article in The Eganville Leader and picked up by the Toronto Star and Ottawa media outlets. He was particularly concerned about the reporting calling it “the Borutski inquest.” He said the inquest is about the women that were murdered, not the murderer, so his name should not be the name of the inquest. He pointed out that the inquest is not about him [Borutski], it’s about “what happened to these women [so as to] make sure it doesn’t happen again if possible.”

Rajan also referred to the suspension of in-person hearings during the pandemic. He said an in-person inquest would “engage the community” and that is why he wants to do it “in Pembroke — for the community.”

Editor’s Note: This article was amended on Jan.30 to correct the date of death of the three women. We apologize for the error.