Basil Borutski trial hears of suspect's tense takedown

The trial of an accused triple murderer heard about the arrest of a suspect in a field west of Ottawa the day the bodies of three women were discovered, and also heard that one of the victims had been protecting herself with a domestic violence alarm, a shotgun and security cameras.

The bodies of NathalieWarmerdam, 48, Carol Culleton,66, and Anastasia Kuzyk, 36,were found at their homes in and around the small community of Wilno, Ont., on Sept. 22, 2015.

Basil Borutski, 60, faces three counts of first-degree murder and is representing himself at his trial before a jury. The court entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf after herefusedto enter one himself.

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Ottawa police Const. Daniel Thompson, a member of the tactical unit, told court that after receiving information about several homicides and a suspect at large who may have been heading to Ottawa, hewas eventually deployed to the area of Stonecrest Elementary School to make contact with a man in a field in the Kinburn, Ont., area.

Students in nearby woods escorted back to school

Thompson learned that a group of students were on a field trip to look at plants in the woods nearby, so he went to find them and brought them back to the school where they werelocked down as a precaution.

At about 2:11 p.m., an OPPhelicopter reported a man standing in a field southwest of the school, Thompson told court. He and his partner began to approach the man while two other officers headed in his direction through the woods.

"I remember he was playing with a plastic bag and appeared to be drinking from something as we approached, regardless of the commands we were giving," Thompson testified.

Communicating with the man, who was white with a shaved head and goatee, proved difficult overthe noise from a plane and helicoptercircling overhead. The officers repeatedly shouted, "Police, don't move, show your hands," Thompson testified.

The man kept drinking from the bottle, tossingit away, and pickingit back up again, the officer told court.Thompson and his partnerapproached slowly because they feared the manmightpick up a gun from the ground instead of the bottle.

Man told police where shotgun was

When the officers got close enough to be heard,they asked the man to lie down on his belly with his arms outstretched, and Thompson then handcuffed him. Once the man was helped to his feet, he asked Thompson, "Do you want to know where the gun is?"

"Sure," Thompson replied.

"If you walk up the track on the bush line there, there's a paper note about 100 metres in.It's further up the track," Thompson recalled the man telling him.

"So you know that anything you say could be used in evidence against you. You want to tell me again?" Thompson told him.

"Yeah, like I said, it's in the bush there past the note on the track," the man told Thompson, the officer testified.

Police found the note and a shotgun with ammunition. The note read: "I HAVE NO GUN DON'T MURDER ME I GIVE UP."

Victim had domestic violence alarm, shotgun

Earlier Monday, OPP Const. Andrew Doherty, a forensic identification officer, testified he seized Borutski's cellphone and clothes after his arrest,including a camoTilleyhat, camo pants, a long-sleeved blue denim shirt, a grey T-shirt and a nylon jacket. Dohertyalso took swabs of Borutski's hands to test for gunshot residue,and took nail clippings for DNA comparison.

Doherty then went to Warmerdam's residence on Foymount Road to studythe scene of her killing, he testified.Video of the house was shown in court, and just beforeit depictedthe stairwaywhere Warmerdam's body was found, the Crown asked to stop the video.

Crown attorney Jeffery Richardson talked to people sitting in the row reserved for friends and family of the victims, and two of themleft the courtroom. One of them wasin tears, shaking her head.

After the rest of the video was shown, Doherty testified a spent red Winchester 12-gauge shotgun shell had beenseized at the scene.Going through photos of the scene, he also noted the security cameras outside connected to a recording device in the basement, a shotgun in a case under Warmerdam'sbed, and a domestic violence alarm found on her bed.

Court earlier heard that Borutskionce lived with the Warmerdams, and that in 2012, Borutskiwas convicted of threatening the Warmerdams and doing mischief to their property.

Doherty testified hewas later dispatched to collect a cellphonefound on FoymountRoadwhich court earlier heard belonged to victim CarolCulleton, was taken by Borutskiandthrown out of a vehicle hewas driving and to collect possible evidence from Borutski's apartmentin Palmer Rapids.

Items seized from the apartment included a black binder of various writings to be used for handwriting analysis and comparison, as well as three books found ona coffee table: The Jerusalem Bible, The Key to Freedom and a Bible.