A triple murder, a coroner’s inquest, and a wake-up call on intimate partner violence

In September 2015, in a town out of rural Ontario called Renfrew County, three women: Anastasia Kuzyk, Nathalie Warmerdam and Carol Culleton, were killed on the same day, by the same man.

The perpetrator had a history of abusive behaviour towards these women, and demonstrated a pattern of violent conduct spanning the last forty years. Making his crime predictable, preventable, and a tragedy authorities should have seen coming.

Seven years later, a coroner’s inquest into the murders has yielded more than 80 recommendations for how the system can better protect those experiencing intimate partner violence.

What evidence did the jury hear during the inquest? What were some of their most noteworthy recommendations? And how do we make sure their words actually translate into action?

Today we’re unpacking some of the key recommendations that were brought forth by the committee and look to what can be learned from the Renfrew County coroner’s inquest.

Guest host Garvia Bailey speaks with freelance journalist Sarah Boesveld who has covered the inquest for The Guardian.

“The very first one, the number one recommendation of that huge number 86 [was] asking the Ontario province to declare intimate partner violence as an epidemic in Ontario,” said Boesveld.

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