Slaying victim one of three women that sought court protection from accused killer one day before death

An 80-year-old woman found slain in her south Winnipeg condo complex Tuesday night appeared before a justice official just one day before her death, asking for a court order to protect her from the 74-year-old man now accused of killing her.

Winnipeg Police Service officers were called to the woman’s condo complex on St. Anne’s Road just before 11:30 p.m., where they found the woman suffering from “fatal injuries,” police said Thursday.

Officers at the scene arrested the suspect, who is also a resident of the building at 1205 St. Anne’s Rd., just north of the Perimeter Highway.

Jose Francisco Raulino, 74, has been charged with second-degree murder. He was held in custody and had his first court appearance on Thursday. He has no prior criminal convictions on his record, court records show.

Police released the name of the victim, Gladys Bellamy, on Friday.

Bellamy and two other women living in the complex appeared in front of a judicial justice of the peace on Monday, seeking to apply for peace bonds against Raulino, court records show.

A peace bond is a type of protection order, issued by a court official, that places conditions on an individual who appears likely to commit a criminal offence against another person. The exact conditions vary from order to order. Any breach of a peace bond can result in criminal charges being laid.

One of the applicants said at the hearing that the three of them and Raulino all lived on the same floor.

Provincial court judicial justice of the peace Weldon Klassen initially told the applicants that he recommended they agree to mediation with Raulino, rather than continue with the applications.

“It’s usually the best way to go, mediation,” he said.

There were no details on the hearing record about the reasons the three women were seeking the order. Bellamy asked if she could speak to the hearing but was denied by the court official.

The applicants and Raulino and his lawyer met briefly for mediation, but Klassen was told a short time later that they wanted to continue with their peace bond applications.

The parties then discussed setting a date for an application hearing later this year. The applications remained pending as of the hearing earlier this week.

“Reviewing security measures and procedures to support the ongoing safety of our residents.”

Residents at the complex were reluctant to speak about the slaying on Friday. The president of the condo board and Mara Doctoroff, the building’s property manager, both declined to comment.

Doctoroff sent an email to condo owners Friday morning informing them of the incident, and assuring them the board and building management team are “reviewing security measures and procedures to support the ongoing safety of our residents.”

“We wish to express our thoughts to those affected by this tragedy, and thank everyone for their understanding and co-operation in this difficult situation,” reads the email, obtained by the Free Press.

“We have been advised that both the victim and the accused were owners of units within the building. We continue to co-operate with the (Winnipeg Police Service) while they carry out their investigation. If you are contacted by the WPS, we would encourage your participation as well.”

An unmarked police cruiser was parked outside the building Friday afternoon.

Investigators have revealed little about how the suspect and victim knew each other, except to confirm it was not romantic.

In a 2014 obituary for Bellamy’s late husband, Donald Bellamy, a condolence message attributed to Raulino indicated he was her neighbour at the time.

The message said the pair met about one year before, after both moved into new condos.

Bellamy was a frequent contributor to the pages of the Free Press. She submitted several letters to the editor expressing her views on a range of subjects including politics, public services and her husband’s battle with dementia.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca