An online petition has been created asking Correctional Service Canada (CSC) not to transfer convicted murderer Walter Ramsay to Mission.
The Deroche man confessed to murdering Mission’s Eleanor Anthonysz and attempting to kill two children in a Shook Road mobile home in 2015. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 20 years.
According to the petition website, Anthonysz’s family has been informed that Ramsay is to be transferred from another prison to the medium-security unit of Mission Institution.
“The grandmother, a life-long resident of Mission, is raising her grandchildren here. The emotional stress this is causing the family should not be permitted,” the website states.
It is asking for people to sign the petition, which will be sent to CSC.
Anthonysz, 33, died in April of 2015 after her Hatzic-area home was set ablaze in the middle of the night. Two children also sustained injuries in the blaze.
Ramsay and Anthonysz had previously lived together, but had broken up two years before the killing.
Police were told that in the early hours of April 17, 2015, Ramsay entered the home, pinned Anthonysz in her bed and beat her with a hammer or mallet.
A girl who came to help was also struck with a mallet, and she and Anthonysz were bound with zap straps and torn, knotted sheets.
Ramsay then doused the home with an accelerant and set it ablaze. He told Anthonysz, “I’ll see you in hell,” then left the building.
Anthonysz and the girl managed to free themselves, and they attempted to leave with the boy, who was also in the home, but Anthonysz fell. An autopsy later determined she died from smoke inhalation.
The children were able to get out and banged on a neighbour’s home for help.
The boy suffered smoke inhalation, while the girl had serious burns and injuries to her face. The home, meanwhile, became engulfed in flames.
So far, the petition has 709 signatures. It can be found at: