4th Top Story of 2020: Police charge man for murder in death of a Canadian P&C insurance executive

Peel Regional Police are investigating a domestic homicide near Toronto, after finding a woman who is believed to be a Canadian senior insurance executive pronounced dead at the scene.

Police say they received a call for a disturbance in the area of Galbraith Drive and Barwell Road in Mississauga, Ont., on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020, at 6:25 a.m. Police attended the residence and located a woman inside with apparent signs of trauma. The woman in her fifties was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police did not release the name of the victim, but Toronto media, citing a next door neighbour as their source, have identified the victim as Belynda Kerelchuk. She is listed on LinkedIn as a senior vice president at Aon Reinsurance Solutions. The LinkedIn profile indicates she has been Aon’s vice president for more than 20 years.

Canadian Underwriter was not able to confirm with Aon before press deadline that Kerelchuk was working for the company at the time of the tragedy.

In a press release posted online Tuesday, police say they “located the victim’s husband, Stephen Kerelchuk, a 53-year-old man from Mississauga at the scene. He was arrested and charged with 2nd degree murder.”

According to police, Stephen Kerelchuk was held for a bail hearing and was scheduled to attend the Ontario Court of Justice in the City of Brampton on Oct. 6, 2020.

Canadian Underwriter interviewed Belynda Kerelchuk in 2008 about the demographic make-up of women in senior levels of the P&C insurance industry. She was a strong advocate for the rise of women within the senior ranks of the industry.

In the 2008 interview, Kerelchuk noted that when she started her career more than 20 years ago, the majority of women working in the business held clerical positions. “But there were some in senior positions, and that was probably one of the reasons why I stayed,” she said.

Media cited a next door neighbour of the Kerelchuks, Mauro Di Domenico, as saying the couple were both working from home during the pandemic.

Di Domenico described the death of Belynda Kerelchuk to be “very shocking, very disturbing.”

Feature image by iStock.com/D-Keine