Five days after a Calgary mother of three and her father were killed in what police detectives believe were targeted attacks by her husband, a vigil took place to pay tribute to the victims.
While the victims’ names had already been disclosed earlier this week by those who knew them, the Calgary Police Service announced Friday afternoon that autopsies have been completed in the case.
Police confirmed 33-year-old Ania Wardzala-Kaminski and her 71-year-old father Stanislaw Wardzala were the two people killed. Police did not reveal any other information obtained through the autopsy, including how they died.
Wardzala-Kaminski, who worked as an elementary school teacher in Cochrane, and her father were found dead at two separate locations in Calgary on Sunday. The deaths triggered a manhunt for Benedict Kaminski — Ania’s spouse — that also prompted an emergency alert.
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His body was then found by police near a vehicle parked in a rural area about 80 kilometres northwest of Calgary.
Police have not said how the victims died, but have noted Benedict, who was quickly identified as a suspect, was a licensed gun owner who had access to firearms.
Sarah Gustafsson, a friend of Ania’s, spoke to Global News ahead of Friday night’s vigil.
“She was just this giving person,” Gustafsson said of Ania. “In our community in Tuscany we have a buy-nothing group, and most of her posts were looking for things to enhance her classroom. She wanted books or Christmas lights or decorations.
“She was just very giving and very conscious about making things special for everyone.”
Many attendees wore hockey jerseys in tribute to Ania who was a lifelong Calgary Flames fan.
A GoFundMe page started by a family friend to support Ania’s children had raised over $275,000 by early Friday afternoon.
–with files from Global News’ Skylar Peters and The Canadian Press
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