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On the loose

Ex-boyfriend remains on the loose after woman attacked with axe

Dave Sullivan
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 29/01) - A Yellowknife woman who was attacked with an axe Sunday morning remained under police protection yesterday as RCMP continued to scour the woods west of the city in search of her ex-boyfriend.



Municipal enforcement Constable Shep Amrow turned away all motorists trying to leave town between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday. Nobody was told why. - Robert Dall/NNSL Photo



As of press time, police were still searching for 36-year-old Ronald Roy Villebrun. He has already been charged with attempted murder.

"We're asking people to be very cautious. If they see someone out on the highway not to pick them up," Staff Sgt. Terry Scott said Tuesday.

Police said in a statement "the victim was assaulted and forcibly removed from her vehicle. The suspect then fled the scene with the victim. The victim was able to escape but was struck once more before she was assisted by witnesses."

The man who drove the victim to hospital says she was conscious but bleeding from the head and that she was released from the hospital within hours.

"When I got there she was bleeding pretty badly," Gordon Stewart said.

Driving through the downtown stop sign by Yellowknife Motors, he and Terry Chang were helping out with Yellowknife's annual marathon when they spotted the victim.

Chang helped stem the bleeding while Stewart took them in his car to the hospital.

Stewart didn't see the attacker.

"There was quite a few people around. When we saw something was happening I just drove into the parking lot and she looked like she needed a ride to the hospital."

He said an RCMP patrol car just happened to be driving by around the same time.

Villebrun's car was found abandoned 20 kilometres down Highway 3, where police believe he hid in a cabin before fleeing into the surrounding bush. On Tuesday, Scott said the victim had been placed under protective surveillance, and that police continued to search the bush on foot. He said the car Villebrun abandoned has been seized as evidence.

The highway, the only road out of Yellowknife, was blocked off by police at 11 a.m. Sunday while the search got underway. The blockade was lifted at 4 p.m.

Bewildered motorists trying to leave town before then were turned back without explanation by a city bylaw officer.

Most didn't seem to mind, thinking there was a problem with the highway.

Trucker Bob Ross was headed back to Edmonton after delivering a load of building supplies.

"I'll probably just read a book," he said after using some of his extra time to replace a burnt out headlamp.