John Paul Ostamas has extensive criminal past in Ontario

John Paul Ostamas, the 39-year-old man accused of killing three men in downtown Winnipeg this month, has an extensive criminal past that includes violence against women and men in northwestern Ontario.

Ostamas has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Stony Stanley Bushie, 48, and Donald Collins, 65, whose bodies were found in back alleys near Portage Avenue and Hargrave Street on Saturday.

Ostamas has also been charged with second-degree murder in the death of 37-year-old Miles Monias, who was found beaten inside a bus shelter on Main Street and Pioneer Avenue on April 10.

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Ostamas was known to be transient and move between northwestern Ontario and Winnipeg.

While the Winnipeg Police Service says it had little contact with Ostamas before the murder charges were laid, he was no stranger to the justice system in northwestern Ontario.

He has a criminal record there dating back to 1995 that includes violent crimes against women and men in Kenora and Thunder Bay, Ont.

Court documents indicate that Ostamas has been charged more than 40 times for offences that range from mischief and uttering threats to assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm.

'It wasn't provoked,' says caretaker

One of his victims was a woman who, along with her husband, took care of an apartment building in northwestern Ontario.

One night eight years ago, Ostamas caused a commotion when the couple tried to quiet him down, according to the woman.

"Then he came at my husband and started pounding on him…. I said, 'Hey, what are you doing?' And he turned around and he gave me a couple of shots," she told CBC News late Wednesday.

"It wasn't provoked, not in the least."

Ostamas pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman, her husband and one of their tenants.

She said she hasn't seen him since that night.

Ostamas was charged with assault and uttering threats in connection with another case involving a woman near Thunder Bay.

"Me and my common-law had a creepy feeling," the mother of the alleged victim said in an interview.

"I didn't like his atmosphere around us or around my daugther."

'I was getting afraid of him,' says woman's mom

The woman said her daughter was dating Ostamas at the time. The couple stayed with her for a few weeks in 2011, she added.

The mother said she found knives in the couple's bedroom after they left.

The woman said she also remembers Ostamas pounding the back of her minivan seat and being verbally abusive to her daughter during a family road trip to the United States.

"I was getting afraid of him, and he was trying to get my daughter out of the van so he can go sell her in stateside somewhere," she said.

Following the alleged assault, the woman said her daughter broke up with Ostamas.

Winnipeg police say they are contacting authorities in other jurisdictions, looking for any unsolved crimes that Ostamas may be connected to.