Baby boy found alive with bodies of his murdered mother and grandma

A baby boy was found next to the bodies of his mother and grandmother by police who came to arrest his father for their murder.

Neighbors said that police had repeatedly been called to the home in Courtice, Ontario, after Michael Belhu had turned up uninvited.

In March the 33-year-old was charged with attempting to break down the door behind which his former partner Katrina Zwolinski and her mother Laurie Crew were cowering.

Police were back at 1pm on Tuesday when they found Zwolinski and her mother dead with 'obvious signs of trauma', and Belhu alone with his year-old son.

'Laurie had obviously attempted to get help several times, but it just kept on escalating,' a neighbor told thestar.com.

Police had been asked to conduct a wellness check at the home ten miles east of Toronto where Crew lives with her daughter and grandson.

Residents in Moulton Court said that the grandmother was heavily involved looking after her grandson and could often be seen taking the little boy for a stroll around the neighborhood.

Belhu had ignored his summons to appear in court over the damage to the door, and neighbors said that police were often accompanied by ambulances during their frequent trips to the home.

Lisa Town said a man had been detained outside the residence just weeks earlier, and Kerchel Carter, who lives a few doors down remembered a man being arrested after attempting to see the child around a year ago.

'The grandmother was taking care of the child,' he added. 'It's pretty sad, if it's the lady, because she's a nice person.'

Belhu appeared in court on Wednesday to face two counts of second-degree murder.

'We believe at this stage for this to be an isolated incident,' said Sgt. Joanne Bortoluss of the Durham Regional Police Service.

'Beyond that, the connection between them will be part of the ongoing investigation.'

Neighbour Kaitlin Joy, called the murders 'avoidable' and 'truly devastating'.

'Katrina and I grew up together in elementary and high school,' she recalled. 'She loved hunting, fishing, and being outdoors.

The little boy was removed by police physically unharmed from the home.