Murder victim Krassimira "Krissy" Pejcinovski and the man accused of killing her, Cory Kyle Fenn, started dating in the fall of 2016, according to Sherry Robinson, the owner of Spa Sedona where Pejcinovski worked as an aesthetician for the last decade.

Robinson, who considered herself like a mother to Pejcinovski, gave two wide-ranging interviews to CTV News Toronto on Friday — one on-camera and one off — two days after the bodies of 39-year-old Pejcinovski, her 15-year-old son, Roy, and her 13-year-old daughter, Venellia, were found in their Ajax home.

The relationship, Robinson said, started out well. Pejcinovski was excited, speaking to her colleagues about how attentive and loving and handsome Fenn was. They met at the gym.

But a few months in, red flags began to surface.

"We watched it over the length of time and we work very closely and you could see him taking control of her life," Robinson recalled.

The already petite Pejcinovski began to lose weight. She stopped wearing make-up and certain clothes. Fenn, she told coworkers, didn't like her talking or texting with certain people.

"He ran her credit cards up," Robinson said. "He sucked every bit of money out of her with his gambling."

About one year ago, Fenn moved into the basement apartment in Pejcinovski's Hilling Dr. home.

While Robinson watched for signs of physical abuse, she saw none although some in the spa have since come forward to say they did notice bruising, always on her arms, Robinson said.

Earlier this year, Pejcinovski told her coworkers that she was thrown up against a wall and that her cellphone was broken, Robinson said.

Last month, Fenn broke up with Pejcinovski, Robinson said, leaving her for the mother of his child. Pejcinovski was devastated, but she started moving on.

"We were thrilled and I even joked to her that I'm going to get my old Krissy back and she said, 'Yes."

Pejcinovski started wearing make-up again and her hair how she used to wear it.

Then, last weekend, according to Robinson, he called her to say he wanted her back, before showing up at her house early in the week.

"He supposedly told her on the weekend that he had a $60,000 online gambling debt and they were sending people after him," Robinson said.

But Pejcinovski, Robinson said, didn't want him back.

"She had told one of the staff members here, her best friend here, that she was going to have him leave (Tuesday night)," Robinson said.

Wednesday morning, Pejcinovski, a dedicated employee who often filled in for those who couldn't make their shifts, didn't show up for work.

Robinson called Pejcinovski's 16-year-old daughter, who works as the spa attendant on weekends. Pejcinovski's daughter, who didn’t sleep at home the night before, told Robinson her mother hadn't shown up that morning to take her to her driver's education class.

Robinson called a Durham Regional Police officer friend and told him she was going to the house.

When she knocked on the door at 36 Hilling Dr. in south Ajax, Fenn, she said, answered. He was wearing grey track pants, but no shirt, and was barefoot, Robinson said.

"So I asked, 'Is Krissy home?' And he said, 'She's sick.' And he said, 'Oh, you're her boss, right?' because I had met him. And I said, 'Yes,' and I said, 'I'd like to, could I talk to her?' and he said, 'No, she's sick.' But while he's talking, I noticed blood on his arm and on his foot."

Robinson, concerned, drove up the street and called her police friend. He said a cruiser was on its way.

When she turned around, Fenn's black pick-up truck was gone, she said. Still on the phone with the police officer, she went back to the house.

"So I rang the doorbell and nobody came. So I went to knock on the door and as I knocked on the door, the door opened," she said. "I said, 'The door's open,' and he (the officer on the phone) said, 'Do you see anything, any blood?' And I said, 'No, no I don't.' And I walked into the hall and I screamed for Krissy, 'Krissy, are you okay? Krissy?'"

But there was no answer.

"So then I just went back out and I waited for the police to come."

Inside, police found the bodies of Pejcinovski and her son, Roy, a rising hockey star with the Don Mills Flyers. Venellia, or "Vanna," a popular student still in elementary school, was so badly injured that she later died in hospital.

About six hours later, after his pick-up truck was found abandoned in Pickering, police found 29-year-old Fenn at a south Oshawa home, apparently hiding in the backyard shed, according to witnesses who saw tactical officers move onto street about 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Fenn has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder.

None of the charges have been proven in court.

"Krissy herself was such a loving, caring person. That's why she was such a great aesthetician," said Robinson. "These people (her regular customers) are devastated. They're mourning the loss just like me. They knew all about the boyfriend. They knew all about her kids."

Spa Sedona has set up a college fund for Pejcinovski's surviving daughter. Customers and strangers streamed by throughout Friday with cards, flowers and chocolates.