Col. Russell Williams, left, shown in a sketch from court Monday in Belleville, Ont., pleaded guilty to all charges against him. (Alex Tavshunsky)

Former friends and neighbours of Col. Russell Williams say they hope to achieve closure on a chapter of their lives they would like to put behind them now that the disgraced military commander has pleaded guilty to all charges against him.

The ex-commander of Canada Forces Base Trenton pleaded guilty to the murders of Jessica Lloyd, 27, and Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 38, and 86 other charges on Monday in Belleville, Ont.

Those charges include two counts each of sexual assault and forcible confinement and 82 counts of breaking and entering and attempted breaking and entering.

Thrity-four of the break-ins occurred in the Ottawa suburb of Orleans, where Williams and his wife, Mary-Elizabeth Harriman, lived for about 14 years. In late 2009, the couple moved to Westboro, a tony neighbourhood to the west of the city.

Following his appointment as commander of the Trenton base in eastern Ontario in charge of 3,000 people, Williams lived at his cottage in Tweed, Ont., during the week and went to his Ottawa home on weekends.

Williams and Harriman used to visit Robert and Terry Gagne frequently and spent many evenings on their patio. When Williams was made a colonel, Robert Gagne attended the ceremony.

"He was really a great friend, really," Gagne said.

"I was very distraught, I mean, I didn't believe it. I still don't believe it in a way, but it's true now, so it's going to be a while before we really put in our minds that he is guilty.

"I hope his wife can get over this and there is closure and [we can] move on. "

Explicit photos taken

Lucia Magalhaes, who also lives in Williams's old neighbourhood, said she is shocked and hurt that he broke into homes in the area — including those of people he knew well.

She said she didn't socialize with him but encountered him from time to time and that he always smiled and said hello to her.

"The way he acted every day — you know, he was just [a] common person," Magalhaes said. "You know, very polite and nothing else. I feel sad for the families and for his family, too, because they've been going through a lot also."

'We'll be taking precautions to choose our neighbours.'— Terry Gagne, neighbour of Russell Williams

Court heard Monday that during the break-ins, Williams stole women's and girls' clothing, including lingerie. He took thousands of explicit photographs of himself at crime scenes and inside his home wearing the lingerie he stole and stored the date-stamped photos in a complex file folder system.

Terry Gagne said the fact that a decorated military leader with a clean image was capable of such crimes has shaken her faith in humankind.

"Let's just say that the next neighbours that come into the neighbourhood, we won't be reaching out to them as fast as we did to others," she said. "We'll be taking precautions to choose our neighbours."

For the deaths of Lloyd and Comeau, Williams faces an automatic sentence of life in prison, with no possibility of parole for at least 25 years.

The Department of Defence has said it will move quickly to strip Williams of his rank and military decorations. In addition, he will not be able to call himself a retired colonel.