People tend to think of criminals as the picture of evil, someone you would be terrified to meet in a dark alley. But that’s very often not the case. Occasionally, they’re blonde-haired and blue-eyed…and vicious killers.
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Paul Bernardo was born in Ontario on the 27th of August 1964. As a young child, he was considered a happy and well-mannered boy, a member of the Boy Scouts, and he would charm people with his cute, dimpled face and blonde hair. His parents were Kenneth and Marilyn, and Paul was the youngest of 3 children. Unfortunately, Kenneth was an angry and abusive man; he molested Paul’s sister, and Marilyn developed severe depression due to his abuse. She would retreat to the basement to try and stay out of the way. In 1975, Kenneth was charged with molestation of a young girl. At 16 years old, Paul discovered that Kenneth wasn’t his biological father and that he had been conceived after his mother had an affair. Paul reacted badly to this and started calling his mother a ‘whore’ and a ‘slut’; she would reciprocate by calling him a ‘bastard’. Around the same time, his first girlfriend, Nadine Brammer (to whom he had lost his virginity), left him for a friend, having had enough of his controlling behaviour.
After graduating from Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate Institute, Paul was employed by Amway, an American sales company. He spent much time listening to tapes and reading books by motivational ‘get rich and famous’ so-called experts and would practise these techniques on women he met in bars. Most of the time, the methods worked. When he started attending the University of Toronto at Scarborough, his dark sexual fantasies began to get out of control. One story he talked about included him owning a farm where he would breed virgin girls for him to rape. At university, Paul’s relationships began to end quicker and quicker; the women he dated would quickly realise his controlling, abusive nature and leave. Paul graduated in 1987 and found himself a job as a junior accountant at Price Waterhouse. At this point, he was hardly dating; one of his girlfriends, Jennifer Thompson, had threatened to report him to the police for his behaviour. On 4th May 1987, he raped a 21-year-old woman in front of her parents’ home. On 14th May 1987, he raped a 19-year-old woman in her parent’s backyard. On July 17th, 1987, he attempted the rape of a young woman; he beat her but ran off when she fought back. On September 29th, 1987, he tried the rape of a 15-year-old girl after breaking into her home. He threatened her with a knife and bruised her, but he ran off when the child’s mother walked into the room and screamed. Anthony Hanemaayer was convicted of this assault in 1989 and served 16 months. He was later exonerated. More about his case can be found here.
“Be a perfect girlfriend for Paul. Remember you’re stupid; remember you’re ugly. Remember you’re fat; I don’t know why I tell you these things because you never change” – Karla Homolka’s self-improvement list.
Karla Homolka was born on the 4th of May 1970 in Port Credit, Ontario, to Karel Homolka, an alcoholic salesman from Czechoslovakia and his wife Dorothy Seger, a geriatric clinic employee. Karla was one of three children, having two younger sisters, Lori and Tammy. At home, her father doted on her until he had one of his alcoholic episodes, and he would hurl abuse at Karla, and the rest of the family; Dorothy and her daughters would try desperately to comfort each other. At one point, Karel had an affair; when Dorothy found out, her only response was to suggest a threesome and carry on as usual. Karla was described as a bright student by teachers but also as stubborn, a young girl unwilling to compromise and would attempt to domineer her peers to get her way. At the age of twelve, she became obsessed with crime after reading mystery novels such as ‘The Hardy Boys’ and ‘Nancy Drew’. She also claimed to love animals but threw a friend’s live hamster out of the window, killing the poor thing outright. Karla went through a depressive phase and started self-harming; there are some reports of her faking suicide attempts for attention (please don’t think I am saying self-harm & suicide attempts are attention seeking – I would never say that – I’m just reporting what I’ve read). During high school, she didn’t conform to the norm, wearing what she wanted and giving the impression that she didn’t care what other people thought of her. She dated a young man called Doug and admitted to having sex and experimenting with drugs with him. In high school, Karla got a part-time job at a veterinary clinic. After graduating in 1988, she was hired by Thordd Veterinary Clinic as a full-time veterinary technician.
In October 1987, Paul and Karla met in a hotel restaurant after attending a convention in Toronto. There was an immediate attraction between 23-year-old Paul and 17-year-old Karla, and they spent the night together, bonding over their sadomasochistic fantasies. From that night, Paul would travel twice weekly to see Karla, and Karla was obsessed with him despite his abusive nature. He would call her fat and ugly and tell her what to wear, how to act and who to interact with; she submitted to him in every way possible. Soon, Paul discovered that Karla wasn’t a virgin and was furious with her, but the relationship continued.
On 16th December 1987, he raped a 15-year-old girl. On the 17th, the Metropolitan Toronto police started issuing warnings to women in Scarborough. On 23rd December 1987, he raped a 17-year-old girl. The media began referring to him as ‘The Scarborough Rapist’. In March 1988, the police started an investigation, which unfortunately led nowhere. On 18th April, he attacked a 17-year-old girl. On 25th May, he was caught hiding underneath a tree by a uniformed Metro Toronto investigator, but he escaped. On 30th May, he raped an 18-year-old woman. On 4th October, he attempted to rape a woman; she fought him off, but he left her with two stab wounds that required 16 stitches. On 16th November, he raped an 18-year-old woman in her parent’s backyard. On 27th December, he attempted to rape a woman but was chased off by a neighbour. On 20th June 1989, he tried to rape a woman, but her screams alerted neighbours; she left scratches on his face. On 15th August, he raped a 22-year-old woman. On 21st November, he raped a 15-year-old child he saw at a bus shelter. On 22nd December, he raped a 19-year-old woman. On 26th May 1990, he raped a 19-year-old woman; she went to the police and remembered his appearance vividly. A composite sketch was created and shown to the public; some acquaintances of Paul contacted the police about the sketch and the uncanny similarities between it and Paul. However, the police were overwhelmed by tip-offs and never followed up. In December, police took blood, hair and saliva samples from Bernardo but didn’t test them for two yBernardo's blood, hair and saliva samples ears.
“He was the happy rapist” – Karla on Paul.
As mentioned before, Karla has a younger sister, Tammy. Tammy was born on 1st January 1975 and was a popular, pretty girl who excelled at athletics and loved sports. She attended Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School and was a grade 10 student (making her 15 years old). Tammy had a crush on Paul; he was older & physically attractive, and she would write his name repeatedly in her notebooks. However, instead of being a responsible adult and stopping this, Paul actively encouraged it. He enjoyed the attention, even kissing her and engaging in ‘heavy petting’ on more than one occasion. He told Tammy how much he loved her naturally blonde hair and her young, toned body. He would even masturbate outside of her window when she was getting changed. Paul reminded Karla of his annoyance with her because she wasn’t a virgin when they met, and she agreed to him taking Tammy’s virginity by force, a ‘gift’ from Karla to Paul. Karla and Paul spiked Tammy’s spaghetti with a sedative that Karla had stolen from the veterinary clinic where she worked; Tammy ate her food and soon passed out. Paul undressed and attempted to rape the unconscious child, but she suddenly regained consciousness. Paul, annoyed, stormed out of the room and left Karla to deal with an extremely tired, confused Tammy. Karla told her that she must be overtired, took her upstairs, stripped her, and put her to bed, where she once again passed out. Paul stood over her, unknown to the sleeping child, watching and masturbating.
On the 23rd of December 1990, the family gathered at Karla’s parent's house for a few festive drinks. Tammy was participating, and her other sister, Lori, noticed she seemed a little out of it; Lori told Karla to stop topping up Tammy’s glass. Lori retreated to her bedroom when her request was ignored and laughed off. Karla continued to ply Tammy with alcohol, and Tammy enjoyed being treated equally to the adults. It wasn’t long until she began to feel very tired and nauseous, and the room started spinning. She fell asleep after encouragement from Karla; she never knew her drink had been spiked. Now she was unconscious, they could continue with their original plan: for Paul to forcibly take Tammy’s virginity. Karla helped Paul undress Tammy while he set up the camera that had been used to film the family festivities earlier that day. Karla had stolen Halothane from work, an extremely strong anaesthetic. She covered a cloth with it and held it over Tammy’s nose and mouth; they wanted to be sure she wouldn’t wake up this time. They then proceeded to film themselves raping the young girl over and over. Tammy’s young body could not deal with the combination of drugs and alcohol in her system, and she began to vomit, choking on it as she lay unconscious; she soon stopped breathing. Panicking, Karla and Paul cleaned and dressed her before calling an ambulance. They dragged her along the floor and into Karla’s bedroom before they started to hide evidence and clear up. The sounds of the emergency services alerted Tammy’s parents to the situation, and they followed the ambulance to the hospital. Tammy never regained consciousness and died on Christmas Eve. She was just a few days away from her 16th birthday.
Despite the awful chemical burn that the Halothane had left on her face, Tammy’s death was ruled a tragic accident. The medical examiner believed the burn was caused by either the acidity from the vomit or the carpet; Karla had claimed they had dragged Tammy’s body across the floor to position her so they could administer CPR. Yet again, Paul had evaded the police. Tammy was buried on the 27th of December 1990; the funeral home had done their best to camouflage the burn mark, and she had an open casket. Paul and Karla kissed Tammy and told her they loved her. It wasn’t until the body was exhumed years later that they found the items the couple had hidden in the coffin: a photo of the pair, an invitation to their wedding and a necklace with one of Paul’s rings on it. The same necklace she was wearing when they raped her.
Paul blamed Karla for the death of Tammy, believing she should have been more careful with the Halothane and shouldn’t have used so much or placed it directly on her face. He became obsessed with the dead child, sobbing over pictures of her and telling his friends he didn’t want to live without her (he should have thought about that before he murdered her, maybe). He became increasingly dependent on drugs and alcohol and mentally broke down briefly. While he was publicly mourning her, in private, Karla was dressing in Tammy’s clothing, and the couple were sexually role-playing on Tammy’s bed.
On the 12th of January 1991, Paul kidnapped a woman and raped her in front of Karla before leaving the victim on a deserted road. On the 6th of April, Paul dragged a 14-year-old child into nearby shrubs and sexually assaulted her.
On the 7th of June 1991, Karla invited ‘Jane Doe’ for a girl’s night out. Karla spiked Jane Doe’s alcohol with Halcion, a tranquiliser, and she soon passed out. Karla alerted Paul, claiming she had got him an early wedding gift, and they both sexually assaulted the unconscious girl while filming themselves. The following day, Jane Doe felt ill but assumed it was from the alcohol; she wasn’t aware of the sexual assault. She remained friends with the couple and was even rumoured to have attended their wedding. Not long after, they repeated the attack on her. Like Tammy, Jane Doe started choking, and Karla rang 911, but Paul managed to revive her. The ambulance was cancelled, and she again assumed it was due to alcohol. She was 15 years old.
“The next two hours are going to determine what I do to you. Right now, you’re scoring perfect,” Paul to Leslie Mahaffy.
On 15th June 1991, Paul met Leslie Mahaffy. She had missed her curfew after attending a friend’s funeral & wake and had been locked out of her house. Paul initially told her he would break into a home, and she asked him if he had any spare cigarettes. He led her to his car, where he brutally blindfolded her and shoved her inside before returning to Karla. They both repeatedly raped and assaulted Leslie, yet again filming themselves. You can find details of the sexual assault online, but I don’t believe it is needed in this article. “When, at last, Paul was done taking pleasure in Leslie's pain, he left the poor girl bloodied and bruised on the floor. Leslie called out to Karla, perhaps hoping the 21-year-old would come to her rescue. But Karla ignored her cries” (taken from official transcripts). Unfortunately, while the rape was happening, Leslie’s blindfold slipped down; Paul would later say that he had every intention of freeing Leslie, but Karla was concerned that she would now be able to identify them. The next day, they murdered her. Paul claimed Karla had overdosed on Halcion, and Karla claimed that Paul strangled her. They hid Leslie’s body in the basement and waited for the Holmolkas to come round for a family meal; they were celebrating Father’s Day. Once they had left, they decided what to do with the body. Paul went and bought bags of cement, then dismembered Leslie’s body with his grandfather’s circular saw before placing the parts in cement blocks. The cement blocks were then dumped in Lake Gibson, except for a particularly heavy one left on the shoreline. It was discovered by Michael Doucette and his son, Michael JR, who were on a fishing trip. Leslie had been 14 years old.
“Well, it was Father’s Day…and there was a dead girl in my house, and my family there. I won’t forget that.” Karla
The couple married on 28th June 1991.
On the 29th of March 1992, Paul stalked two sisters and followed them back to their house. They reported it to the police, but unfortunately, they had incorrectly written down his licence plate. On 18th April, one of the sisters spotted him again and followed him, getting a clear description of him, his car, and the licence plate. The information was passed to the police, but, yet again, this was never followed up, and Paul evaded them again.
On 16th April 1992, the couple drove around looking for potential victims and spotted Kristen French walking home to her nearby house. Karla, map in hand, got out of the car and asked Kristen for directions. As Kristen looked at the map, Paul attacked her from behind, threatening her with a knife and forcing her into the car. Kristen’s parents alerted the police soon after, and within 24 hours, they had a team working to find her and had found many eyewitnesses. Over the weekend, Paul and Karla repeatedly tortured, raped, and assaulted Kristen and forced alcohol down her throat; the video camera was recording everything. Kristen had never been blindfolded, so it can be argued that they had every intention of murdering this victim. There are arguments again about the who and the how; Paul claims Karla strangled Kristen, and Paul claims Karla beat her with a mallet before strangling her with a noose. The couple then went to visit the Homolka family for Easter dinner. Kristen was found on 30th April 1992, naked and in a ditch with her hair cut. She was 15 years old.
On the 27th of December 1992, Paul beat Karla with a flashlight, causing many injuries, including black eyes and broken ribs. Karla returned to work on the 4th of January 1993, claiming she had been in a car accident. Colleagues were worried and alerted her parents. Upon seeing her, her parents physically removed her from the house and took her to St Catherine’s General Hospital, where she said she was an abused wife and filed charges against Paul. He was arrested but later released.
In February 1993, Paul was placed under 24-hour surveillance after his DNA sample matched that of the Scarborough Rapist; as mentioned previously, the police had had his DNA sample for 26 months before testing it. The Metro Toronto Sexual Assault Squad interviewed Karla, who claimed she was a victim of Paul’s mental and physical abuse. Later that night, Karla confessed to her aunt and uncle that Paul was the Scarborough Rapist and that they were both involved in the murders of Leslie and Kristen. She also mentioned the video camera and let on that everything was recorded. Karla was placed under 24-hour surveillance, and her lawyer was trying to get her legal immunity in exchange for her cooperation. At this time, the case of Tammy’s death was also reopened.
On 17th February 1993, Paul was finally arrested. The police obtained a search warrant for Karla and Paul’s house at 57 Bayview Drive, Port Dalhousie, but it was limited; no evidence that was not expected could be kept, and nothing undocumented on the warrant could be used as evidence. The damage had to be minimal, meaning they couldn’t check inside walls for the videotapes Karla had mentioned. The only tape found contained a clip of Karla performing oral sex on Jane Doe.
On 5th May 1993, Karla was offered a plea bargain of 12 years for manslaughter if she agreed to help the prosecution; if she refused, she would be charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder, amongst other charges. She accepted the plea bargain and began to talk. Karla portrayed herself as a victim, forced to participate against her will, a young woman stuck in a physically and emotionally abusive relationship. This may have worked out for her, except the videotapes turned up. Paul’s lawyer had retrieved six tapes from the house on the 6th of May 1993 but didn't hand them over to the police until the 22nd of September 1994. The recordings showed the graphic rape of Tammy and the torture and rape of Leslie and Kristen. Karla appeared in these videos as a consenting accomplice, enjoying herself. A pretty different reality from the victim she had initially tried to portray herself as. There was a public uproar regarding her plea deal (the Canadian press referred to it as the ‘Deal with the Devil’), and prosecutors admitted that they would never have agreed to the plea bargain had they known about these tapes and their content.
Paul was found guilty on all charges, including first-degree murder, kidnapping, forcible confinement, aggravated sexual assault and indignity to a human body. He was declared dangerous and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2000, he attempted an appeal, but it was turned down. In 2006, his lawyer said Paul confessed to a further ten sexual attacks. Whilst in prison, Paul took the Psychopathy Checklist and scored 35/40, classing him as a clinical psychopath. He became eligible for parole in 2018, but it was turned down, and he remains incarcerated at the Millhaven Maximum Security Prison in Ontario.
Karla divorced Paul on 25th February 1994. She served her entire 12 years, having affairs in prison and even taking educational courses, leaving her with a degree in psychology. Karla was released in 2005. Initially, she had conditions of release imposed on her by a judge; she couldn’t contact Paul or any of the victim’s families, she couldn’t be near children under 16, and her movement was restricted. This was overturned just months later. She changed her name to Leanne, married her lawyer’s brother, Thierry Bordelais and has three children, two sons and one daughter, with him. There were, and still are, many debates about Karla’s mental health, the reasoning behind what she did and if she was psychopathic. Forensic psychiatrist Doctor Graham Glancy noted, ‘she appears to be a classic example of hybristophilia, an individual sexually aroused by a partner’s violent sexual behaviour’. She showed signs of superior intelligence, with an IQ of 132 (the average IQ in Canada is 100.4).
So, what do you think? Was Karla forced to participate, or could she have been the driving force behind the murders? Tammy’s first autopsy concluded it was a natural death; after the body was exhumed, the second autopsy showed that suffocation/smothering could not be ruled out as a cause of death. One of the videotapes showed Karla holding the cloth over Tammy’s mouth and nose. She knew Tammy’s crush on Paul and the flirting/kissing between them; could it have been jealousy-driven?
How was Paul able to get away with sexually assaulting so many women over six years? I read that Karla would get annoyed at him for raping women without a condom – is there a chance he got one of his victims pregnant? I very much doubt he would care. I was a little amused to discover he was a budding rap artist, even going as far as to buy recording equipment. He had grandiose ideas of being a successful musician and played his music to some of his victims. Ambition is all well and good, but when someone genuinely starts to believe their outrageous fantasies, surely a friend or family member, someone, may question it. His lyrics included “Yo! I'm the cracker rapper, the lady attacker - the coppers think they know me, but the coppers, they can blow me, 'cause the Scarborough Raper, that's just the tip of this caper!” In 2018 he said, “I didn’t consider their (his victims’) emotions as much as, obviously, I should have,” he said. “I offended to raise my self-esteem because when it was low, I felt terrible… I didn’t go out with the intent to hurt them; I did it for myself.” (as much as you should have?!?! Understatement of the year there, Pauly boy). He also said, “Being me, in prison, is hard,”. Shame.
I also have to express how utterly pissed off I got at reading how the police handled the whole thing. They had information thrown at them for years, pointing towards Paul. A little bit of competency and lives could have been saved (this article highlights just how many times the police got it wrong). The police performance was investigated afterwards by Archie Campbell, whom the Ontario lieutenant governor had appointed. His 1996 report found a lack of organisation, coordination and communication, leading to a dangerous man ‘falling through the cracks’. One of his recommendations was for an automated case-management system to be implemented for the police services; Ontario is the only place in the world with this system, and all police services have access. And that is the story of Paul Bernardo & Karla Homolka, the Ken & Barbie killers. As always, let me know what you think in the comments! Thanks for reading, look after yourselves, and I will see you soon!
Hi! I spend a lot of time writing for the website and I basically exist on caffeine and anxiety - if anybody would like to encourage this habit, please feel free to buy me a coffee!
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