Criminal Case Analysis - Karla Homolka

All information is from the Canadian Encyclopedia (source 1) unless otherwise stated.

Facts1
Prior to meeting Karla Homolka, Paul Bernardo was the “Scarbourough Rapist” and was
responsible for the sexual assault of various young women. He was one of the people
questioned as a suspect, but was not arrested. However, they took samples of his blood, hair,
and saliva for future DNA testing. (At the time, this was a very new method of identification
and there were many samples but a slow testing process.)

On December 23, 1990, Karla Homolka (aged 20) was engaged to Paul Bernardo (26), and was
living with her family in St. Catharine’s, Ontario. At night, Karla Homolka drugged her youngest
sister Tammy (15)with halothane, and sexually assaulted her with Bernardo. The process was
videotaped.

Later, Tammy vomited and stopped breathing. All evidence of the crime was hidden or cleaned
and 911 was called. Tammy died in the hospital after being transported by an ambulance. The
police questioned the two afterwards, and accepted the explanation that Tammy drank too
much alcohol and choked to death on vomit. The halothane had chemically burned her face,
but this was attributed to a carpet burn.

Later, the two moved out on February 1 of 1991, and got married on June 29.

Also on June 29, human remains were discovered at Lake Gibson, dismembered and set in
concrete blocks. The person was identified as Leslie Mahaffy (14), who had been reported as
missing on June 15. Paul and Karla were on their honeymoon in Hawaii when police were
investigating the murder.

Almost a year later on April 30 of 1992, another body was found in Burlington in a ditch.
Identifying features such as her face and hair were compromised but she was identified by an
injury as Kristen French (15) who had been reported missing on the 16th of April.

The crimes were later linked and were known as the two “schoolgirl murders” of southern
Ontario. Investigating police interviewed Paul Bernardo on May 12, but he was then dismissed.

On January 6 of 1993, Karla Homolka was admitted to St. Catharines General Hospital after
she reported being beaten by Bernardo with a flashlight. He was arrested and released.

Paul Bernardo’s DNA was matched with the “Scarbourough Rapist” in February, 1993. He was
surveilled by police.

Issues1
Karla consulted with her lawyer and agreed to testify against Paul if she was granted immunity.
This was deemed impossible, but she was given a reduced sentence in exchange. Her evidence
led to Paul Bernardo’s arrest on February 17.

When Homolka was interrogated, she blamed Paul Bernardo for the crimes, claiming that she
had been forced into the crimes out of fear. She also said to police that Bernardo had talked
about past rapes, and was the one responsible for actually killing the victims through
strangulation.

Police searched the couple’s house and found evidence of the rapes, along with a videotape
that showed Homolka and Paul sexually assaulting two additional unknown women, in which
Karla was willingly involved.

Later on July 6 of 1993, Karla was convicted of two counts of manslaughter in a plea bargain,
with two concurrent sentences of 12 years in prison.

However, 6 tapes were later brought to light on September 22, 1994. They had been taken
from a hiding spot in Paul and Karla’s home by Paul Bernardo’s lawyer in May of 1993, but had
not been given to police. The tapes showed Homolka’s consent in their involvement in the
assaults/murders.

Opinions + Decisions

After the new evidence was presented, there was public outrage about Homolka’s short
sentence, considering her extremely active involvement in the crimes, some calling it “a deal
with the devil” that the prosecution had made. The plea deal protected Karla Homolka from
being prosecuted for the crimes if she disclosed her own involvement. 2

However, the Attorney General Marion Boyd did not retract the plea bargain. There are various
proposed reasons for this, ranging from maintained sympathy for Karla Homolka 3 to a belief
that they were obliged to allow the plea bargain as it had already been enacted.

Additionally, her testimony was an important part of the Crown’s case, since the murders were
not evidenced by the videotapes and required her testimony to verify. 2

Many people were not satisfied with this decision, such as the families of the victims.

In 1997, Paul Bernardo’s lawyer was charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy to
obstruct justice as he had not presented the tapes to police, but he was acquitted in 2000.

Karla Homolka was released from prison in 2005 with restrictions on her freedoms including
contact with minors, but these restrictions were later controversially removed. 3

Karla Homolka lived in Montreal for a time, giving birth to a son in 2007, then moved to
Guadeloupe and had two more children. She then returned to Quebec in 2012.
Citations

1. Butts, E. (2018, October 31). Bernardo and Karla Homolka Case. The Canadian
Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/paul-
bernardo-and-karla-homolka-case
2. Driedger, S., & Jenish, D. (2014, March 21). Homolka's Plea Bargain Revealed. The
Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved from
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/homolkas-plea-bargain-revealed
3. Hunter, B. (2018, June 28). Deal with the Devil: 25 years since Karla Homolka skated.
The Toronto Sun. Retrieved from https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/deal-with-the-
devil-25-years-since-karla-homolka-skated