I'm your Bernardo/Homolka information clearinghouse.

[CanuckAmok]

Any questions, just ask.

[johnnie]

1. I had to check it out

The Ken and Barbie murders.. I remember the case well, just forgot the names. Isn't she due out of prison in June or something like that?
Those two were something else. I'm not sure if she was under his "power", but I believe she should have been just as guilty as he was.

[livetohike]

2. Do you know them or any of their victims?

Were you involved in investigating or writing about the case?

It's been a while since I read the book, can't remember the title, but they seemed like the Bonnie and Clyde of murder.

[southlandshari]

3. "Invisible Darkness" was a good book on this one

What a shocker that story is. Psychopaths, the both of them.

[XanaDUer]

4. Is Karla out yet?

...

[CanuckAmok]

5. Sorry...I've been away.

There are a few books, "Karla's Web" being one of them.

Homolka's sentance will be over soon... however, it's rumoured (just rumoured), that there is a hit out on her whe she's released, so her attorney(!) is trying to find ways to keep her incarcerated, including filing a motion with the Supreme Court to reopen the case of her sister's death. Since she was already tried in connection with her sister's death, she technically cant be tried again, but evidence follwing the trial suggests that Homolka was far more involved than was revealed (and that the Crown Counsel knew, but suppressed the evidence to get to Bernardo).

Yes, I did cover the case, as I was working at a St. Catharines radio station at the time (I'd just been discharged from the Forces).

As far as her relatively lenient sentence, it was basically because the Crown was so intent on convicting Bernardo that they negotiated a deal with Homolka in exchange for immunity from certain charges.

Sadly, the deal was inked before the evidence of her sister's death became and issue. It's incredible to imagine, considering what was already known about these two already, that her sister's death was still considered an accident of misadventure.

What came out during the trial is that Homolka wanted to present her younger sister to Bernardo as a sex toy for the two of them, as a Christmas present. Homolka was a vetrenary assistant, and stole some sedatives from the clinic where she worked. She mixed them with alcohol given to the younger sister, but it was too much, and she died from suffocation (vomited and choked on it).

I'm not sure about laws in the States, but in Canada, a spouse cannot be made to testify against his/her partner, so the only way they could actually get Homolka to testify agasint Bernardo was to promise her some kind of deal which would keep her from being charged with murder.

The defence, and the press, tended to portray Homolka as a victim of Bernardo's influence, but it became clear after some time on the stand that she was probably delusional and psychotic, in the true sense, but not insane. She was, basically, just a person with a narcissistic complex, and had very little regard for anyone but herself and her husband.

Because it was such a small community, I knew people who knew them both. One of my friends' backyard butted againss their backyard, and they used to walk his dog and house-sit when he was away.

Someone else I know was one of their Bridesmaids.

And the impression I got from both these people was the Bernardo and Homolka were completely superficial and self-absorbed...

As an aside, the paranoia caused by this case was so accute, that before they were caught, the SPCA shelter in St. Catharines was destroyed by fire. Once Benardo/Homolka (who was a vet assistant) were apprehended, they were investigated in connection with the destruction of the shelter. Some wags even suggested it was burned to either suppress evidence of more victims, or as part of an occult ceremony. As it turned out, it was a fire caused by an electrical fault...no crime involved.

For a year before they were caught, the streets were literally deserted after dark. It was a state of seige, with all kinds of stories of vigilante justice... One that sticks in my mind was a case involving a highschool girls rowing crew. What happened was the crew were running cross-country on a remote stretch of road as part of their training, and the coach was in a follow-van. Two men driving by saw what they thought was a man in a van stalking teenaged girls, so they pulled a U-turn, ran the van off the road, and beat the coach nearly to death before police arrived.

but I digress...

My personal belief is that Homolka's mental state was manageable, and had she not met Bernardo, she would probably never have become involved in anything like this. But she did meet Bernardo, and despite having an absolutely clear sense of the difference between right and wrong, she went along with everything he did.

For the record, the only reason they were apprehended is because he had beaten her severely with a Maglite, and while she was being treated in the hospital, she told the police he was the French/Mahaffey murderer. It was a statement made out of spite and anger, not a sense of justice. If she hadn't been so angry with him, the kidnappings/murders could have continued unabated.

Part of her defense was that she was in constant fear of Bernardo, because of his systematic abuse. But evidence proved that she was left alone with both kidnapped girls in the house on several occasions, and could have run, or helped them escape, or simply called the police... but she didn't, because she was just as involved in, and excited by, the crimes as he was.