What to know about serial killer Paul Bernardo, and what he did

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Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is measuring serial killer and rapist Paul Bernardo, whose 2023 transfer from Ontario’s highest security prison to Quebec has sparked widespread public outrage.

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At an election rally in Hamilton, Ontario on Tuesday, Poilievre promised that the federal Conservative government would repeal Bill C-83 and “send Paul Bernardo to the highest security prison forever.”

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The legislation C-83 he mentioned was proposed by the Liberal Government in 2019. While it aims to terminate the use of solitary confinement, it revised the Corrections Act to indicate that officials should ensure prisoners are in a “minimally restrictive environment.”

Although Canadian Public Safety is on record, Bernardo will also transfer under old laws proposed by Stephen Harper’s conservative government, the move to a medium-security agency shocked the families of Bernardo victims. It’s about Bernardo and what he does.

Who is Bernardo?

In the early 1990s, Paul Bernardo and then-wife Karla Homolka raped and killed her sister Tammy. They also kidnapped, raped, sexually tortured and killed Christine French and Leslie Mahafe near St. Catherines, Ontario.

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In the book by Peter Vronsky and RJ Parker, “The Perfect Couple’ first raped Kara’s sister and then kidnapped the teenage schoolgirl they enslaved, raped, tortured and killed while happily recording their own videos.”

“Bernaldo admitted that he and his ex-wife, Karla Homolka, kidnapped Leslie Mahaffy, 14, and Kristen French, 15, in separate episodes in 1991 and 1992, sexually abused at their homes in St. Catharines and videotaped the New York Times performance.” But he testified that he was not present when either girl died. ”

Bernardo, 60, is the only one who testified in his defense.

A judge declared Bernardo a dangerous offender and sentenced him to life imprisonment in 1995, with at least no chance of parole after a jury convicted on two counts of first-degree murder.

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“The possibility of being treated is far away,” said Assistant Chief Justice Patrick Lesage, who announced two months ago that Bernardo was a dangerous criminal in November 1995 for his life in prison for the first-degree murder of Leslie Mahaffy of Burlington and Kristen French.

“You have no right to be released. Everyone in this country knows you are a dangerous criminal and you know yourself.”

Bernardo was also convicted of murder and rape by sister Tammy Homolka, who was only 15 years old at the time.

In a surprising development, Bernardo admitted that he was the notorious Scarborough rapist, who admitted 32 rape-related crimes that occurred in the 1980s, ranging from sexual assault to robbery, involving 14 young women.

It was not until after the trial that Holka’s entire role in the killing appeared, when the rape video was revealed. After being sentenced to 12 years in prison in a plea deal, she was released in 2005 and is widely known as the “deal with the devil.”

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Bernardo tried it but failed to get three paroles.

What did Bernardo’s victim say?

“I still want you to understand the sadistic, manipulative and psychotic nature of Bernardo’s behavior and his infinite threat to public safety,” Debbie Mahaffy told the parole board.

“A sadistic like Paul Bernardo, a sexually psychopath who cannot understand and apologize for what he did to Leslie. Over the years, he has been unable to admit that he was kidnapped, raped, tortured and killed Leslie, then destroyed her, and then destroyed her body. We have to accept the reality and truth that he did.”

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Ryan Mahaffy was seven years old when he was kidnapped on June 15, 1991. He will never see her again. She was captured for several days at the Bernardo home in St. Catherines, Ontario. Two weeks later, her body was found to pieces.

“I’m full of anger and my children will learn that people like him are free to walk among us and worry that I can’t protect them from such evil as him,” he told the parole board. “I know my own father was tortured by the same fear.”

What did Bernardo do?

A report in the Washington Post said Bernardo and his then-wife Holka “was an attractive couple, but Bernardo would eventually be treated as a serial rapist by the police, sometimes as a assistant to Holka.” In 1990, according to court testimony, Homolka and Bernardo took drugs with animal calmers after a family Christmas dinner.

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On April 16, 1992, Bernardo kidnapped Kristen French from the church parking lot with the help of Homolka. They raped, tortured and killed her, then exposed her body in the ditch and cut her hair off.

On June 14, 1991, Bernardo kidnapped Leslie Mahaffy from outside her home, then raped and murdered her with Homolka.

Fifteen days later, Bernardo and Homolka got married at a grand ceremony.

On the same day, Mahafe’s limb was found to be found in concrete at Lake Gibson near Lake Gibson.

What did Bernardo say to his crimes?

In the murder case, Bernardo told the court that he had done something horrible.

“I know this, I’ve caused a lot of sadness and pain to a lot of people, and I deserve punishment,” Bernardo told the court. “But I didn’t kill these girls.”

Bernardo testified that the sexual fantasy he shared with gays hurt many people.

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“Obviously, looking back, I had a problem with sexual behavior,” he told the court. “I think it’s something I have to seek professional help.”

During last year’s parole hearing, Bernardo showed no obvious emotion when discussing the crime. But when he discusses his mother, he sometimes suffocates.

Bernardo told the parole board that his mother was sexually abused and his father turned him down. He said his sins were committed by his mother and what happened to him.

Bernardo said he took a “victim stance” due to his childhood and teenage years. “I’m a very bad asshole kid.”

But he said he felt “high happiness” when he abused and raped women.

“Are you a narcissistic person?” he was asked. He replied: “I manage it effectively.”

Real Crime Sidelines: Covering How the Way of Bernardo’s Trial Changes Tom Blackwell

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