If the name Karla Homolka sounds familiar to Americans, it should. The Canadian blonde is perhaps most vividly remembered for cavorting in a home made video tape filmed around the rape and murder of her teenage sister Tammy and two other teen victims, Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy.
It's been over a decade since Homolka cut a deal before the horrorific nature of the crimes became apparent as video tapes of the teen's rape, torure and murder suggesting she wasn't the innocent victim of an abusive relationship some had contended emerged. Homolka testified against ex-husband Paul Bernardo as part of the deal.
Homolka's controversial plea bargain with the Crown was made before authorities learned of the horrific images of torture and rape, including an attack on her own sister, caught on videotape and hidden in the couple's southern Ontario home - tapes that also cast a different light on the woman who had portrayed herself as a battered wife acting under duress.
Her release is all but assured with Canadian Attorney General Michael Bryant and civil rights groups arguing the plea bargain must be abided by to preserve the Canadian system of justice.
Human rights supporters say that Homolka has served her time. Still others believe the so-called "deal with the devil" she made with prosecutors must be honoured for the sake of keeping the justice system working.
It seems the best many outraged Canadians can hope for are some restrictions on her upon release.
The restrictions include: reporting to police once a month; staying away from convicted criminals; keeping authorities informed of her travel and a year of therapy. Homolka was visibly upset at a recent hearing when the notion of staying away from other criminals was announced. Along with a lesbian relationship, Homolka has also been maintaining a romantic relationship with another male convicted murderer, Jean-Paul Gerbet while the two have been in prison.
Homolka and Gerbet met at Ste-Anne-des-Plaines, a maximum-security institution north of Montreal during Homolka's stay there between 2001 and 2003. She had been transferred there after the publication of photos of her at a birthday party at the Joliette Institute sparked public outrage.
Morissette also told court Homolka had a lengthy lesbian relationship at Joliette.
From left to right: The victims - Tammy Homolka, Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French
This post is also available at Blogger News Network.
It's a sick, sick world where the best one can hope for in a situation like this is some sort of cosmic justice in this life and eternal damnation in the next. Cosmic justice in this life? Yeh, it'd be for the common good if some serial killer now on the loose selected her as his next victim and were caught and sent to hell as well, where the two could "enjoy" the fruits of their lives.
Posted by: David | Saturday, June 04, 2005 at 01:50 PM
If I could get past the inconceivable crimes she partook in maybe I could feel; "she did her time, no lets all move on". Unfortunately I can't. I just shake my head in disbelief and wonder what it must tbe like for the Kristen and Leslie's families. I feel unconfortable saying this, but it might be a blessing that they didn't survive. I can't imagine how they would be able to deal with what they endured if they had lived.
Posted by: kelly | Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 02:33 PM
This filthy disgusting person has no right to live. I hope when she meets her maker that she rots in Hell and in turn gets sexually tortured throughout eternity. may God bless the victims families through all this and let them rest in peace, and I also feel that she should be put to death and not be rreleased from jail because when she is released she will be capable of comitting this crime all over again!!!
Posted by: Tracey | Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 11:03 PM
They are absolutely discusting! what would you get out of raping and abusing, and cutting up your own sister and her friends?! Canada law needs to open their fucking eyes and PUT HER AND HIM TO DEATH! Drug dealerd get more time than thay! It's ridiculous! 12 years for all those crimes..it's sick! She should have to sit there at their graves and think about the shit she and her asshold husband did! Maybe when she gets out karma will catch up with her and i hope that it does...because you know what they say "what goes around comes around" and im praying that shes put to death and off this earth to save the other people that shes capable of harming if she is released!
Posted by: Katie | Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 11:09 PM
THIS IS SICK! they need to be punished for their crimes in the SAME way that they harmed their victims..i cant imagine their familes and what theyre going through...i hope both of them rot in hell for what they did and i think that we all should pray that they dont get out..
Posted by: Lauren | Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 11:12 PM
Im sure someone will kill her - I hope anyway - anyone out there have any thoughts on this?
Posted by: bob | Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 11:18 AM
I think letting her out is a great idea - because we don't let our courts kill these beasts - it gives the publc a shot at it. Probably the mafia will get her - who knows - but she will likley not go un-punnished. I wonder if her killer will get more time in jail then she did - haha
Posted by: Frank | Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 11:22 AM
I hope the media gets it on tv. I hope whoever does it gets away with it. I dont think the cops will look to hard for them.
Posted by: Kamal | Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 02:24 PM
I think she will last a few weeks tops - then its gun time
Posted by: stinky | Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 02:26 PM
I hope that these demented killers (and all rapists in the World) die horribly and their twisted ,evil soul burn for all eternity...I want justice not things to be left to just us.........
Posted by: Revenant | Tuesday, July 05, 2005 at 10:17 PM
From a Canadian, our country needs to get off their asses and realize that these sickos need some kind of motivation to (maybe) think twice about committing these types of crimes. These two lovebirds did these murders together. It is bull shit that Homolka "claims" she was a victim. She was just as culpable as he and she is shown joyfully participating on VIDEOTAPE!! She killed her own little sister! I hope someone takes her out, an eye for an eye. A firm believer in Capitol Punishment, these losers whine when their time is up, but are more than willing to commit the crime without remorse. What a shitty bleeding heart judicial system we have!?@#%#!@!#
Posted by: Cindy | Wednesday, July 06, 2005 at 04:15 PM
As Canadians we should love and embrace Karla as a friend. She is one of us now and we should love her and forgive her. She should now be considred a friend a joy to know and see in our streets. We must fully forgive her and pretend that she is not an evil sex crazed murderer rapist who chops up bodies and dumps them in the lake. Its ok if she raped and killed her little sister and the other girls. People make little mistakes from time to time. We must look past this. Even when she kills others - we should look for a brighter side and seek the nice person in her to love and try to forget about it. I think she looked pretty in the interview and I'd like to hang with her as long as she promised not to kill me or anything like that. We should offer her flowers and gentle waves of appreciation for her mere existance. So if anyone see's her out there - buy her a flower - tell her there are forgivers out there who love her.
Posted by: Fartsey | Monday, July 11, 2005 at 01:53 PM
Karla Homolka - I must admit I hated her till the tv interview - now - YUMM
Posted by: Wallace | Monday, July 11, 2005 at 04:25 PM
When I look at the hard, cold, logical and physical realities of the Bernardo/Homolka case, I end up assigning Karla something like five percent of the blame. Those realities include:
* Paul Bernardo was a psychopathic rapist before he met Karla.
* Bernardo had made a major study of psychological conditioning and control prior to meeting Karla. This included the use of sales techniques and other psychological strategems acquired in the business world in relationships with women, and it included experiments in the brutalization and control of other women.
* This same sort of conditioning and control is known to have broken down allied POWs during the Korean War.
* At least one of Bernardo's previous girlfriends, Dayle Coltin, had by all accounts been turned into a zombie over a period of six months.
* Karla Homolka had never committed any sort of a crime, or hurt anything or anybody prior to meeting Bernardo at age 17.
* Doctors described Karla as the worst case of wife abuse they had ever seen, noting that many old injuries showed up on xrays along with the ones they were treating. Those old injuries were clearly part of of Bernardo's conditioning regimen.
* The one totally inexplicable crime which Karla was involved in was assisting in the rape of her sister. From what I read, this was motived by a desire to protect the girl from serious harm by allowing her to be raped without knowing anything about it. This was clearly a horrible mistake on Karla's part; she needed to kill the monster in his sleep and then claim temporary insanity.
* Karla was almost certainly suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome after that.
* The videos which turned up were all scripted, by Bernardo, and there was no clear motive for Karla to have wanted to participate in any of them, other than the motive of survival.
* Two of the three jurors who were interviewed on the subject stated that Karla's participation appeared to be coerced.
* There are other clear cases of victims of such treatment acting in inexplicable ways, ignoring clear chances to escape, participating in bank robberies (Patty Hearst) etc. etc.
* There are major studies of such phenomena which do not involve Karla Homolka at all, including the American FBI study titled "Compliant Victims of Sexual Sadists", and the various studies of what is called "Stockholm Syndrome".
* According to reliable sources, Homolka's testimony was needed to insure Bernardo's being put away forever EVEN WITH the videos. The "deal with the devil" was actually necessary.
What it all adds up to is that the victims and the Canadian people have a huge case against Paul Bernardo, but not much of a case against Homolka. I'd have given her six years with parole after five for her role in Tammy's death, and that would have been it.
The original ban on information produced a tidal wave of bad information and misinformation on the case while making real information very difficult to come up with. Most of the opinions you read on the subject are based on ignorance.
Posted by: mike | Tuesday, July 12, 2005 at 08:24 AM
This sicko who, if we forgive and forget that she could have let two young kidnapped girls leave the house and live while Paul was out, still has to account for her actions. Setting up and taking part in the rape of her baby sister shows her for what she really is. Forget the battered wife nonsence that the bleeding hearts will promote, Karla is a cold blooded rapist and murderer as proved in the video tapes. Justice has a strange way of being carried out, all in good time.
Posted by: Bill | Tuesday, July 12, 2005 at 01:26 PM
In general there is only one logical explanation here. The Canadian Government has noticed that the world is over-populated and evil and dangerous - yet Canada seems not to be. In order to toughen us up - killing off a few family members and young girls HAS to be made acceptable to the Canadian public. It just is not politically correct to announce this fact all over the place - so this is a first step in their slow introduction of the concept. The fact is - now we know its kinda ok (according to our legal system) to knock off a few people - and even ok to torture and rape them too. It is about time we face the facts that this is an ugly mean world - and Canadians have been living a goody goody safe hippie like existance for too long. Time to let the murderers free and make our country more of a dog eat dog enviornment like most of the rest of the world. Otherwise we will be weak in the future where only the strongest will survuve. Eat or be eaten --- we can learn from Karla
Posted by: Bernie | Tuesday, July 12, 2005 at 03:00 PM
hey there - just want to say that my dog "sophie" bit the guy from union energy when he came to my house (and I'm still sorry about that). The police made me take my dog to the vet and have her put down. I wish my dog was half as lucky as Karla.
Posted by: patrick | Tuesday, July 12, 2005 at 03:08 PM
you need to have better actions on what you do
Posted by: kristeena locke | Wednesday, November 23, 2005 at 08:08 PM
This woman is obviously sick in the head. If a woman, that is actively involved in causing so much suffering and death in other people, is aloud to roam free among everyone else.. where do the standards lie? When a woman who is sick enough to aid in the rapes and deaths of young girls, even her own sister, (without regard to the eternal torture it brings to the survivors and the victim's families)is set free, what is the limit for the amount of harm a pretty woman can do to another and get away with? It scares me to think that not only are there killers and rapists out there, but also people who are demented enough to aid in the process.
Posted by: lisa | Thursday, December 01, 2005 at 02:28 AM
Read the books and watch the movie then make your decision. I hate when people only read one or two things about the case and automatically assume Paul is to blame for everything. It takes two to tango and guess what! Shes just as guilty! Think about it; it doesnt matter how "Sexy" the guy is or how much he hits you, you DONT do that to your sister. Paul never killed anyone until Karla came along (she was present for each murder) and we dont know for sure who actually killed the girls. Now im not defending Paul because hes not innocent either. What he did was very wrong but again if Karla had any sense of morality or whatever she would have stopped him and said NO when he wanted Tammy and she wouldnt have drugged Jane Doe for him or helped him kidnapp the other girls. By letting him have what he wanted and by helping him do these awful things she was showing him that he was in control and he could do whatever he wanted. So when he saw how easy it was with Tammy (and getting away with it) he then knew he could do it again. So like I said, im not defending him, but it makes me mad when people go around and point fingers without knowing all the facts. Guess what, no one but Karla, Paul and the girls know the exact truth. So why did Paul get life and Karla got 12 years! Its bullshit, dont hate them...hate the system!
Posted by: Brittany | Thursday, January 11, 2007 at 01:09 AM
I think people do need to move on, yeah she commited some outrageous crimes and did deserve more time but the point is she didnt get more time and shes out now theres no comments or statements that will change that.I think people seem to forget she was a victim as well, she took a horrible part in the raping and theres no proof about the murders but still she is a human to and how many times has everyone been taught people deserve a second chance and need to be forgiven for there mistakes. And besides , she nothing without a partner in crime..what harm is she going to do. So people should leave her alone and just move on.
Posted by: kyla | Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 11:30 PM
P.s to Brittany
yeah she wasn't innocent but if you read the books and did the research she was the one in Vet school and he was the one RAPING other girls .. before they met he was the Scarbrough rapist. so he is no where near innocent. And, if you feared your life what would you do? Trust me its not as easy as some girls think you can't just up and leave or run far there is a fear that is unexplainable and before you say anything about how she felt, you would need to experience this feeling that she had. And hun, i've got the newspaper clippings the books and etc i've done my research. Neither of them are innocent but without her help they would not have had Paul.
Just giving you something to think of.
Posted by: kyla | Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 11:37 PM
Having forgot about this case for a couple of years(pretty much after the hype died down after Karla's release)I was reminded of it today by a program on T.V. Initially I was really pissed off that the media allowed me to forget about it, then I was for a split second fearful because I realized I didn't know where this sick bitch was. I have children of my own and everyday I fear some piece of garbage like karla & Paul will zero in on my child. Quickly I got online to try to find out where Karla is. Last sighting leaving work!!! How the hell does a murderous, rapist sick fuck like Karla get a job??? Could you imagine working with this waste of flesh??? To anyone who thinks this person deserves a second chance I say let her work with your daughter, let her ride the bus with your child. I tell you if that disgusting excuse for a human being were in my community I would make it my life's work to expose, humiliate, harrass her until she left. Second chance??? Someone who is carrying on a lesbian and heterosexual relationships whilst in prison is still very confused and making huge errors in judgement! Just look in her eyes and you can see hatred & death.To quote previous opinions, "we made a deal with the devil". Don't ever forget that.
Posted by: debi | Friday, June 01, 2007 at 10:41 PM
Give the lady a break.. she's hot. I'd do her.
Posted by: Torontonian | Thursday, June 21, 2007 at 01:35 AM
For the people that think she has served her time. You wait, you have not heard the last from her. Although Paul was doing very serious rapes before, she helped him think it was okay. I think she did it for her own pleasure as much as his. They both fed off of each other and it is sad to think she is out, free to do this crap again. She is just as guilty as him, if not more. A women who does this to her own sister and to other women, is messed up and she should of rotten in jail. God bless the families of these victims, and I hope she gets what is coming to her in the end.
Posted by: dawne | Thursday, August 23, 2007 at 06:59 PM
.would.like to sit down with her and try and get inside her head ........how on earth did she do them things .
Posted by: charles rothwell | Friday, November 09, 2007 at 03:36 PM
it is a sick world indeed and i don't think that she should be let out ..no one can believe her word ....as for her husband..it seems to me he put her up to most of it and she did it just to keep him happy...thats sick...there both sick...though he put her up to it she styll took part and went along with it for years..i cant help but think if this was a black person if this case would be handled diffrently...
Posted by: Ms.Jones | Monday, January 14, 2008 at 01:08 PM