Tuesday, July 31, 2012

BabyCenter users weigh in on Homolka



News clipping prior to Homolka's release from prison in 2005


Those who have been following the movements of convicted serial killer Karla Homolka know that she has been avid user of a number of Internet parenting forums. One of her favourite hangouts was the popular online community, BabyCenter. Although Homolka, who posted there under the name love.you.forever, had been "outed" on the site a number of times, many of the posts and threads related to her ongoing presence there were locked or deleted by forum administrators who were presumably not too keen on the decidedly dark flavour of the discussions.

Recently, I happened upon yet another discussion about the woman who served only 12 years of soft time for her participation in the rape and murder of 3 Ontario teenagers -- one of them her own sister, Tammy Lyn. This time, I had the foresight to save the discussion before community moderators made it disappear. The discussion was posted on July 22, and was "locked for review" by a moderator later that same day.

The concerned mothers of BabyCenter filled 20 comment pages with their thoughts and reactions to the shocking news that they had been posting alongside a convicted killer:

August 1, 2012: I have replaced the PDF below with a new file; this version has been edited to hide all personal avatars that included pictures of children. Although the discussion was public, I didn't feel comfortable displaying those types of photos here. I did not receive any complaints; this was simply a change that I deemed appropriate for this blog.  



29 comments:

  1. your link doesnt work?

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    1. Hmph... I just tested, and it works okay for me. Also, I can see that other users are accessing the file. Are you using a mobile device, or an actual computer?

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    2. I'm on a computer. When I click your link it just opens a page to google drive. This is where it takes me--> https://drive.google.com/start?authuser=0#home ?

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    3. There were 7 users online viewing this doc with me, so I know it works, just not for you! So weird!! I will look into the problem, and will report back any info I can find about it :)

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    4. That is very strange! I just tested this link on another browser (not connected to my Google account to make sure that anyone could view), and it works for me...

      Is anybody else having trouble with this link??

      https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8h_tqh1pR9Oak02eEFYVVllT3M

      Alternately, the discussion is still online at BabyCenter (for now). Here is the link:

      http://community.babycenter.com/post/a35077762/karla_holmoka_beening_hunted_and_photographed

      This is totally bizarre -- these Google Drive links *should* work for anyone with the URL, not just Google users. Very troubling!

      Thanks for tipping me off to the problem.

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  2. I love it! I didn't know it would be this popular ;0) I was feeling pretty angry the day I started that thread. I had just read the new book by Paula Todd and read about her living a fairly 'normal' life. How dare she?! Everyone knows what a demonic person she is and yet here she is with 3 innocent children in her midst.

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    1. So you're the author of this thread? Welcome! So glad you stopped by here to share your thoughts on the discussion!

      When I found out (through WKH) that Homolka was a prolific user of various parenting boards, I felt awful for all the mothers who were corresponding with her -- sharing precious memories and photos of their children with a convicted child-sex-killer. How could they have known?

      If nothing else, I think that Homolka being "outed" may serve as an important reminder to people who enjoy social networking to be more aware of the fact that things aren't always as they seem. That has always been true in Karla's case -- she didn't look like a monster back then any more than she does now. But she is most definitely a fundamentally warped human being, and she is out there, sharing our world with us.

      I don't children, but if I did, I sure as hell wouldn't want something that she made anywhere near my kid!

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    2. TNT -- there is another thread about Killer Karla on BBC, but it's a locked sub-group so I was unable to access it:

      http://community.babycenter.com/login?r=%2Fpost%2Fa35334157%2Fname_that_serial_killer_on_bbc%3Fcpg%3D3%26csi%3D2390942190%26pd%3D1

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  3. You get little to no attention despite the work & time you put into this awesome blog . Kinda sad :(

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    1. I'm not sad; so long as intelligent people such as yourself continue to use this blog as a resource, I'm happy :)

      Thank you for your kind words!!

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  4. Kitty,
    Thanks so much for saving this and posting it here. It does my heart good to see that, even if our 'what-were-they-thinking?' justice-what-justice? system is brain-dead, at least our everyday citizens get it. Gives me hope, in the midst of a story that's sooo dark. I know that, should they ever come across it, it will help her children to read that people cared, even if no-one could do anything about it.

    And thanks for posting the "Karla speaks for herself" vids from the Fifth Estate, etc... That took a lot of work. Thank you! Very much appreciated.

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    1. Thanks so much, Anon! I am always glad to hear from people who were affected by the cases presented here -- it is very clear from the comments of people like you that these horrible events can never truly vanish from our collective consciousness; they leave an everlasting stain on the hearts of those who lived through it.

      While I may not have been *directly* impacted by these crimes, I can say for certain that my childhood ended the day I found out about what Paul & Karla stood accused of.

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  5. I hear of Karla Homolka for the first time today when I watched the Lifetime movie "Karla". I was shocked when I learned it was based on a true story. So during the movie I wanted to know more and my whole evening has been consumed about this woman. I was surprised to learn she had been posting on Babycenter under the name 'Love.you.forever' and a girl by the same name of one of her victims corresponded with her. A journalist has located her in French Guadeloupe living with her husband (brother of her lawyer) and 3 kids. Although she does not deserve any peace in life I believe her children do. They will be innocent victims of harassment forever. I'm sure she has a lot of grief in her life. I guess she did what she could to live out her life in a sense of normalcy.

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  6. So the comment on the thread (page 54 of the PDF) where Karla is talking about her Russian/Italian model/actor friend who agrees with spanking...she has to be talking about Luka Magnotta there. From what I gathered on the internet, Luka claimed to be Russian/Italian, hat a strict/abusive upbringing, supposedly visited Russia frequently, and has a child. So they Luka and Karla DID have a relationship, contrary to what Luka and the police say.

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    1. That one, I believe, was Luka, pretending to be Karla; dude is totally nuts!! He did the same thing on other sites, too. Quite a fan club :-/

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    2. Yup -- just double-checked, and it looks like the user Bellaboo inadvertently quoted from a profile Magnotta created to look like one of Karla's. He used a slight modification of her username to trick people.

      Really, really, REALLY nuts!!

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  7. kind of off topic, but i had a few questions that some of you might be able to answer =)

    1.) are dorothy and karel still living?

    2.) is tammy's middle name spelled "lyn" or "lynn"?

    3.) how are the french and mahaffy families doing? are they living still in burlington and st. catherines?

    4.) what is the status of the lot at 57 bayview drive?

    thanks so much! i look forward to discussing this case with all of you!

    -erika

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    1. Hi, Erika! I think I can help out with most of your questions:

      1) Dorothy and Karel are still living, and are still in St. Catharines. They continued living in the house where Tammy died for many years after the trial, but have since relocated due to Karel's failing health (he suffers from MS).

      2) Tammy Lyn Homolka. That is a pretty uncommon spelling, so most people make the mistake of adding the second "n."

      3) As far as I know, the French and Mahaffy families are still living in the area. Unfortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Mahaffy divorced one year after the Bernardo trial ended, most likely as a result of the profound (and seemingly endless) tragedy they had endured. Last time I heard, Leslie's brother Ryan was living out West. Donna French continues to speak to school-age children about safety in memory of Kristen.

      4) The house that Paul and Karla lived in was demolished, and a beautiful, new home was built on the lot. I posted a photo of the new house in this article: http://mascaramurder.blogspot.ca/2012/03/removal-of-evidence-from-homolka-and.html

      Thanks so much for your comment and your questions. I've come to know this case inside and out, so if you have any more, feel free to ask away and I'll do my best to get you the info you're looking for :)

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  8. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cr%C3%A9ations-B%C3%A9b%C3%A9-Douceur/272497532031?sk=wall&filter=12

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    1. Nope, just some poor unfortunate soul who chose a similar name for her business.

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  9. Do you think the above link also belongs to Karla?

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  10. thank you so much for your response, miss kitty!! i am currently reading lethal marriage by nick pron (i finished invisible darkness by stephen williams and liked it a lot) and i just can't get enough on this case. it fascinates me as much as it sickens me. i find all of it to be so interesting, yet unimaginable. i assume that is the way that all of you feel. again, thank you so much for your response! i look forward to discussing this case further =)
    -erika

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    1. Definitely check out Karla: Pact With the Devil, also by Stephen Williams. It's an absolutely fascinating read!

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    2. that book is also in the stack of books on this case to read =) here's another question for you -- i ordered a copy of the film, "karla" last year, and believe that it was sent from quebec. there are no special features or options on the copy that i received. i have read reviews online about special features such as "beyond the film" etc. is it because the copy that i ordered did not contain content that may have been banned in canada? thank you so much!
      -erika

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  11. I've got to say this Kitty, you are awesome. Like many others I have become fascinated with this case. The crimes sickened me, the fact she is out and about amongst us sickens me too. But fact that someone can get to her consoles my anger of the fore mentioned. I'm not into taking the law into your own hands. But when the law lets down the victims and their families and in turn a whole nation. Maybe this is the exception to the rule.

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  12. Am I the only one from Guadeloupe who reacts? It must be because it´s in English. But the advise to write a letter to Francois Hollande about the unfairness of having the co/partner of a serial rapist and killar living in Guadeloupe, even if she has been in prison, has made more of us aware. I join the people who are Writing letters to our president, and i am preparing a letter. I hope that he can do something. Send her back to Canada? I don´t know. We will see. Thank you for your courage and compassion for the victims of this case. The more we are to agree that we should never forget, the more our effort has a chance to go to History, for the sake of the inocent Girls who died so crually.

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  13. What do they do for a living? How are they making money to live? Karla only has remorse for herself and no one else. She is a monster and the only thing that bothers this woman is the back lash she is getting because she doesn't think she deserves it. Why? Because she never did the actual killing there for she is innocent of all the crimes except for not getting help to stop Paul. Seriously she shows no remorse and is as cold as a stone. I never once saw this woman show any kind of emotion to the families she has hurt. May she rot in hell when she dies and anyone sick enough that associates with her. Her kids are an off spring to her and may they rot in hell to because no good is ever going to come out of them. Both parents are psycho paths and it will be destined they will too become killers and sick individuals as they get older. There's just to much against the kids to say they will grow up to be normal people. Just look at Paul's father enuff said!

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    1. well, as much as i can't comprehend how anyone could marry Karla knowing full well what she's done, there is know way for us to prove that the father of her children is a psychopath (unless i've missed something). and as for Paul's father, if you're referring to Ken Bernardo, keep in mind he is not Paul's biological father. nothing in this case can easily be blamed on genetics, so Karla's children shouldn't be damned by society right off the bat.

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