Karel and Dorothy Homolka were the proud parents of three beautiful girls: Karla, Lori, and Tammy Lyn. The family settled in the town of St. Catharines, Ontario, and – up until Christmas Eve 1990 – led a decidedly normal and unassuming life.
Karla Leanne, the eldest of the three sisters, seemed obsessed with the notion of happily ever after since early childhood. She treasured her collection of Barbie dolls, and would often dream about one day having the perfect husband, the perfect home, and the perfect life, just like Barbie.
Fate struck the petite blonde at the tender age of 17, when she met her now-infamous match, Paul Kenneth Bernardo, in a hotel restaurant. Karla and a friend from the pet store she worked at were staying at the hotel for a business convention. Paul walked into the restaurant (also with a friend), and sat down at the table with the two young girls. After a hot and heavy flirtation session, Karla took Paul upstairs to her room, and they made passionate love while their friends awkwardly observed.
The fact that Paul was six years her senior only seemed to heighten Karla’s infatuation. Paul was handsome, charming, educated, and career-oriented – precisely the kind of man that she had been dreaming about; the kind who could give her the story book ending she had always pictured for herself. If Karel and Dorothy Homolka had any issues with their daughter dating an older man, they quickly resolved those issues in favour of welcoming Bernardo into their home and family. Dorothy took to affectionately referring to him as her “weekend son.”
Unfortunately for the Homolkas and so many others, Paul Kenneth Bernardo was not all that he appeared to be. Since puberty, Paul had developed a rather strong taste for voyeurism, and was caught a number of times for peeping in his neighbourhood. The harder he tried to satisfy his increasingly-strange sexual urges, the more desperate his cravings became. On May 4, 1987, he committed his first known rape. By the time he and Karla began dating, he had already committed a number of rapes and other sexual crimes against women. By September 1995, he had come to be known as the Scarborough Rapist.
Bernardo alleges that, early on in their relationship, he asked his young girlfriend what she would think if he told her that he was a rapist. Reportedly, Karla’s response to him was: “That would be cool.” Eager to impress her older and more experienced boyfriend, Karla produced a set of handcuffs and suggested that Paul use them on her. She also let him gag her, put a dog collar around her neck, and engage in strangulation play while they had sex. Although Karla was willing to do just about anything to please Paul, a sexually-experienced teen wasn’t quite what he was looking for. Paul Bernardo was into virgins.
Karla was not a virgin when she met Paul, and nothing she said seemed to make him forgive this. When he approached her about his desire to deflower her youngest sister, Tammy, Karla reluctantly agreed. He told her that she owed him, because she wasn’t able to give him her own virginity. He also told her that, if she didn’t help him get what he wanted, he would just take Tammy, anyway. He was becoming a rather prolific rapist, after all…
Karla was working at a veterinary clinic, and had unrestricted access to a number of surgical-quality sedatives. Ultimately, she settled on Halothane, an inhalational general anaesthetic that she had seen the veterinarian use to put animals to sleep before surgery. She stole a supply of the drug, thus setting the unthinkable plan into action. On December 23, 1990, Paul informed Karla: “we’re doing it tonight.”
Karla laced her baby sister’s spaghetti (Big Sister’s specialty) with sleeping pills that she had ground to a fine powder. The family then indulged in a few rounds of Christmas Cheer. Because of Tammy’s age, and the fact that she probably wasn’t accustomed to drinking alcohol (only on special occasions), nobody seemed concerned when she began slurring her speech and claimed that she was seeing double. When the rest of the family prepared to retire for the night, Tammy insisted that she wanted to stay up to watch a movie with Paul and Karla. Together, they watched approximately 20 minutes of Lisa and the Devil before Tammy passed out unconscious. Karla and her deviant lover wasted little time in going about their plan.
Paul raped Tammy Lyn repeatedly, in a variety of ways, while Karla held a rag soaked in Halothane over her little sister’s nose and mouth. In the clinic where she worked, they used sophisticated medical equipment to ensure that just the right amount of the drug could be administered (too much could be dangerous), but for their purposes on that fateful night, the rag would simply have to do. The last thing that Karla wanted was for Tammy to wake up while Paul was raping her. Karla urged Paul to use a condom, and to finish quickly, but he ignored her. After he finished raping Tammy, he instructed Karla to commit a series of sexual acts upon her unconscious sister. Initially, Karla refused, but Paul was persistent…
By the time the attack on Tammy was complete, Paul and Karla had a home movie by which to remember the occasion (Paul taped everything). They also had a major problem on their hands: Tammy began to vomit, and to choke, and then she stopped breathing. Paramedics were called to the Homolka residence, but Tammy could not be revived. Tammy Lyn was dead. The autopsy on her body was conducted poorly, and as a result, her death was ultimately ruled an unfortunate accident. Paul and Karla were in the clear.
Less than two months after Tammy’s death, Karla wrote the following in a letter to her friend, Debbie Purdie:
Fuck my parents. They are being so stupid. Only thinking of themselves. My father doesn’t even want us to have a wedding anymore. He thinks we should just go to City Hall. Screw that! We’re having a good time. If he wants to sit at home and be miserable, he’s welcome to.
He hasn’t worked except for one day since Tammy died. He’s wallowing in his own misery and fucking me! It sounds awful on paper (but I know you’ll really see what I’m saying).
Tammy always said last year that she wanted a forest green Porsche for her 16th birthday. Now my dad keeps saying: ‘I would have bought it for her, if I’d only known.’ That’s bull. If he really felt like that he’d be paying for my wedding because I could die tomorrow, or next year, or whenever?
He’s such a liar.
Karla and Paul moved into their own home; a dreamy, pink clapboard house on Bayview Drive in the nearby town of Port Dalhousie. Karla dutifully attended to wedding plans in her time off from the veterinary clinic, while Paul became more and more involved in an “easy money” cigarette smuggling operation with his friend, Van Smirnis.
On the night of June 15, 1991, Paul was driving around looking to steal some license plates for his smuggling business when he spotted a young girl, 14 year old Leslie Mahaffy, hanging around in the darkness. They talked a little; she told him that her parents had locked her out of the house for breaking curfew, and asked him for a cigarette. Paul forced her into his car, blindfolded her, and took her back to his house on Bayview.
Leslie was held hostage for 24 hours, while Paul and Karla repeatedly raped, tortured, and humiliated her. Paul’s trusty camcorder hummed in the background, recording the teenager’s degradation for posterity. The following day, Bernardo claimed, Homolka fed her a lethal dose of Halcion. Homolka claimed that, instead, Bernardo strangled her. The pair put her body into their basement.
The next day, Dorothy, Karel, and Lori Homolka joined the soon-to-be newlyweds for Sunday dinner. After Karla’s family left, Paul dismembered Leslie’s body with a circular saw, and encased the pieces in cement. Together, Paul and Karla dumped the remains in Lake Gibson. A little more than two weeks later, Paul and Karla were married in a lavish ceremony at Niagara on the Lake. Leslie’s remains are uncovered by a couple of unsuspecting fishermen that same day.
Now with two dead girls, and a growing list of sexual assaults under his belt, Paul is still unsatisfied. On April 19, 1992, Paul and Karla go out driving in search of another teenage “sex slave.” They encounter 15 year old Kristen French on her way home from school. She had long, brown hair, and was dressed in her school uniform. Karla reportedly suggested to her husband: “What about her?”
Paul seemed quite taken by Kristen; she was held captive at 57 Bayview for three days, enduring the same sort of torture that had befallen Leslie Mahaffy. Paul and Karla took turns holding the video camera while Kristen was repeatedly raped, beaten, and defiled. Paul forced Kristen to say that she loved him. He also forced her to watch her parents on television, pleading for her safe return. Kristen did what she could to please her insatiable captors in the hopes that they would let her go.
On April 19, Kristen’s spirit was set free. Paul claims that Karla killed their captive while he was out picking up dinner for the three of them. Karla testified that she stood in the room and watched while her husband strangled Kristen with an electrical cord. However it happened, Paul and Karla left her where she lay while they showered, dressed, and headed off to enjoy Easter dinner with the Homolkas. Upon their return, they washed Kristen’s body, cut off all her hair, and dumped her – naked – less than a kilometer from the place where Leslie Mahaffy was buried.
The investigation into the deaths of Leslie and Kristen were botched from the very beginning. Unbelievably, Paul was right under the noses of police before the murders had even occurred, yet the authorities failed to realize it. He had been directed to provide a DNA sample for the investigation into the rapes in Scarborough, but that sample wasn’t tested until much later.
When the police approached Karla with a number of questions about her husband, she freaked. She told them nothing on that day, and instead arranged to meet with a lawyer friend of the family. After a bitter fight and a violent beating, Karla and Paul had been living apart. Detached from her fairy tale husband, Karla was now ready to spill her guts.
Prosecutors were open to a deal, facilitated by George Walker, where Karla would plead guilty to a lesser charge and receive a pre-determined sentence of ten years, providing that she did not cause any of the deaths herself, and that she provide full disclosure of her role in the crimes while testifying against Bernardo.
What nobody knew at that time (besides Paul and Karla) was that the videotaped assaults of Tammy Lyn Homolka, Leslie Mahaffy, and Kristen French would eventually surface during Paul Bernardo’s trial – thus rendering the need for Karla’s testimony moot. Another thing that the authorities couldn’t have possibly realized at the time was just how much Karla seemed to enjoy the time that she and Paul had spent with the girls.
Karla Homolka may be a liar, but the camera is not.
While undergoing psychiatric evaluation before her trial, Karla wrote the following letter to Karel, Dorothy, and Lori Homolka on April 13, 1993:
Dear Mom, Dad and Lori,
This is the hardest letter I've ever had to write and you'll probably all hate me once you've read it. I've kept this inside myself for so long and I just can't lie to you anymore.
Both Paul and I are responsible for Tammy's death. Paul was "in love" with her and wanted to have sex with her. He wanted me to help him. He wanted me to get sleeping pills from work to drug her with. He threatened me and physically and emotionally abused me when I refused. No words I can say can make you understand what he put me through. So stupidly, I agreed to do as he said. But something -maybe the combination of drugs and the food she ate that night- caused her to vomit.
I tried hard to save her. I am so sorry. But no words I can say can bring her back. I have thought many times of killing myself but I couldn't put you through the pain of losing another daughter and sister again.
I don't blame you all if you hate me. I hate myself. I live with the pain of knowing I unintentionally killed my baby sister every day. I think that's the real reason I put up with Paul's abusive behaviour - I felt I deserved it for allowing him to drug and rape my beautiful baby sister.
I loved her so much and never wanted to do anything to hurt my 'Tamiskins' please believe me. I would gladly give my life for hers. Nothing I can do or say can bring her back. I don't expect you to ever forgive me, for I will never forgive myself.
Karla
XOXO
Karla “allowed” Paul to drug and rape Tammy Lyn, who “unintentionally” died as a direct result. Karla stole the drugs from the vet clinic, and Karla administered the fatal combination of sleeping pills (which Tammy unwittingly mixed with alcohol) and Halothane – but only because Paul threatened and abused her. Karla is obviously very sorry for what she did, evidenced by the fact that she admits she has often thought of killing herself. Bless her heart; she decided to spare her parents and sister the pain of loss times two.
What a shining example of humanity, this heavenly creature that is Karla Homolka.
Following one of the most sensational trials in Canadian history, Paul Bernardo was convicted of a number of offences, including two counts of first-degree murder, and two counts of aggravated sexual assault. He was sentenced to life in prison (about 20 years in Canada), but was later declared a Dangerous Offender, meaning that it is unlikely that he will ever be released. Paul Bernardo will almost certainly draw his final breath in Kingston Penitentiary, where he is being held in segregated solitary confinement.
Karla served every day of her own prison sentence: 10 years as stipulated in her original deal with the prosecution, plus an additional 2 years for her involvement in the death of Tammy Lyn Homolka (although she was never officially charged or convicted for her involvement in her sister's death). The better part of her prison term was served in comparative comfort at a rehab-oriented women’s facility in Joliette, Quebec.
When exclusive photos of Karla seemingly enjoying herself in “jail” were published, people were outraged all across Canada. Under pressure from the Court of Public Opinion, Karla was quickly moved to a decidedly less cushy facility -- a men’s prison – where she came into contact with an inmate by the name of Jean Paul Gerbet.
Depicted in the media as “another Paul Bernardo,” Gerbet was convicted of strangling his girlfriend, Cathy Caretta, in a jealous rage. Reportedly, Gerbet and Homolka carried on a steamy, forbidden affair – exchanging sexy notes, nude photos, and underwear. When Homolka applied for parole, her ongoing relationship with Gerbet was listed as one of the reasons that her request was denied: “You have secretly undertaken an emotional relationship with another inmate, and evidence gathered seems to indicate that this relationship rapidly became sexual," the panel stated.
Homolka was released on July 4, 2005 amid a media feeding frenzy – camera crews staked out Ste. Anne Des Plaines prison, scrambling for an exclusive shot of perhaps the most hated woman in Canadian history. Shortly after her release, she legally applied to change her name but her request was denied. Within a year, she got the name change she desired when she married Thierry Bordelais, a French/Canadian citizen believed to be a relative of Karla’s lawyer, Sylvie Bordelais.
A media firestorm ensued yet again when it was reported that Karla had given birth to a baby boy less than two years after her release from prison. The average Canadian seemed to have a hard time making sense of the fact that a woman who had taken part in the murder of three children now had a child of her own. At present, she has three children – ironically, one for each life she helped to extinguish.
When it was reported in the media that Karla and her new family had left the country, Canadians generally seemed to be relieved. In truth, Karla Homolka (now calling herself "Emily Bordelais" or "Leanne Teale Bordelais") still makes her home in Canada, at least for part of the year. Some allege that Karla has actually returned to St. Catharines -- the scene of her crimes -- on a number of occasions to visit her aging parents, and sister Lori (aka “Logan"), who is also married with three children of her own.
Unbelievably, it has been reported that Karla now makes a living in the child care industry. Not only is she an ESL teacher in her husband's home country of Guadeloupe, but she also runs a web site selling children’s clothing and diapers which she makes herself:
Bébé Douceur.
Finally, if you're in need of some advice on child rearing, Karly Curls dishes it out in lumps on the parenting message board BabyCenter under the alias "
love.you.forever".
Truth, dear friends, is so much more fearsome than fiction.
More from Mascara & Murder...
Fireside Chat
Transcript of a video segment that came to be known as the "Fireside Chat." In the segment, Karla talks about how great it was when they raped her little sister, Tammy, together. She also tells Paul of her plans to help him kidnap and rape more "virgins." The segment ends with Karla and Paul having sex in her dead sister's room while she pretends to be her dead sister. Good, old fashioned family fun at the Homolka house!
Karla Homolka's Plea Agreement
2 for 1! Downloadable PDF of Karla's authorization for her legal counsel to enter into a plea agreement with the Crown, as well as the actual agreement.
The Galligan Report on Certain Matters Relating to Karla Homolka
Downloadable PDF document of full report produced for the purposes of evaluating Homolka's plea bargain after the fact.
Bernardo Investigation Review: Report of Mr. Justice Archie Campbell
Downloadable PDF document of full report produced for the purposes of evaluating the investigation into the crimes of Paul Bernardo and his wife Karla Homolka.
Karla Homolka Huffs, Puffs, Demands Parole
Read the letter written by Karla Homola to Correctional Services Canada in 2003; ten years after she was sent to prison for her role in the deaths of teenagers Tammy Lyn Homolka, Leslie Mahaffy, and Kristen French.
Paul Bernardo Interview with Toronto Police Services Sex Crimes Unit
Downloadable PDF transcript of Bernardo's June, 2007 interview with police. Yes, he's still crazy, and still blames the actual murders on his lovely and talented ex-wife.
Karla Homolka: The Stephen Williams Letters
View complete transcripts of a series of letters Karla Homolka wrote to journalist and author Stephen Williams during her incarceration.
CBC Radio-Canada Interviews Karla Homolka
Complete transcript of Karla Homolka's post-prison release interview with Radio Canada in 2005.
New: Video Added!
Petition: Release the Karla Homolka Broadcast!
Add your name to the petition to Canadian documentary series The Fifth Estate for the release of the shocking Karla Homolka Broadcast.
Karla Homolka 'Haunted' by Victim on BabyCenter
Read responses from a mysterious user using the name of Kristen French to 'haunt' Karla on a popular parenting message board.
Haunting Karla Homolka
News media article related to the psychic Karla contacted to rid her murder house of unexplained noises and voices.
'The Day an Entire City Grieved'
This article recently appeared in the St. Catharines Standards concerning the anniversary of the murder of Kristen French.
Dissecting Karla Homolka... Astrologically
View the astrological chart compiled for Karla by users of the astrology forum Elsa Elsa.
Killer Karla Born 42 Years Ago Today
Lamenting the birth of Canada's Most Hated Woman.
From Homolka to McClintic: Explaining the Inexplicable
Discussion of the popular science surrounding sexually violent female offenders
Magnotta: "I am not dating Karla Homolka"
Murder suspect Luka Rocco Magnotta drums up publicity for his ego by associating himself with notorious child killer Karla Homolka.... and then he denies it.
Canada: Land of Maple Syrup... and Evil?
Dissecting a laugh-riot of an article on the inherently evil nature of Canadians.
Magnotta: "My life is in danger and I need your help."
Exploring list of abuses Luka Magnotta claims were perpetrated against him by a mysterious man named "Manny" -- the list is eerily similar to the list that his heroine, Karla Homolka, provided to police as part of her testimony against estranged husband Paul Bernardo.
Leslie Erin Mahaffy: In Loving Memory
Memorial post on the date that Leslie was murdered by Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka.
Finding Karla
Article about a Canadian journalist who followed a trail of bread crumbs left by savvy Internet watchers all the way to Guadaloupe, where she found Karla Homolka living in obscurity... and then wrote a $3 article about it.
More Thoughts on "Finding Karla"
What's the difference between a "stalker," a "sleuth," and a "respected journalist?" I'm not entirely sure, but I discuss the topic, anyway, in this post!
Photographing Karla Homolka: Zoran Milich's Story
Read about how photographer Zoran Milich captured the first images of Homolka since she fled to the French island of Guadeloupe with her husband and three children.
"Serial Killer in Guadeloupe?"
Guadeloupe Television (GTV) news story on Karla Homolka; unfortunately, the video is available only in French.
"What do people in Guadeloupe think about Karla Homolka living there?"
Link to an article about local reactions to the e-book that revealed Homolka's whereabouts in the Caribbean.
BabyCenter Users Weigh In on Homolka
Read a very interesting discussion posted to one of Karla's favourite online hangouts; concerned mothers discuss the fact that Homolka -- a convicted killer -- was in their midst.
Finding Karla... for Profit
Discussion of the surprising financial success of Paula Todd's recent e-book
Kowtowing to Karla?
Should Karla Homolka, her life, and crimes be off-limits now that she has children?
The Fifth Estate: Karla Homolka
Watch the award-winning CBC documentary!
Karla Speaks for Herself
Watch video footage of Karla Homolka discussing her role in the crimes she committed alongside serial rapist Paul Bernardo
"I cried more hearing her tell what happened..."
Poignant words from one of Karla's BabyCentre acquaintances.
Homolka Clone on TV's Dexter
Spoiler Alert!! Is new character "Hannah McKay" based on Karla Homolka?
Bernardo-Homolka Tweet not Trending
Television star Lena Dunham broadcasts tasteless Halloween costume ideas.
The Smirnis Brothers: Where Are They Now?
Learn about Bernardo's childhood friends who eventually turned him in for the reward money.
Bernardo's First Love
Meet Nadine B., Paul's high school sweetheart.
Lori Homolka: "It's so easy to con people."
Meet the younger Homolka sister that Karla
didn't kill.
Karly Curls 2.0
Exploring the evolution of Canada's Most Hated Woman.
Bernardo & Homolka: Worst of the Worst
Discussion of recent McLeans poll on the most depraved criminals in Canadian history.
Bye Bye, Bébé Douceur
The online shop selling baby gear hand made by a killer appears to have gone out of business.
Teacher Homolka: Rumour or Reality?
Exploring the facts behind the reports that Karla Homolka now works as a teacher.
Karla Does Christmas
Learn how Karla Homolka celebrates the anniversary of her first murder.
Outside Links
Bernardo/Homolka Discussion Forum & Resource Archive
Virtual warehouse of information on the case, including shocking details on Karla's current whereabouts. The board owner sleuthed Karla out in the most unlikely of places using nothing but fortitude and good, old Google. If there is anything you want to know about the case, you'll find it here!
Law and Disorder
Great blog maintained by Stephen Williams, the author of two (highly recommended) books about the crimes of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka.
PBKH Resources
Massive collection of news articles related to the case. In most cases, the documents are actual copies/scans of the original articles. It took me a while to sift through this archive; an excellent resource.
Karla Homolka Information
Another spansive message board-style resource on Canada's most-hated woman. Some very interesting discussions here; including a number of "guest" appearances by some of Paul and Karla's living victims.
