Teacher Homolka: Rumour or Reality?

"Schoolgirl Killer" now a teacher?

Surely, this cannot be...

In her $3 e-book Finding Karla, Paula Todd made a strong case for why she ventured to seek out 

Karla Homolka, the woman who had reportedly fled to Guadeloupe with her new husband and child after serving a controversial 12 year prison sentence for her role in the sex-slayings of three Ontario teenagers.

Bloggers were now reporting that Homolka was teaching schoolchildren in the Caribbean. Karla Homolka teaching children?

[...] If there was a chance she was teaching children, many Canadians would want to know. And the only way to know was to find her.

Indeed, they would. Presumably, concerned parents in her new country of residence would want to know, as well. An estimated 65000 - 70000 copies of the 38-page booklet were purchased online; clearly, the public was eager to learn what "Karly Curls" was up to. However, after speaking with Homolka in person, Todd seemed convinced that the Teacher Karla myth was as good as debunked.

Karly Curls 2.0

Karla Homolka honeymooning in Hawaii with Paul Bernardo

Like countless other teen queen's of yesteryear, Karla Homolka continues to evolve with the times. The woman who once dreamed of being showered with gifts and affection from "Big Bad Businessman" and serial rapist Paul Bernardo, now seems content in raising her three young children in relative anonymity. I use the term "relative" because I don't believe that it's possible for her to live completely under the radar, and not for the reasons that you might think.

Most who have followed the case know that Karla's unassuming life as a mother and teacher has received a lot of media attention following the release of Paula Todd's e-book Finding Karla. However, full credit for unearthing Homolka in Guadeloupe cannot be given to Todd, as she merely proved correct a number of long-standing theories that had been freely available online. Not even the savvy staff at the popular forum WatchingKarlaHomolka (now WKH2012), who first confirmed her new location, can lay exclusive claim to bragging rights concerning the scoop.

So who is really responsible for finding Karla? The answer is: Karla Homolka herself.

Kowtowing to Karla?

(Image: badgifs)

During my ritualistic daily examination of incoming traffic, I came upon a passage that I wanted to share on this blog:

"Perhaps she thinks it’s pointless to try to make up for her crimes when her crimes can’t be undone, and perhaps she just thinks of herself as a being who has done bad things, and has now moved on, and why can’t the world realize that and leave her alone. What she doesn’t get is what the world would be like for her and her children if everyone on Earth acted just like Karla Homolka."

Devil in the Flesh

The post referenced above appears to have been inspired by Paula Todd's e-book which -- like it or not -- has successfully re-introduced this fiercely unknowable creature to the masses at a time when the blonde kill-bot may have thought she was home free.

While some people have voiced the opinion that Karla Homolka should be left alone now that she has children of her own, I am unable to fully give myself to this moral undertaking.

To assume that her children are in danger's path now that the whole world knows where (and who) she is is to assume that the world is full of people like her, and it's not. Mercifully, the utter lack of respect for human life she exhibited is exceedingly rare. Moreover, is it wise that we continue kowtowing to a woman who is effectively using three innocent children as human shields?

Perhaps the reason why a dedicated group of observers have remained vigilant all these many years can best be described using the words of grieving mother Debbie Mahaffy:

"I can't imagine that she could walk out of prison and find anywhere to live in Canada where she doesn't look over her shoulder, or wonder... and I think that's a good thing."

Finding Karla... for profit

Paula Todd

(Image: CTV News)

Is it possible to profit from a decades-old criminal case about a series of brutal sex-killings, and the woman who (essentially) got away with murder? Sure it is; just ask Paula Todd.

According to a recent article in the Hamilton Spectator, Todd's e-book Finding Karla is enjoying brisk sales. The piece has sold between 65-70,000 copies, for an estimated $200,000 in gross sales revenue -- not bad for a 14,000 word e-book that contains (mostly) information which has been available online, for free, for quite some time.

Todd explained why she ultimately settled on the online "e-book" format:

"I didn’t have the luxury of waiting a year for it to see print as a real book or two or three months for publication in a magazine. And I’d spent a lot of my own money tracking her down. I couldn’t make it back on the kind of money magazines pay."

Personally, I have my own suspicions concerning why Finding Karla turned up as a Kobo Single rather than in a conventional book or magazine. Todd's e-book was released just in time to exploit a spike in renewed interest in Karla Homolka following an unfortunate re-telling of a long-standing rumour that the ex Mrs. Paul Bernardo had been romantically linked to Luka Magnotta. At the time, Magnotta was at the center of an international manhunt for the murder of Concordia University student Jun Lin, which was videotaped and subsequently broadcast online. It is widely believed that the rumours concerning Homolka and Magnotta was started and perpetuated by Magnotta himself in a desperate attempt to drum up publicity for his flailing career as a male model and porn star. By the time Montreal Police corrected the error, it was too late -- the ridiculous rumour was already back in circulation.

What better time to publish a book about Homolka than when public interest in her case was at its highest point since her release from prison? I suspect that, had she waited any longer, she would have missed out on the opportunity to ride the coat-tails of another horrific violent crime.

Todd's interview with the "schoolgirl killer" has been called "the scoop of the century" by drama llama Christie Blatchford, but in my own opinion it is nothing of the sort. In the hour that she spent in her home with Todd, Homolka simply recited her familiar refrain; refusing to discuss her crimes, her life, or anything other than what had led the freelance journalist to her doorstep.

While Paula Todd may well have "found" Karla, it's not as though she accomplished some great feat of investigative reporting. The hard-working staff at WatchingKarlaHomolka pinpointed Homolka's location in Guadeloupe several years ago, and have been discussing it online, free-of-charge, ever since.  Paula Todd is hardly a crack gumshoe, she is merely the first person to have considered Killer Karla worthy of the hefty airfare.

For the record, Homolka also maintains an address in Montreal, where she resides for part of the year. For reasons unknown, you won't find any mention of this in Todd's e-book. Either she is not the investigative whiz she proclaims herself to be, or perhaps a blitzkreig on Canadian soil simply lacked the  excitement of a self-funded foray into the domesticated jungle?

Stephen Williams on "Finding Karla"

Magazine cover featuring Stephen Williams

For those who are unaware of who Stephen Williams is, or why anyone should care what he thinks about Finding Karla, he authored two books on the crimes of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. His first book, Invisible Darkness, is considered to be the most accurate account of the husband and wife's rape and murder spree. In fact, it was argued (in court) that Williams' description of the crimes were so accurate that he was accused of having viewed the banned videotapes that Bernardo had made of the attacks on Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy. 

Williams follow-up book was more about Karla Homolka herself than it was about the crimes that she admitted to. Homolka exchanged a series of letters with Williams during her incarceration, which became the foundation for Karla: A Pact with the Devil. In those letters, she discussed everything from her frustrations with the justice system to her daily beauty routine. 

If I were to name any one person as the foremost authority on this case, it would be Stephen Williams. This is what he had to say about Paula Todd's $3 e-book, Finding Karla:

FINDING KARLA: FRAUD, FICTION OR BOTH? (Link will open in a new window)

Karla Homolka makes appearance in Deadlight game

Gaming forums are abuzz with talk of the strange "collectibles" featured in Deadlight, a survival horror platform game released on August 1, 2012. 

The story follows Canadian Mountie hero Randall Wayne as he slashes through zombies on his way from Vancouver, British Columbia to Seattle, Washington in search of his kidnapped wife and daughter. Along the way, the hero encounters a number of corpses with I.D. cards bearing the names of notorious serial killers. Among the 15 cards (which can be collected by the player) is #9: Karla L. Homolka.

It's possible that Homolka's appearance in the game is due to increased awareness about her life and crimes resulting from the recent e-book, Finding Karla, by Paula Todd. However, anyone who has managed a web site, blog, or forum featuring information about Homolka can tell you that public interest in her never really went away; it simply went underground, just as she did.

If anybody has a screen grab of Homolka's I.D. in Deadlight, I would love to post it here.

Outside Links

Ex-convicted killer Karla Homolka starring in Deadlight?

giantbomb.com

Deadlight serial killer IDs

xbox360achievements.org

"What do people in Guadeloupe think of Karla Homolka living there?"

Karla Homolka in Montreal
(Photo: CTV News)

I read this article a while back, but tossed it into a rarely-used bookmarks folder and didn't see it again until just now:

What do people in Guadeloupe think of Karla Homolka living there?

June 22, 2012
Reported by Mylène Colmar in Guadeloupe and Benjamin Shingler in Montreal


Residents of Guadeloupe expressed confusion, shock and anxiety as word spread Friday that notorious Canadian killer Karla Homolka has been quietly living as their neighbour.

Hours after details of Homolka’s post-prison life surfaced in a new book by journalist Paula Todd, locals were busy reading up about the past life of the ex-convict, now 42 years old and a mother of three.

As the news spread online and through friends, the reaction in Guadeloupe, a set of islands in the Caribbean with a population 400,000, was a mixture of surprise and worry.

Several people interviewed by OpenFile in one of the country’s larger towns, Abymes, said they had never heard the name before Friday, though they were concerned after learning about her past.

“I found out Karla Homolka was in Guadeloupe from a friend of mine who’s a Canadian journalist,” said Axelle Kaulanjan-Diamant, a local journalist and philosophy professor.

“She sent me a link to an article and said, ‘I think you should know about this.’”

Kaulanjan-Diamant said she still doesn’t know much about Homolka’s case but that “it seems problematic that, given her criminal past, she can be around children.”

Residents in Guadeloupe wondered whether local police were aware of Homolka’s presence and had been monitoring her activity.

"I am very surprised that she’s in Guadeloupe and I wonder why she decided to come here,” said Fabrice, 30, who asked that his last name not be used. “This is worrisome.”

Some appeared ready to let Homolka move on, suggesting that even the woman who was involved in the torture and murder of three teenagers – including her own sister – deserves a second chance.

"This woman has already served her sentence,” said Clémence, 66, a retired member of the civil service.

“She has rebuilt her life, she has young children. I think of them – they did nothing wrong – and I wonder if we should just leave her alone. If she’s not bothering anyone anymore, not doing anything wrong, I don’t see why we need to go into all of this again.”

The book, “Finding Karla,” confirms earlier reports that Homolka married her lawyer’s brother, had a child and moved to the French Caribbean to avoid the public eye. It does not reveal exactly where in Guadeloupe Homolka is now living.

Following up on a number of online rumours, Todd tracked her down in a small apartment, living a quiet life in a small village under the name Leanne Bordelais with her spouse, Thierry Bordelais, and her children.

Nearly twenty years ago, Homolka and then-husband Paul Bernardo made headlines around the world for the sex killings of Ontario schoolgirls Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French, and the drug induced death of Homolka’s sister Tammy.

In what was termed a “deal with the devil,” Homolka struck a bargain with prosecutors to help them convict Bernardo, who was also found guilty of rapes he committed in Scarborough.

Homolka was given a 12-year sentence, while Bernardo was sentenced to life in prison.

After her release in 2005, Homolka moved to Quebec, where she attempted to live a quiet life away from the spotlight. She granted a single interview to Radio-Canada in the hopes of putting the issue to rest.

“It was a very difficult decision to take because I am a very private person and I don't like to talk about my feelings,” she said at the time. “I want to keep things to myself but it is not possible.”

In Guadeloupe, Todd spoke to Homolka for an hour inside her apartment. What she found was a woman trying to leave her past behind, whom she describes as a “housewife trapped with her kids in a cage that she built herself.”

“If this were anyone else, I’d say she was lonely and slightly bored,” Todd writes.

Photographing Karla Homolka: Zoran Milich's Story

Karla Homolka by Zoran Milich

Globe trotting photographer Zoran Milich was enlisted by Paula Todd to capture the image of the blonde beast living in the sweltering jungle that is Guadeloupe. Driven by the desire to assure himself, as a father, that convicted serial killer Karla Homolka's days of murdering children are well behind her, the acclaimed photog spent four days suffering the cruel environmental conditions before he was able to capture this partially obscured image of Homolka with her child.

Milich has just published his own account of the experience on Reuters; a must-read for anyone who is interested in the medium and/or the case: 

Photographing elusive killer Karla Homolka

More Thoughts on "Finding Karla"

Photograph of Homolka on her balcony,

from the e-book Finding Karla

In response to the comments I received on my last post, I decided to charge the lousy $3 to my PayPal account, and downloaded a copy of Paula Todd's controversial e-book, Finding Karla. Yes, let the record show that I did not sully my eyes with a bootlegged copy; I bought it, downloaded the file, and then struggled to get the bloody thing to display (had to download a special version of Adobe reader).

Although most of what I wrote prior to actually reading the document still stands, I must add that I found it to be an interesting read. Todd paints a most revealing picture of her time in Guadaloupe, from the decidedly patriarchal local customs, to the stroke of luck which led her to Homolka's hideaway, to the hour she spent with Canada's most notorious female killer. 

However... I still don't feel that Todd's work contributes anything to the Homolka discussion that I wasn't previously aware of; she merely confirms the work of the good citizens of the Blogosphere. The fact that Todd was able to pinpoint Homolka's precise location and speak with her are largely moot points in my opinion because the discussion, while interesting, did not unearth any new details or insights into the inner-workings of this most complex monster who once referred to herself as "Karly Curls." 

Karla Homolka hasn't changed much at all over the last 20 years; she is still meticulous in her appearance, strongly defiant of any form of criticism, and completely unwilling to even glance at her own wretched past. Furthermore, she continues to refuse any and all requests for information which concerned citizens might find useful in coming to gain a better understanding of her enigmatic personality. As ever, she says only what she wants us to hear, and shows only what she wants us to see. The fact that she allowed a journalist whom she had never met, who had tracked her from half a world away and showed up at her home unannounced, to watch while she breastfed her youngest child speaks volumes about Homolka's desire to alter whatever preconceived impressions that Todd may have brought with her.

As a final note, I must admit that my blood boiled ever so slightly upon reading that: 

"On the Web, the stalkers, sleuths and gossips insist she's changed her name, dyed her long blonde hair and switched from speaking English to French - a skill she'd honed in prison, along with earning a university degree in psychology."

Stalkers, sleuths, and gossips? Honestly, Ms. Todd; what is it that elevates you above those you have lumped into this unsavoury lot? While I have been watching her movements online for some time now, the thought of jumping on a plane in the hopes of "finding" her never once crossed my mind. With all due respect, your career accomplishments, while impressive, do not make you any less a "stalker" than the rest of us lowly "gossips."

Finding Karla

The Canadian media was ablaze yesterday with news that a journalist by the name of Paula Todd had managed to track down convicted serial killer accomplice extraordinaire Karla Homolka in her new home country of Guadaloupe. Todd has published a report of her encounter with Canada's most-hated woman in an e-book, Finding Karla, which is available through Kobo Books at the bargain basement price of $2.99.

I, for one, will not be purchasing a copy. While the byline is enticing: How I Tracked Down an Elusive Serial Child Killer and Discovered a Mother of Three, it is representative of what I already knew, and have known for some time now (courtesy of Watching Karla Homolka). Paula Todd merely did what nobody else within the subculture cared to do; she bought herself a plane ticket and travelled to the Caribbean in the hopes of catching a glimpse of wolf in sheep's clothing.

From what I can tell, Ms. Todd sleuthed out her target using information that has been readily available through the Internet for quite some time. She took a chance that the detective work undertaken by concerned online watchdogs was correct -- and it was -- and now she's selling her "story," and has priced it to clear! 

Even if her report contributes absolutely nothing to the broader discussion, Todd stands to make a tidy profit. My own blog statistics prove that, in spite of what some may like us to believe, Karla Homolka is still very much an attention-getter; interest in this enigmatic woman (my own included) seems to have no end.

Todd claims to have spoken briefly with Homolka (aka Leanne Bordelais) in her home, and even observed her interactions with the three small children she has with partner Thierry Bordelais. The two women engaged in a brief interview before Mr. Bordelais interjected, and Homolka cut the discussion short:

"Nobody cares, and everything I’ve said is off the record."

Todd has said that, in the interest of protecting the safety of Homolka's children, she has elected not to publish the exact address. However, given the fact that, by way of her e-book, she has confirmed that online reports on her current whereabouts are true, anyone with the desire to find her can probably manage the task easily enough; just look for the mailbox that's marked "Leanne Bordelais."

I will save my 3 bucks and stick to online sleuthing, as opposed to real-life stalking.