Mascara and Murder

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Judge to Rafferty: "You, sir, are a monster."

'Only a monster could commit such pure evil': Judge delivers comments in Rafferty sentencing

The Globe and Mail
Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Below are Mr. Justice Thomas A. Heeney’s comments in the sentencing of Michael Rafferty. Justice Heeney defends his decision to bar the child porn evidence against Mr. Rafferty from the trial. He later admonishes Mr. Rafferty for the pain and anguish he has caused Tori Stafford’s family.

From Homolka to McClintic: Explaining the Inexplicable

Above: Terri-Lynne McClintic

Below: Karla Homolka

In the days since Michael Thomas Rafferty's first degree murder conviction, nearly every major Canadian news outlet has rushed to make comparisons between the case of Rafferty and his ex-lover, Terri-Lynne McClintic, and that of notorious serial rape and murder monsters Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka.

As far as female offenders go, women like Homolka and McClintic are extremely rare according to popular science. When FBI profiler Roy Hazelwood and psychiatrist Janet Warren completed their famous study, they spoke to only 20 women; incarcerated former wives, girlfriends, and lovers of sexual sadists. Of the 20 women studied, only seven (including Homolka) had directly acted or assisted in sexual homicides, and four were actually present during the murders and convicted as accomplices.

What makes Karla Homolka such an unusual character is the fact that one of the girls she raped was her own little sister, Tammy, who died as a result of the attack.

Terri-Lynne McClintic is something of an anomaly, as well, with respect to all the research that has been conducted on women who kill in tandem with their sexual partners. According to the Hazelwood/Warren study, an astounding 85% of women studied had come from stable and supportive families, and had no prior troubles with the law before meeting their predator partners. Further, only four of the 20 women reported problems with alcohol or drugs, suicide attempts, or mental health issues prior to becoming involved with a sexual sadist.

Perhaps what one should take from these seemingly incongruent statistics regarding women who assist violent sexual offenders is to shift focus away from grappling with why these otherwise "normal" women end up committing unspeakable acts alongside their partners, and to allow ourselves as a society to come to terms with the fact that these women do exist, and for reasons unknown chose to commit the ultimate sin.

More Information...

Tragedy struck after violent Terri-Lynne McClintic met depraved Michael Rafferty

The Canadian Press (May 13, 2012)

From Homolka to McClintic: What we know about women who aid their mates in rape and murder

The Toronto Star (May 14, 2012)

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Karla Homolka: The Stephen Williams Letters

Journalist, author, and accused enemy of the state Stephen Williams struck up a fascinating conversation-by-mail with Karla Homolka while she was serving out her sentence for the kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder of two Ontario teenagers. The series of letters was to be the backbone of a book deal he had entered into as a follow-up to his acclaimed best-seller, Invisible Darkness: The Horrifying Case of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka.

"I was exuberant until I realized that in spite of the things I had discovered this new book for which I had just signed a contract could not be written unless Karla talked to me. And frankly I was the last person on earth that she would ever talk to.

As she said in her first startling letter to me: 'Well, they say ‘never say never’ and they’re right. Never in a million years did I think that I would ever write a letter to anyone from the media, let alone you who has treated me so harshly.'"

But Karla did write a letter to Stephen Williams; a multitude of them, in fact. Her flair for the dramatic, along with hefty doses of self-righteousness are evident in her missives to him. She does not mince words as she describes to him her perceptions of the complex and often highly political inner-workings of the Canadian correctional system, particularly as it relates to female offenders. In other letters, she describes (in nauseating detail) her life on the inside, which, by all accounts, bore no resemblance to the the image of incarceration most of us hold in our minds.

Here are the letters as they appeared in Williams' fascinating follow-up, Karla: A Pact with the Devil.

Deviance, Perversion Inadmissible

Mr. "Fresh Jive" himself, Michael Rafferty

McClintic has been pictured wearing the same shirt.

And he says she wasn't his girlfriend.

Riiiiight.

While the Michael Rafferty jury is deliberating over the fate of this accused child killer, the rest of Canada is learning about the incriminating child pornography evidence found on a number of his computer devices. The evidence, including Google searches for "real underage rape" and "best program to download child porn," were ruled inadmissible in court by Judge Thomas Heeney.

Further computer evidence suggested that Rafferty had recently been in possession of a substantial amount of child porn, along with instructional videos illustrating how to sexually assault young children. Rafferty's proclivity toward deviance was also demonstrated by his Internet searches for "naked girl seizing," and "epileptic girl naked."

Judge Heeney also refused to admit evidence that Rafferty enjoyed choking out his partners, an extreme sexual act in which a person is strangled, often to the point of passing out. At least 12 women (not including McClintic) were willing to testify that Rafferty had choked them for sexual gratification, but were never given the opportunity to take the stand.

I can think of at least one other violent sexual offender who was known to have practised sexual choking; Karla Homolka testified that her ex-husband, Paul Kenneth Bernardo, was fond of fastening an electrical cord around her neck during sex for the purposes of strangulation.

It is interesting to note at this point that among Michael Rafferty's collection of digital smut and sinister searches, investigators also found the movie Karla, which is based on the unforgettable crimes of Bernardo and Homolka.

Crime columnist Christie Blatchford, who also covered the cases of Homolka, Bernardo, and Runaway Devil, offered her commentary on why Judge Heeney ultimately decided not to allow these powerful pieces of character evidence against Rafferty to be examined in court, along with her thoughts on what such broad decisions mean to the justice system as a whole. Although Canada officially maintains an immense amount of faith, hope, and pride in the jury system, so often are important evidentiary facts kept beyond the reach of those who the court system has given the crucial task of deciding innocence or guilt.

Update:

At 6:18 PM on Friday, May 11th, Michael Thomas Rafferty was convicted of the first-degree murder of eight year old Tori Stafford. He will be sentenced on Tuesday, May 15.

More Information...

The shocking child-porn evidence the Tori Stafford jury didn't hear

By Christie Blatchford @ The National Post

Karla

Internet Movie Database Article

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

"The Day an Entire City Grieved"

Memorial held in memory of Kristen French

Montebello Park, St. Catharines, ON (1992)

As I am just now returning from a week of vacation, I unfortunately didn't see this thoughtful article written by Doug Herod for the St. Catharines Standard until now. Although I regret not sharing it on the date that it was published, I feel that it's an important read for anyone who's been following this case.

Two decades later, many wounds have yet to heal.

Dissecting Karla Homolka... Astrologically

Astrological chart compiled for Karla Homolka

Source: Elsa Elsa: The Astrology Blog

If you are at all into astrology, you may find some interest in this discussion on Karla Homolka's birth chart. The contributors to this topic range from folks who hadn't heard of the case before someone posted to their forum about it, to those who lived through years of disturbing headlines while the most sensational criminal trial in Canadian history unfolded.

The reactionary comments betray the very real sense of injustice still maintained by the general public, even after the passing of so many years. As one contributor put it:

"For every decent woman out there struggling to get married and have a kid...there's a murderer and rapist like this one who is blessed with a family and baby...funny universe isn't it."

The complete discussion can be viewed here: http://boards.elsaelsa.com/topic/karla-homolkas-birthday