Paul Bernardo
Bernardo's father was also abusive; he was charged with child molestation on more than one occasion, including that of his own daughter. His mother withdrew from the family because of this as she became depressed, and started living in the basement of their home. His siblings were deeply affected by all of this, as most people would be, but Paul remained happy and seemed almost unaware. Relatives and friends described him as cute and an all-around great kid.
When he was 16, he started verbally abusing his mother. He also verbally and physically abused his girlfriends prior to Karla Homolka; this was something he enjoyed doing.
Personally, I think Paul Bernardo could possibly be considered a psychopath; he showed little remorse, putting the blame on someone else, and he appeared to be pretty proud of his actions. His liking of beating women up and assaulting them shows a severe lack of empathy. He was also quite narcissistic, and seemed to enjoy the media attention, even giving his critique of their accuracy. If he is clinically considered to be a psychopath, I'm not sure his psychopathy is as severe as other serial killers out there; he appeared to be more "normal", so to speak, to unknowing people more than other psychopaths have.
Bernardo's father was also abusive; he was charged with child molestation on more than one occasion, including that of his own daughter. His mother withdrew from the family because of this as she became depressed, and started living in the basement of their home. His siblings were deeply affected by all of this, as most people would be, but Paul remained happy and seemed almost unaware. Relatives and friends described him as cute and an all-around great kid.
When he was 16, he started verbally abusing his mother. He also verbally and physically abused his girlfriends prior to Karla Homolka; this was something he enjoyed doing.
Personally, I think Paul Bernardo could possibly be considered a psychopath; he showed little remorse, putting the blame on someone else, and he appeared to be pretty proud of his actions. His liking of beating women up and assaulting them shows a severe lack of empathy. He was also quite narcissistic, and seemed to enjoy the media attention, even giving his critique of their accuracy. If he is clinically considered to be a psychopath, I'm not sure his psychopathy is as severe as other serial killers out there; he appeared to be more "normal", so to speak, to unknowing people more than other psychopaths have.
Karla Homolka
Karla Homolka had a seemingly perfectly normal childhood. She was the oldest of three girls, and was smart and popular at school. She had a passion for animals, and started working at a veterinary clinic after high school. Later, this is how she obtained the drugs she used to sedate her murder victims.
To defend herself, Karla took none of the blame for the things she did. She placed all of the blame on Bernardo, essentially victimizing herself, when evidence proved that this wasn't the case. This proved that she did not show much remorse for what she did, if at all. She might have expressed her sympathies when she was keeping up the act that she, too, was a victim, but there is a good chance that hardly any of it was sincere. Outside of the trial, she expressed no sympathy and, much like her husband, seemed quite narcissistic.
I think this could point to Karla Homolka being a psychopath, but if her or Paul Bernardo are legitimate psychopaths, they are very high-functioning ones. No one expected this from them; granted, what they did is usually not predicted by anyone, no matter who the perpetrators are, but they presented themselves quite well in society.
Karla Homolka had a seemingly perfectly normal childhood. She was the oldest of three girls, and was smart and popular at school. She had a passion for animals, and started working at a veterinary clinic after high school. Later, this is how she obtained the drugs she used to sedate her murder victims.
To defend herself, Karla took none of the blame for the things she did. She placed all of the blame on Bernardo, essentially victimizing herself, when evidence proved that this wasn't the case. This proved that she did not show much remorse for what she did, if at all. She might have expressed her sympathies when she was keeping up the act that she, too, was a victim, but there is a good chance that hardly any of it was sincere. Outside of the trial, she expressed no sympathy and, much like her husband, seemed quite narcissistic.
I think this could point to Karla Homolka being a psychopath, but if her or Paul Bernardo are legitimate psychopaths, they are very high-functioning ones. No one expected this from them; granted, what they did is usually not predicted by anyone, no matter who the perpetrators are, but they presented themselves quite well in society.