Before meeting Karla Homolka, when Paul Bernardo was deemed The Scarborough Rapist, he was never caught. Over 130 DNA samples were submitted for possible suspects, and the police had received two calls suggesting the rapist was Bernardo. The first one was from a bank employee, but the second one was actually from the wife of a close friend of Bernardo. Although the detectives said her way of communicating was awkward and stilted, they reluctantly brought Paul Bernardo down to the station to be interviewed.
After a 35 minute interview, with Paul Bernardo providing the detectives with samples for forensic testing, the detectives came to the conclusion that such a well-adjusted, intelligent man could not be guilty of such crimes. They were convinced that the caller was just trying to get the reward. Bernardo was released the following day.
On May 12th, 1992, twelve days after Kristen French's body was discovered, the police went to the Bernardo/Homolka residence to question Paul. Nothing of significance happened, as Bernardo later bragged that he "stayed as cool as a cucumber" when they were there.
On January 5th, 1993, just over two years after the pair's first murder, Karla received a very severe beating from Paul, and her parents forced her to leave the house. She moved in with her relatives.
The police questioned Homolka on February 9th of the same year about Paul's involvement in the murders, and she said nothing. However, she did confess the entire story to her relatives.
Eventually, Paul admitted to the police that he had been involved in all of the sexual assaults, but he did not confess to the murders. He placed responsibility of the murders on Karla. Karla decided to contact a lawyer and become a witness against Paul.
Both of them were being tried, however; Bernardo for sexual assault and murder, and Homolka for manslaughter. It may seem perplexing how Karla got away with a much less severe charge, and that's because it is. It all came down to obstruction of justice; Karla's original lawyers kept the tapes, that included both Bernardo and Homolka sexually assaulting the girls, away from the prosecution and everyone else involved in the trial. This led to Karla getting a plea bargain of twelve years for manslaughter. The prosecution said that if they had seen the tapes, which have since been destroyed, they never would have considered the lighter charge.
Karla was able to get away with the manslaughter charge because she maintained that she was a victim as much as the girls were. She said that Paul forced her to do the things that she did, and with no tapes available to counter that, people seemed to believe her. Bernardo was abusive, yes, but the tapes showed that Homolka had a more active role in the crimes than she led everyone to believe.
Even though he pleaded not guilty to all charges, Bernardo was convicted of two first degree murders; he was not tried for the murder of Tammy, as the death was still officially ruled as an accident at the time of the trial. He was also convicted of two aggravated sexual assaults, and declared a Dangerous Offender. He was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years. He believes he is a good candidate for parole, and he can apply in July 2020.
After a 35 minute interview, with Paul Bernardo providing the detectives with samples for forensic testing, the detectives came to the conclusion that such a well-adjusted, intelligent man could not be guilty of such crimes. They were convinced that the caller was just trying to get the reward. Bernardo was released the following day.
On May 12th, 1992, twelve days after Kristen French's body was discovered, the police went to the Bernardo/Homolka residence to question Paul. Nothing of significance happened, as Bernardo later bragged that he "stayed as cool as a cucumber" when they were there.
On January 5th, 1993, just over two years after the pair's first murder, Karla received a very severe beating from Paul, and her parents forced her to leave the house. She moved in with her relatives.
The police questioned Homolka on February 9th of the same year about Paul's involvement in the murders, and she said nothing. However, she did confess the entire story to her relatives.
Eventually, Paul admitted to the police that he had been involved in all of the sexual assaults, but he did not confess to the murders. He placed responsibility of the murders on Karla. Karla decided to contact a lawyer and become a witness against Paul.
Both of them were being tried, however; Bernardo for sexual assault and murder, and Homolka for manslaughter. It may seem perplexing how Karla got away with a much less severe charge, and that's because it is. It all came down to obstruction of justice; Karla's original lawyers kept the tapes, that included both Bernardo and Homolka sexually assaulting the girls, away from the prosecution and everyone else involved in the trial. This led to Karla getting a plea bargain of twelve years for manslaughter. The prosecution said that if they had seen the tapes, which have since been destroyed, they never would have considered the lighter charge.
Karla was able to get away with the manslaughter charge because she maintained that she was a victim as much as the girls were. She said that Paul forced her to do the things that she did, and with no tapes available to counter that, people seemed to believe her. Bernardo was abusive, yes, but the tapes showed that Homolka had a more active role in the crimes than she led everyone to believe.
Even though he pleaded not guilty to all charges, Bernardo was convicted of two first degree murders; he was not tried for the murder of Tammy, as the death was still officially ruled as an accident at the time of the trial. He was also convicted of two aggravated sexual assaults, and declared a Dangerous Offender. He was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years. He believes he is a good candidate for parole, and he can apply in July 2020.