Homolka/Bernardo timeline part 1
Here's a timeline of the Homolka/Bernardo crimes. I can't understand how anyone could have any sympathy whatsoever for this sick couple.
INDEPTH: BERNARDO
Bernardo/Homolka timeline
CBC News Online | July 5, 2005
The release of Karla Homolka from prison has served to reignite a public fury that's been simmering just below the surface for as long as the whole story's been known. Her "deal with the devil" - 12 years in prison in return for testifying against husband Paul Bernardo - caused an outcry when the true scope of her involvement in murder became clear: not a helpless, manipulated victim, as it turned out, but a willing and enthusiastic participant in some appalling acts.
The nature of the murders, the videotapes, the fact that an attractive, seemingly normal young couple were responsible for causing so much pain - the story riveted our attention, even as we were repelled by its details. There were books, TV specials, a movie and too many front pages to count. And now, the story gets new life because she is out of prison after serving her 12-year sentence.
The questions linger. Is she still a danger? Where is she going to live? Will the media be able to report on her whereabouts? Will she be hounded for her crimes or be able to live a seemingly normal life?
For the public, and especially for the families of her victims, there's likely to be little satisfaction from learning any of the answers.
Paul Bernardo
May 1987:
A young woman is raped in Scarborough, Ont., the first in a chain of rapes committed by the person the media dubs the Scarborough Rapist. Paul Bernardo would later admit to the sexual assaults of at least 14 women in southern Ontario. At one point, Bernardo faced 53 charges related to the rape – and in some cases, murder – of young women.
Oct. 17, 1987:
Karla Homolka, 17, meets Paul Bernardo, 23, at a hotel restaurant in Scarborough, Ont. They have sex in their hotel room two hours later.
Dec. 24, 1989:
Bernardo and Homolka are engaged.
1990:
Bernardo loses his job at accounting firm Price-Waterhouse. He would later turn to cigarette smuggling to make money.
July 1990:
According to Bernardo's testimony, he and Karla Homolka serve her younger sister, Tammy, a spaghetti dinner spiked with Valium stolen from Karla's workplace. Bernardo rapes Tammy for about a minute before she starts to wake up.
Nov. 20, 1990:
Bernardo provides hair, blood and saliva samples to Metro Toronto police as part of their Scarborough Rapist investigation.
Karla Homolka
Dec. 23, 1990:
After a Homolka family Christmas party, Bernardo and Karla Homolka drug Tammy Homolka with animal tranquilizers Karla stole from her work. Bernardo and Karla Homolka rape Tammy while she's unconscious. Tammy later chokes on her own vomit and dies. Bernardo tells police he tried to revive her, but failed, and her death is ruled an accident.
mid-January 1991:
Bernardo picks up a young female hitchhiker, brings her back to the Homolka home and rapes her in Karla Homolka's bedroom. He drops her off on a back street.
Feb. 1, 1991:
Bernardo and Homolka move into a rented house in St. Catharines, Ont.
June 14, 1991:
Bernardo kidnaps 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy from outside her house. With Homolka, he rapes and murders her.
June 29, 1991:
Bernardo and Homolka are married in a lavish ceremony. Mahaffy's dismembered body is found encased in concrete in Lake Gibson near St. Catharines.
April 16, 1992:
Bernardo, with the assistance of Homolka, kidnaps Kristen French from a church parking lot. After raping, torturing and killing her, they leave her body naked in a ditch, her hair cut off.
April 30, 1992:
French's body is found.
December 1992:
The Centre of Forensic Sciences begins DNA testing of the samples Bernardo provided in 1990.
January 1993:
After Bernardo beats Homolka with a flashlight, leaving her with two black eyes, she leaves their home and files charges against him.
Feb. 17, 1993:
Bernardo is arrested. An inquiry into the Bernardo case would later find that officers in charge violated Bernardo's charter rights by not allowing him to call a lawyer despite his repeated requests, making his initial eight-hour interrogation inadmissible as evidence.
Feb. 19, 1993:
A search warrant is executed in the Bernardo home. During the 71-day search of the St. Catharines house that follows, police fail to find videotapes containing the recordings of the rapes of Mahaffy, French, Tammy Homolka and at least one other girl.
May 6, 1993:
Ken Murray, Bernardo's lawyer, gains access to Bernardo's home. Murray retrieves the videotapes from above a ceiling light fixture in the upstairs bathroom. He would keep the videos in his possession for 16 months.
May 1993:
The plea agreement between Crown prosecutors and Homolka's lawyers is finalized.
June 28, 1993:
Homolka's trial begins.
July 1993:
Homolka pleads guilty to two counts of manslaughter and receives a 12-year jail sentence. Her pleas and the statement of facts agreed to by her lawyer and the Crown are both covered by a publication ban ordered by the judge to ensure a fair trial for Bernardo.
September 1994:
Ken Murray quits as Bernardo's lawyer and hands Bernardo's videotapes over to his successor, John Rosen. Rosen turns the videos over to police later in the month.
May 18, 1995:
Bernardo's trial begins.
June 29, 1995:
Homolka testifies against Bernardo.
Sept. 1, 1995:
Bernardo is found guilty of all nine charges against him, including two counts of first-degree murder for killing French and Mahaffy.
Sept. 15, 1995:
Bernardo is sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for 25 years.
November 1995:
Bernardo is declared a dangerous offender, meaning he will likely spend the rest of his life in jail.
April 1996:
An Ontario Court judge rules that videotapes showing the rape and torture of Bernardo's victims must be destroyed when they are no longer needed for legal purposes.
July 1996:
A six-month-long inquiry into the police investigation of Bernardo concludes that the investigation was hampered by dozens of mistakes by individual officers and by rivalries between different police departments. The inquiry concludes that some of Bernardo's crimes could have been prevented if Bernardo's DNA samples had been processed more quickly.
January 1997:
Ken Murray is charged with obstruction of justice and possession of child pornography for failing to turn over the Bernardo tapes.
Summer 1997:
Homolka is transferred to Joliette Institution in Quebec when the Kingston Prison for Women is closed.