On February 19, police obtained a search warrant. For 71 days they combed the couple's Port Dalhousie home. They were flabbergasted to find a complete directory of all the rapes and murders written in Paul's own handwriting. As if this wasn't damning enough, the indefatigable Inspector Irwin found books on perverted sex and magazine stories on serial killers. What they didn't find were perverted videotapes that were not surrendered to police until Paul's lawyer, Murray withdrew from the case.

The videotapes showed Karla heavily involved in lascivious sex acts with two captives. The evidence of his own eyes assured Karla's lawyer that she was an enthusiastic partner in the crimes. It was barely a week later that lawyers on both sides came to terms. Karla would get twelve years in penal servitude for each of the two victims. The sentences would served concurrently.

It had to be done, prosecutors said. Without Karla's testimony the true story might never be known. As part of the plea-bargain, the attorney general agreed to use his influence to see that Karla served her time in a psychiatric hospital instead of a maximum security penitentiary. An unimpressed newspaper editor said it was probably the worst deal that the Canadian government had ever made with a criminal witness.

Karla agreed unconditionally to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about the Scarborough rape and murder spree.

Karla's trial began admix a carnival atmosphere on June 28, 1993. The junior miss tartan kilt and blazer she wore clashed heavily with the sluttish ruby-red lipstick and false eyelashes. To set the scene for a plea-bargain deal, the defense called a psychiatrist, who told the court Karla knew what was happening but felt helpless and unable to act in her own defense or the defense of the victims. "She was in my opinion paralyzed with fear and in that state became obedient and self-serving," he told the court.

Her guilty plea, her age, her lack of criminal record were probably the mitigating factors that helped her escaped the maxim punishment allowed by law and readied herself for what was sure to be a nightmare -- the trial of her husband Paul Bernardo.

The delay of the trial for two years not only stirred the deepest wrath among the victim's families and friends but also upset the keenest senses of officers involved in the case. For one thing, Bernardo had given his lawyer, Ken Murray, the videotapes showing a curious episode of sex attacks filmed by Paul and Kara. He believed, by doing so, he would keep the films out of the hands of the prosecution. But prosecutors wiretapped conversations between Bernardo and Murray, and the lawyer was forced to turn the tapes over. He excused himself from the case and John Rosen became Paul's mouthpiece.

During the one-year delay since the start of the trial, newspapers gathered and published an interesting dossier on Paul Bernardo.
 

Paul Bernardo
Kenneth Bernardo and Marilyn married in 1960 and moved into a quiet middle-class home in Scarborough, a suburb of Toronto. The marriage was doomed from the start, Kenneth abused his wife and prowled the streets at night, peeping into windows of neighborhood women. When Marilyn caught her husband fondling their infant daughter she seeked harborage in the arms of a former lover. Paul was conceived illegitimately.

As Paul matured he became enthralled with scouting and looked "cute" in his uniform. He worked summer vacations as a counselor and became very popular with the girls in his neighborhood. He was described as well-mannered, polite, and an excellent student. He was voted the most popular boy in school. Girls who had sex with him in high school said he was a gentle and thoughtful lover. The dossier also reflected his good head for figures and a predicted future as a successful businessman.

The Devil stepped into Paul's life when he became sixteen. He and his mother got into an argument and she told him he was a bastard child with no ligament name. Since that day, when she wanted him she would call, "come here, bastard. Or "breakfast is ready, bastard." In turn he called her a "fat slob" and a "whore." The house of cards collapsed under the strain. Paul moved out and took to the streets. He began hanging out with gang boys and developed a macho attitude.

Women in particular, became the target of his animosity.

 
Two Faces of Paul - Serious Police Van Headshot, Dancin' Fool and Failed Rapper/DJ/Rapist