Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka
Timeline


 May 4, 1970 - Karla is the first of three girls born to Karel and Dorothy Homolka

 June 2, 1971 - Karla's sister Lori is born

 Jan 1, 1975 - Karla's sister Tammy is born

 Sep 1984 - Karla begins attending Sir Winston Churchill high school


Tammy Homolka

  Apr 1987 - Karla, age 16, begins work at the Number One Pet Centre in St Catherines, Ontario Around this time she befriends "Jane Doe", age 13, whom she would later help Paul drug and rape

  May 4, 1987 - Paul commits his first rape in Scarborough against a woman, age 21 He brutally rapes her in front of her parents' house for more than half an hour after following her home from a bus stop

  May 14, 1987 - Paul commits his second Scarborough rape He attacks a young woman, age 19, in the backyard of her parents home after stalking her after she exits a bus This rape lasts over an hour

  Summer 1987 - Karla flies to Kansas, where her boyfriend Doug Liddel had moved, and loses her virginity to him

  July 27, 1987 - Paul attempts his third Scarborough rape against a young woman after she gets off a bus Although he brutally beats her like he did his other victims, he abandons the attack after she fights back against him

  Sep 1987 - Karla decides to drop out of high school, temporarily, to work full-time at the veterinary clinic She returns to school for the second semester in January, 1988

  Oct 17, 1987 - Karla, age 17, meets Paul, 23, at a restaurant in Scarborough while in town for a pet food convention Karla is with close friend and co-worker Debbie Purdie, and Paul with long-time friend Van Smirnis Paul and Van later go back to Karla's and Debbie's hotel room to watch a movie Karla and Paul end up engaging in sex for three hours while Debbie and Van are in the same room

  Dec 2, 1987 - Paul and Karla attend a Price Waterhouse Christmas party at the same Howard Johnson hotel where they first met They have sex in the stairwell

  Dec 16, 1987 - Paul commits his third Scarborough rape against a girl, age 15 Like in the other attacks he stalks her after she gets off a bus This brutal rape lasts about one hour

  Dec 17, 1987 - Metropolitan Toronto police issue a warning to women in Scarborough travelling alone at night, especially those who take buses

  Dec 23, 1987 - Paul commits his fourth Scarborough rape His victim is a girl, age 17, whom he stalks after she exits a bus During this vicious attack Bernardo gets so violent that he rapes her with the knife he uses to threaten his victims It's after this rape that the term 'Scarborough Rapist' is coined

  Apr 18, 1988 - Paul commits his fifth Scarborough rape against a 17 year old girl after she gets off a bus This violent attack lasts 45 minutes

  May 25, 1988 - Paul almost gets caught by an uniformed Metro Toronto investigator staking out a bus shelter looking for the Scarborough Rapist The investigator notices Paul hiding under a tree and pursues him on foot, but Bernardo escapes him


Paul Bernardo - Just A Giggolo...

  May 30, 1988 - Paul commits his sixth rape in Clarkson, a town about 10 miles from Scarborough This vicious attack against an 18 year old young woman lasts 30 minutes

  Aug 1988 - Karla and Paul vacation in Florida This is the time Karla says Paul begins abusing her

  Oct 4, 1988 - Paul attempts his seventh Scarborough rape His intended victim, a young woman, fights him off but ends up with two stab wounds to the thigh and buttock that take 12 stitches to close He also attacks her after she gets off a bus

  Oct 9, 1988 - Paul gets Karla to pose with him in some pornographic photographs

  Nov 16, 1988 - Paul commits his seventh Scarborough rape against a young woman, age 18, in the backyard of her parents' house

  Nov 17, 1988 - Police form a special task force dedicated to hunting down the Scarborough Rapist, which the media dub, The Scarborough Rapist Task Force The following warning is issued: "We're warning all women to plan the routes they take after dark very carefully We're pleading with people to be on the lookout for anyone loitering in the area of bus stops or anywhere women are likely to be alone Any women who feels threatened should immediately make for a house or place of safety and dial 911"

  Dec 27, 1988 - Paul attempts his eighth Scarborough rape against a young woman, but is chased off by an alerted neighbor after the attack had begun

  June 1989 - Karla receives her grade 12 diploma

  June 20, 1989 - Paul again attempts his eighth rape against another young woman She fights against him and her screams alert neighbors Bernardo flees with scratches on his face

  Aug 15, 1989 - Paul commits his eighth Scarborough rape against a woman, age 22 He had stalked her the night before from outside the window of her apartment and waits for her the next night to arrive home This vicious attack lasts 2 hours

  Aug 22, 1989 - Karla writes her self-improvement list

  Sep 25, 1989 - Karla begins work at the Thorold Veterinary Clinic She doesn't last long there and is suspected of stealing drugs

  Nov 21, 1989 - Paul commits his ninth Scarborough rape His victim is a 15 year old girl, whom he saw in a bus shelter This brutal attack lasts 45 minutes

  Dec 5, 1989 - Karla begins work at the Martindale Animal Clinic It is here that she would eventually steal the drugs used to drug and rape her sister Tammy and Jane Doe

  Dec 22, 1989 - Paul commits his tenth Scarborough rape against a 19 year old young woman This vicious attack occurs in a stairwell of an underground parking lot and lasts 30 minutes The woman later files a 10 million dollar law suit that includes Karla as one of the defendants

  Dec 24, 1989 - Paul proposes to Karla She gladly accepts and describes it later as the "most romantic moment of her life"

  Spring 1990 - Karla later says that it was around this time that Paul was calling her his sex slave and that she was being severely abused by him She claims, "I never denied him anything I was his property I was well trained at that point"

  May 26, 1990 - Paul commits his eleventh Scarborough rape His victim is a young woman, age 19, whom he attacks after she exits a bus This vicious rape lasts over an hour Based on her vivid recollection of her attacker a computer composite photograph is made

  May 28, 1990 - The composite photograph of the Scarborough Rapist is released from Metropolitan Toronto police and published in the Toronto newspapers

  July 4, 1990 - Although claiming she was severely abused by Bernardo at this time, Karla writes her friend Debbie Purdie saying "Our relationship gets better each day He's going to make the perfect husband It looks like all my dreams are coming true, especially the one about finding the best man in the whole world to marry" Karla also advises her to leave an abusive relationship: "If you want him to leave you alone, get your parents to get a restraining order"

  Summer 1990 - Paul becomes obsessed with Tammy Homolka He breaks her bedroom window shutters so he can stand outside her window and watch her undress He also creeps into her bedroom while she sleeps and masturbates

  July 21, 1990 - Paul takes Tammy with him to get more beer for a party they're having at the Homolkas' house They cross the border and go to the US and are gone for hours Paul later said that they got drunk and started making out and were touching each other According to Paul this made Karla begin to feel jealous of Tammy

  July 25, 1990 - According to Paul, Karla puts crushed up valium in spaghetti sauce and puts it on food she serves to Tammy When Tammy passes out Paul begins raping her while Karla watches But after about a minute, after Paul finishes, she wakes up and Paul and Karla leave the room

  Sep 1990 - According to Karla, Paul begins to pressure her into helping him drug and rape her sister Tammy

  Nov 20, 1990 - Two months after receiving tips that Paul fits the Scarborough Rapist composite, 2 police detectives interview him The interview lasts 35 minutes and Paul voluntarily gives hair, saliva and blood samples for forensic testing When the detectives ask Bernardo why he would be investigated for the Scarborough rapes, he admits that he does resemble the composite He tells Karla later that night about the police interview and assures her that he isn't the Scarborough Rapist

  Dec, 1990 - Karla, being in charge of the drugs at the veterinary clinic she works at, steals a bottle of liquid anesthetic, Halothane, and through the clinic orders a sleeping medication, Halcion She procures these drugs in order to use them on her sister Tammy to help Paul rape her

  Dec 23, 1990 - Paul and Karla decide that this is the day to drug and rape Tammy - that it would make a great Christmas present for Paul They crush up 5 sleeping pills and put them in a rum and eggnog drink and serve it to Tammy After Lori and Karla's parents go to bed, Karla, Paul and Tammy watch videos until Tammy passes out Once they make sure she is unconscious, they undress her and Karla then holds a Halothane soaked cloth over her mouth and nose Paul and Karla then proceed to rape her while capturing it all on video tape via a camcorder But after a couple of minutes have passed Tammy begins to vomit and starts choking on it Paul and Karla try to revive her but are unable, so they hide the evidence, dress her and call an ambulance At 2:00 am on the 24th she is pronounced dead at the hospital Although police interview Paul and Karla that night, and despite the burn mark on Tammy's face, they don't suspect foul play Even the coronor would not suspect anything, determining that she died by choking on her vomit after consuming too much alcohol

  Feb, 1991 - Paul joins Van Smirnis in a cigarette smuggling operation which yields them up to $520 a day


Tammy Homolka In The Salad Days

  Feb 1, 1991 - Paul and Karla move into their leased home at 57 Bayview Dr in Port Dalhousie, St Catharines Paul had been living with the Homolkas but was asked to leave after Tammy's death - not because he was suspected of having anything to do with her death, but because the Homolkas wanted to be alone in their grief So Karla left with him and they leased their own house

  Feb 19, 1991 - Karla writes the infamous wedding letter to friend Debbie Purdie complaining that her parents want to put off her wedding plans because of Tammy's recent death

  Apr 6, 1991 - Paul commits his twelfth rape in St Catherines This brutal attack is against a 14 year old girl and lasts 30 minutes Unlike the other rapes this one occurs in the early morning, not at night, and he was not stalking near a bus stop

  June 7, 1991 - Karla invites Jane Doe, age 15, for a "girls night out" but her and Paul are actually planning to drug and rape her that night When Karla and Jane return home from an evening of shopping and dinner Karla begins plying her with drinks Eventually she adds Halcion sleeping pills to her drinks Paul in the meantime is out, impatiently waiting for the message on his answering service that Jane Doe is unconscious When he gets the call he returns home and then he and Karla begin raping Jane while they both take turns holding the videocamera The next morning Jane is sick and vomitting but has no idea she had been raped She just feels embarrassed because she thought she couldn't hold her liquor - it was her first time she tried drinking alcohol

  June 15, 1991 - While returning from Toronto, Paul stops in Burlington (about 30 miles west of St Catherines) to steal license plates Leslie Mahaffy, age 14, was late for her curfew and was locked out of the house looking for a way in without waking her parents Paul notices Leslie and goes up to her saying he is planning to break in to her neighbor's house Leslie, unfazed by this, asks Paul for a cigarette While walking towards Paul's car Paul blindfolds her with his sweat shirt, forces her into the car and drives away After he brings her home, he and Karla would eventually go on to torture and rape her repeatedly while videotaping it

  June 16, 1991 - Leslie is murdered Karla claims she was strangled by Paul; Paul says Karla fed her a lethal dose of Halcion sleeping pills They leave Leslie's body in the basement until they figure out what they're going to do with it Her body is still in the basement when Karla's parents and sister Lori come over for a Father's day supper Eventually they decide to cut the body up into peices with a circular saw and encase the parts in 8 cement blocks, which they later dump in Lake Gibson

  June 29, 1991 - Paul and Karla proceed with their extravagent picture-perfect wedding, including horse-draw carriage At the same time, canoeists discover the cement blocks Leslie's body is encased in on the shore of Lake Gibson

  July 8, 1991 - Leslie's body is positively identified as the one that was cut up and encased in the cement blocks

  July 10, 1991 - A joint forces investigation by Halton and Niagra police is launched into the murder of Leslie Mahaffy

  July 28, 1991 - Paul stalks Sydney Kershen, age 21, as he spots her driving home from work in his gold Nissan 240 SX, following her where ever she drives When she eventually drives home and gets out of her car, Paul drives by slowly, watching her About a week later, on August 9, 1991, Bernardo begins stalking her again in his car This time she drives to a number of different places trying to evade him and trying to find her boyfriend She eventually stops at her boyfriend's house and her boyfriend arrives moments later After she tells him what is happening, they spot Bernardo lurking in some bushes a couple of houses down, and the boyfriend begins chasing him The boyfriend comes across Bernardo's gold Nissan and notices the engine is still warm and takes note of the licence plate, 660 HFH He continues searching for Bernardo but Bernardo doubles back, hops in his car and drives off They later report the incident to a police officer who runs the plate and discovers that the car belongs to a Paul Kenneth Bernardo The officer then goes to 57 Bayview and notes the car parked in the driveway, but does not pursue the matter any further - in fact he does not even submit an official police report on the incident

  Aug 10, 1991 - Karla again invites Jane Doe over to spend the night so she and Paul can drug and rape her This time, in the middle of the act, Paul notices that Jane isn't breathing In a panic, Karla phones 911 and tells the emergency operator that someone in her house has stopped breathing A few minutes later, however, Paul notices that she is in fact breathing and says everything is fine Karla phones back to the 911 operator and gets the request for an emergency crew canceled, after she assures the operator that everything is alright

  Mar 29, 1992 - Paul stalks Shanna and Kerry Patrich from his car and videotapes them He follows them to their parents' house and they record his licence plate number as 660 NFM and 660 MFN mistaking the last 3 letters, which are actually HFH Shanna reports the incident to the police on March 31 and is given an incidence number to refer back to if she has any new information to add

  Apr 16, 1992 - Paul and Karla leave their house planning to abduct another girl as a sex slave They spot Kristen French, age 15, near a church and pull in the parking lot, where Karla calls her over asking for directions Karla gets out of the car with a map and asks Kristen if she can tell her where they are on it During this distraction, Paul comes up from behind Kristen and forces her at knife point into front seat of the car Karla climbs in the back and forces her head down by pulling on her hair Over a three day period Paul and Karla would torture and rape Kristen while capturing it on videotape

  Apr 18, 1992 - Paul leaves 57 Bayview to buy dinner at Swiss Chalet and rent a movie, while leaving Karla to guard Kristen Around the same time, Kerry Patrich, whom Paul had stalked earlier, spots Bernardo in his gold sports car She attempts to track him to his house but loses him She does, however, get a better description of his licence plate number and make and model of his car She calls the police, giving them the incidence number they gave her, and tells them the car is a gold Nissan 240 SX, and that the licence plate number is 660 HFM - one letter off the correct HFH This information, however, is not handled properly by police and slips into the "black hole" that Judge Archie Campbell would later refer to in the Campbell report regarding many pieces of mishandled information involved in the case If this report had been properly followed up on, Kristen French might have been saved

  Apr 19, 1992 - Kristen French is murdered Paul says that Karla did it to her while she tried to escape - that she beat her with a rubber mallet and that Kristen ended up being strangled on a noose tied around her neck secured to a hope chest Karla says that Paul strangled Kristen with an electrical cord for a precise seven minute period while she watched However it happened, they end up leaving the body where it lay, shower and go to the Homolkas' for Easter dinner Later they would cut off all of Kristen's hair and wash the body to remove forensic evidence They would then dump the body, naked, in a ditch less than a kilometer away from the cemetery where Leslie Mahaffy was laid to rest in Burlington, Ontario

  Apr 30, 1992 - Kristen's body is discovered and identified

  May 1, 1992 - Van Smirnis, Paul's long time friend, speaks to an Ontario Provincial Police constable - who is a family acquaintance - and tells him Paul would make a good suspect in the Kristen French murder He says Bernardo is agressive towards women, has been seen hitting them, and that he once raped a girl in his basement while his wife was upstairs The constable files the report

  May 12, 1992 - A police sergeant and constable arrive at Paul's house to interview him in regards to the Kristen French murder Although Paul was awakened by their knock on the door, he goes downstairs, opens the door and invites them in The police are impressed by the wedding portraits on the walls, the well-kept house, and the young attractive couple The sergeant is also thrown off by Paul's answer to the question "Have you ever been in trouble before?" He answers that he hasn't but was questioned for the Scarborough rapes and submitted samples, and that he had to be honest, he did look like the composite The sergeant and constable would later determine that Paul was an unlikely suspect: it seemed unlikely that he would have abducted and killed Leslie Mahaffy just one week before his wedding; that he would be unable to commit the crimes with his wife in the house; and that his gold Nissan 240 SX didn't match the white Camero wrongly described as the car used in the abduction of Kristen French

  May 15, 1992 - The Green Ribbon Task Force of investigators looking into the Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French murders is created

  May 15, 1992 - Paul and Karla apply to have their names legally changed from Bernardo to Teale Bernardo wants to have an Anglo-Saxon sounding last name and he also wants to disavow himself from his illegitimate heritage (Kenneth Bernardo was not his real father) The name Teale is taken from the name of a fictional serial killer in the 1988 movie Criminal Law

  May 31, 1992 - John Motile, an acquaintence of Paul and Van Smirnis, goes to police to report Paul as a possible suspect in the murder of Kristen French

  Dec 22, 1992 - Jane Doe visits 57 Bayview for the last time She becomes upset because Paul and Karla pressure her into having sex with Paul

  Dec 27, 1992 - Tired of hurting himself beating Karla with his bare hands, Paul begins to use a flashlight to beat her He first starts beating her with it about the legs and arms, but eventually begins beating her on the head and face with it

  Jan 4, 1993 - Karla returns to work and her co-workers are shocked at her appearance Karla is bruised from her eyebrows right down her cheekbones and all down one side of her neck One eye is blood filled with no white left visible She claims she was in a car accident But her co-workers are skeptical, believing she was physically abused by Paul, and call her parents and tell them what happened


I Fell Down Some Stairs...No Really...

  Jan 5, 1993 - Karla's parents and sister Lori arrive at 57 Bayview and find Karla there alone, barely able to walk After an hour of arguing, her father literally carries her out of the house, and her mother and sister grab as many of Karla's possesions as they can fit in the car But Karla goes back into the house and frantically searches for the six rape/torture video tapes, unsuccessfully They arrive at the hospital at 1:00 am, January 6, and there pictures are taken of Karla's injuries and she gives police an occurence statement She is admitted to hospital

  Jan 6, 1993 - Paul is arrested by police and charged with assault with a weapon He is taken into custody but is later released on his own recognizance He is also ordered not to contact or attempt to contact, either directly or indirectly, Karla Homolka Paul, realizing his marriage is over becomes suicidal, but a close friend, who finds a suicide note, intervenes

  Jan 9, 1993 - Karla is discharged from hospital and moves in with her aunt and uncle in Brampton, Ontario, just west of Toronto

  Jan 21, 1993 - Karla writes the infamous diary entry where she alludes to secrets she holds over Paul - ie the Mahaffy and French murders as well as the death of Tammy

  Feb 1, 1993 - Twenty-six months after the sample had been submitted, police find out that Paul's DNA matches that of the Scarborough Rapist They immediately begin keeping him under 24-hour surveillence

Feb 1, 1993 - Twenty-six months after the sample had been submitted, police find out that Paul's DNA matches that of the Scarborough Rapist They immediately begin keeping him under 24-hour surveillence

  Feb 4, 1993 - Metro Toronto Sexual Assault Squad investigators attempt to contact Karla through her mother Karla talks to them on the fifth and arranges to be interviewed by them on the ninth in Brampton at her aunt and uncle's condominium

  Feb 9, 1993 - Police re-open the investigation into the December 24th, 1990 death of Tammy Homolka

  Feb 9, 1993 - Karla is interviewed by Metro Sexual Assault Squad police They advise her that her husband is suspected in a series of rapes and that his arrest is imminent Karla concretrates her conversation on the alleged abuse she suffered by him The police report that Karla was hostile and uncooperative when being questioned about certain things including the murder of Kristen French Later that night Karla breaks down and confesses to her aunt and uncle that Paul is the Scarborough Rapist and that she and him were involved in the rapes and murders of Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French, and that the rapes were recorded on video tape

  Feb 11, 1993 - Karla meets with lawyer George Walker and tells him about the crimes she and Paul were involved in Walker, later that day, contacts St Catherine's Crown Attorney Ray Houlahan seeking full immunity from prosecution for Karla in exchange for her assistance with police against Paul

  Feb 12, 1993 - Unbeknownst to Karla, she is placed under 24 hour police surveillance

  Feb 13, 1993 - Karla authorizes George Walker to seek full immunity on her behalf for her cooperation in a hand-written letter

  Feb 13, 1993 - The legal name change Paul and Karla applied for on May 15, 1992 is approved They are now legally the Teales The name Teale is taken from the name of a fictional serial killer in the 1988 movie Criminal Law

  Feb 14, 1993 - George Walker meets with Murray Segal, Director of the Crown Criminal Law Office, who has been assigned the case, to seek out a plea agreement Walker tells Segal of the information Karla has disclosed to him, much of which is known only to police He also tells him of videotapes that were made of the rapes of Tammy Homolka, Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French Segal advises Walker that, considering Karla's involvement in the crimes, full immunity is not a possibility

  Feb 17, 1993 - Paul Bernardo is arrested at his home at 57 Bayview by Metro Sexual Assault Squad and Green Ribbon Task Force detectives for the Scarborough rapes and the murders of Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French The arrest proceeds without incident

  Feb 18, 1993 - Bernardo is driven to Scarborough and charged with numerous offenses in regard to the Scarborough rapes (He won't be charged with the murders for another 3 months The GRTF arrests him for the murders as a pretext to get a murder search warrant - if the police only have a rape search warrant and find murder evidence at 57 Bayview, that evidence could be thrown out)

  Feb 19, 1993 - Metro SAS applies for a rape search warrant of 57 Bayview Dr based on the DNA evidence which links Bernardo to the rapes The Green Ribbon Task Force - which has no hard evidence linking Bernardo to the murders (Karla's disclosures can't be used) - applies for a murder search warrant based on the DNA linking him to the Scarborough rapes and a recent FBI profile by Special Agent Greg McCrary In the profile there is some key circumstantial evidence: One, the offender is predicted to escalate his crimes from rape to murder Two, the offender is profiled as committing his crimes near his home; when Bernardo lived in Scarborough he committed the rapes there and when he moved to St Catherines the Scarborough rapes stopped and rapes and murders began in that area Three, the odds of there being two sexual-sadist serial rapist/murderers in the same area are virtually zero Four, similar trophies of hair were taken from victims by both the Scarborough Rapist and the person who committed the murders

  Feb 19, 1993 - Limited search warrants are granted to the Metro SAS for the rapes and the GRTF for the murders (there are restrictions put on them because of the weak evidence linking Bernardo to the murders) One of limitations is that no evidence that isn't expected and documented in the warrant can be removed from the premises Therefore all video tapes the police find have to be viewed in the house Another limitation is that damage to the house has to be kept to a minimum; so police can't tear down walls looking for the rape/torture videotapes The search of the house, including updated warrants, lasts 71 days

  Feb 21, 1993 - Police find a videotape that has a short segment depicting Karla performing oral sex on unidentified, unconscious female That female would later turn out to be Jane Doe
 


Paul Bernardo - On The Way To Court

  Feb 22, 1993 - Murray Segal, Ray Houlahan, Inspector Bevan and others meet in a St Catherines courthouse office to discuss evidence of murder against Paul and Karla They conclude they have none So they agree to continue trying to come to an arrangement with Karla

  Feb 23, 1993 - Murray Segal and George Walker meet again Walker advises Segal hospital records show that Karla was abused Segal suggests no amount of abuse could account for her participation in the murders

  Feb 25, 1993 - Murray Segal again meets with George Walker Segal has a still from the video police found believing the girl in it to be Kristen French Segal suggests that if Karla didn't cause any of the deaths herself prosecutors are open to a deal where Karla would plead guilty to a lesser charge and receive a pre-determined sentence of ten years But Karla must give police full-disclosure of her role in the crimes and testify against Paul Segal and Walker agree to continue discussions via telephone

  Feb 26, 1993 - Karla gives George Walker authorization to arrange for a plea agreement with a 10 year sentence

  Mar 2, 1993 - Segal and Walker meet again Segal suggests a 10 year sentence for two counts of manslaughter Walker advises Segal that Karla must undergo a psychiatric evaluation before entering into a plea agreement Segal informs Walker that police will still continue to investigate Karla's role in the crimes, and if evidence shows Karla played a role in the homicides she will be charged with murder Negotiations are called off at this time

  Mar 5, 1993 - Karla is admitted to hospital for psychiatric evaluation Pyschiatrist Dr Hans Arndt, forensic psychiatrist Dr Andrew Malcolm, and clinical psychologist Dr Alan Long work on assessing Karla's mental state They come to the conclusion that her mental state is comparable to that of a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp

  Mar 1993 - While at the hospital Karla writes her parents and sister Lori telling them of her and Paul's role in Tammy's death She signs the letter, Karla XOXO

  Apr 1, 1993 - Calvin and Patricia Seger - Karla's aunt and uncle she was living with in Brampton - disclose to police Karla's confession to them Although authorities can't use these statements to prosecute Paul because of hearsay rules, they can use them as evidence to prosecute Karla for first degree murder But instead of charging her with murder, they choose to later use them to pressure Karla into accepting a plea bargain so they have a witness in the prosecution of Bernardo for first degree murder

  Apr 23, 1993 - Homolka is discharged from hospital and returns to St Catherines to live with her parents George Walker attempts to use her psychiatric evaluation to get her a reduced sentence

  Apr 30, 1993 - The murder and rape search warrants for 57 Bayview Dr expire after a 71 day search Police are no closer to proving Bernardo committed the murders of Leslie and Kristen than when they started

  May 5, 1993 - Murray Segal and George Walker meet again Walker is informed that the government is offering Karla a 12 year sentence plea agreement and that Karla has one week to accept If she doesn't she will be charged with 2 counts of first degree murder, 1 count of second degree murder and other crimes Walker opts to accept this offer, subject to Karla's approval Karla later agrees to accept it

  May 6, 1993 - Ken Murray, Paul's lawyer, on instructions from Paul on two handwritten letters, enters 57 Bayview and removes six 8-mm videocassetes hidden in the ceiling above a bathroom light fixture These tapes show the rapes of Tammy Homolka, Leslie Mahaffy, Kristen French and Jane Doe As per Bernardo's instructions, Murray does not view the tapes until May 18, after first degree murder charges had been laid against Paul

  May 14, 1993 - The plea agreement between Karla and the Crown is finalized Later that evening Karla begins giving her induced statements to police investigators

  May 16, 1993 - Police show Karla a still photograph from the video segment from the video found at 57 Bayview The police believe the girl in the picture is Kristen French Karla suggests it is her sister Tammy The actual person is Jane Doe, whose rapes are not disclosed by Karla to police until months later

  May 17, 1993 - Around this time, Karla leads police to key areas inside of the 57 Bayview house where important events happened This eventually leads to the discovery of DNA evidence that prove Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French had been inside the house Karla also leads police to find the cement Bernardo purchased, which is the same type the cement blocks were made of It turns out Bernardo bought too much and when he returned the excess amount he signed his name on the receipt

  May 18, 1993 - Bernardo is charged with two counts each of kidnapping, unlawful confinement, aggravated sexual assault and first degree murder He is also charged in regard to the dismemberment of Leslie Mahaffy's body

  May 18, 1993 - Karla appears in court for her arraignment on two counts of manslaughter and a bail hearing Bail is set at $110,000 with a number of conditions Karla is remanded to next appear in court on June 7, 1993, at which time a trial date will be set Her parents put up their house as collateral for the bail, and she is released

  May 27, 1993 - Bernardo appears in court for his formal arraignment on numerous charges, including 2 counts of first degree murder

  June 27, 1993 - Karla is thrown a "going away" pool party at the Homolkas' house


Love Shack Baby, Funky Little Shack

  June 28, 1993 - Proceedings regarding Karla's plea agreement begin in court Over the first two days lawyers for the Crown, defense and media fight over the issue of a publication ban Judge Francis Kovacs remands the court until July 5, when he will reveal his ruling

  July 5, 1993 - Judge Kovacs implements the publication ban and bans all American reporters and members of the general public from the proceedings

  July 6, 1993 - The actual proceedings begin Karla pleads guilty to both charges of manslaughter and is sentenced to 12 years in prison Statements are read by Debbie Mahaffy, the mother of Leslie, and Donna French, the mother of Kristen When the proceedings end Karla is delivered to Kingston Prison for Women to begin serving her sentence

  July 13, 1993 - Justin Wells creates the altfankarla-homolka newsgroup for people who share his tastes in "women who have a penchant for S&M, and who aren't afraid to take a video camera into the bedroom" This newsgroup later becomes a place where banned information surrounding the case is distributed and rumours about the case are discussed

  July 20, 1993 - Tammy Homolka's body is exhumed for a second autospy When Investigator's open Tammy's coffin they find the wedding invitation Paul and Karla had placed there Written on it are short messages from Paul and Karla Tammy's body is returned to the cemetery later that night and a second burial ceremony takes place The complete findings of the autopsy are not released until April 28, 1994

  Sep 1993 - Toronto Sun reporters publish a number of letters Karla wrote before and after her imprisonment under an article titled "Where's the remorse?"

  Sep 19, 1993 - British tablod, The London Sunday Mirror, publishes the first article detailing banned facts surrounding the case

  Oct 6, 1993 - Karla begins to remember vague details about the Jane Doe rapes She writes her lawyer George Walker asking him to do something so the terms of her plea agreement aren't broken when the information is disclosed

  Oct 28, 1993 - TV tabloid show, A Current Affair, runs a story on the case The airing of the show is blocked in Canada

  Nov 2, 1993 - Police receive disclosure of the letter Karla wrote George Walker regarding the Jane Doe rapes They later re-examine the video segment of the tape they thought showed Kristen French

  Nov 19, 1993 - Retired veteran Ontario Provincial Police constable, Gordon Domm, is arrested and prevented from mailing out copies of The London Sunday Mirror article

  Nov 22, 1993 - People Weekly article by Elizabeth Gleick containing banned facts is published

  Nov 23, 1993 - Anne Swardson's banned article for the Washington Post is published On November 28 it is picked up by US newspapers near the Canadian border Police only stop Canadians coming back over the border who have more than one copy, because the ban prohibits only distribution of information on the case

  Dec 12, 1993 - Ken Murray, Bernardo's lawyer, complains that the Ontario Attorney General's handling of the ban is destroying Bernardo's right to a fair trial for allowing the issue to explode into an international incident

  Feb 2, 1994 - Metro Sexual Assault Squad investigators interview Karla about the Jane Doe rapes

  Feb 12, 1994 - Police interview Jane Doe about the rapes When they inform her of them, she doesn't recall anything about them

  Mar 30, 1994 - The Ontario Attorney General invokes a rarely used clause of the Criminal Code of Canada, directly indicting Bernardo on the double murder charges, which bypasses his preliminary hearing to speed up the trial process

  Apr 28, 1994 - Tammy's second autopsy report is released It concludes Tammy either died from choking on her vomit or from the toxic effects of the drugs used on her But the exact cause of death can not be determined

  May 2, 1994 - The Ontario Attorney General agains invokes the rarely used clause to bypass Bernardo's preliminary hearing in the charges of the Scarborough rapes and the manslaughter of Tammy Homolka

  May 3, 1994 - Bernardo's final charge of assault against Karla is stayed Bernardo's defense decries this move which denies them their final chance to cross-examine Karla before the double murder trial

  May 4, 1994 - Bernardo's double murder trial begins with not-guilty pleas The initial stage of the trial, the hearing of legal motions, lasts until April 1995

  May 20, 1994 - Gordon Domm becomes the first and only person to be convicted of violating the publication ban

  May 30, 1994 - Bernardo's defense team begins a series of prison interviews with Karla They are given the interviews for compensation for being denied the opportunity to cross-examine Karla during the cancelled preliminary hearings The interviews do not yield much for the defense, however, because they had not yet received full disclosure from the Crown, and most questions were not answered due to the invoking of the solicitor-client privilege

  Sep 12, 1994 - John Rosen takes over the defense of Bernardo from Ken Murray Murray leaves the case after Bernardo wants him to destroy the video tapes Murray had planned on using the tapes to spring them on Karla, unprepared, during the preliminary hearing to gain testimony he could use during the trial But the preliminary hearing was cancelled When that happened Bernardo wanted to change his defense strategy from Karla being the real killer to that he never met Leslie Mahaffy or Kristen French and had nothing to do with their deaths In order for that to work, however, the tapes had to be destroyed

  Sep 22, 1994 - John Rosen hands over the original copies of the videotapes to police

  Dec 2, 1994 - Inspector Vince Bevan asks Ray Houlahan if the government intends to prosecute Karla for the Jane Doe rapes

  Jan 9, 1995 - Ray Houlahan, Murray Segal and acting Inspector Anthony Warr meet to discuss whether sexual assault charges should be laid against Karla No decision is yet made

  Feb 8, 1995 - Murray Segal advises George Walker that Karla might face new charges of sexual assault in the Jane Doe rapes

  Mar 20, 1995 - In a series of meetings between Bernardo's and Jane Doe's lawyers, Bernardo's lawyers try to ascertain whether Jane is planning on pursuing charges against Karla for sexual assault on her own But Jane Doe, in a deteriorating mental state, only wants her privacy

  Mar 30, 1995 - Another meeting between senior investigators and Crown representatives is held trying to determine whether sexual assault charges should be laid against Karla

  Apr 1995 - A change of venue in the Bernardo double-murder trial is ordered to move it from St Catherines to Toronto, Ontario

  Apr 21, 1995 - The first of two high-level meetings is held over the matter of whether Karla is to be charged for sexual assault They decide to defer their decision

  May 15, 1995 - Jury selection begins in the Bernardo double-murder trial

  May 18, 1995 - The jury trial of Bernardo on double-murder charges begins

  May 18, 1995 - The second high-level meeting is held regarding charging Karla with sexual assault They decide she will not face further charges Their decision is based on the idea that Karla did not disclose the information because she was suffering from post-tramatic stress disorder amnesia They are also worried about the impact laying charges against her would have on her effectiveness as a witness

  June 15, 1995 - Regional Director James Treleaven advises George Walker Karla will not be charged with the sexual assaults of Jane Doe

  June 18, 1995 - Karla takes the stand at the Bernardo trial as a witness against him Her testimony lasts until July 14, 1995

  Sept 1, 1995 - After 9 hours of deliberations the jury finds Bernardo guilty of all charges: two counts each of kidnapping, forcible confinement, aggravated sexual assault, and first degree murder; and one count of offering an indignity to a dead human body He is sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years Bernardo is later transported to Kingston Penitentiary where he is housed in a tiny prison cell 23 hours a day

  Sep 1995 - The book Lethal Marriage by Toronto Star reporter Nick Pron is published

  Nov 3, 1995 - Bernardo is back in court facing the Scarborough rape charges and a Dangerous Offender hearing In a recently passed federal law a person who is declared a Dangerous Offender faces an indefinite prison term In relation to the Scarborough rapes Bernardo faces the following charges: ten counts of sexual assault while using a weapon; two counts of choking with intent to render incapable of resistance to sexual assault; three counts of buggery; five counts of sexual assault causing bodily harm; two counts of unlawful confinement; six counts of anal intercourse; eight counts of robbery and two counts of aggravated sexual assault Bernardo agrees to accept the Dangerous Offender declaration and concede his guilt in all rape charges in exchange for all charges against him, including his role in the death of Tammy Homolka, being stayed At the hearing, family members of Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French read out victim impact statements After that judge Patrick LeSage reads out the victim impact statements of all the rape victims

  Nov 1995 - The book Deadly Innocence by Toronto Sun reporters Scott Burnside and Alan Cairns is published

  Jan 1996 - Karla's segregation at Kingston Prison For Women - which caused her to be locked in her cell 23 hours a day - is relaxed, and she begins to interact with the general prison population

  Aug 1996 - The book Invisible Darkness by Stephen Williams is published

  July 6, 1997 - Karla becomes eligible for parole, but does not apply

  Summer 1997 - Karla is transfered from maximum security Kingston P4W to minimum/medium security Joliette Institution in Quebec Joliete is labelled "Club Fed" by some critics who say it is more like a college dormitory than a prison


Paul In A Nice Rendering

  Dec 1998 - Stephen Williams, author of Invisible Darkness, is charged with disobeying a court order after detectives conclude that 27 passages in his book were so detailed that Williams had to have seen the restricted tapes Investigation of Williams begins shortly after Heather Bird, in a January 6, 1998 Toronto Sun column, reports Williams told her he viewed the banned tapes (which Williams immediately denies)

  Spring 1999 - Expecting to be released on her Statutory Release date of July 6, 2001, Karla applies for a six month program of Escorted Temporary Absences (ETAs) from prison In the handwritten letter she applies in she says she needs some form of gradual release into society and that it is "essential" that she gets to know the city of Montreal - where she is planning on moving - and its community resources

  Spring 1999 - The Toronto Sun reports Karla is involved in a lesbian relationship with Lynda Veronneau, a convicted bank robber, who is due to inherit $1 million dollars from a family estate

  July 16, 1999 - The Toronto Sun reports Karla had sexual relationships with 2 inmates while at the Kingston Prison For Women, according to other inmates While on the stand at Bernardo's trial Karla testified she is not sexually attracted to women and was forced to participate in the rapes by Bernardo

  Oct 1999 - The warden of Joliette rejects Karla's request for ETAs

  Nov 1999 - Karla sues the federal government for being denied the ETAs But she quickly drops the lawsuit when she learns that all her prison and psychiatric records are being made public Even though media outlets are faxed this information a judge bans them from publishing any of it

  Feb 23, 2000 - The TV drama Law and Order airs their episode based on the Bernardo/Homolka case, titled, Fools for Love Tim Danson, the lawyer representing the Mahaffy and French families, who previewed the episode, says the show is just another good episode of Law and Order and doesn't resemble the actual events In the episode, the prosecutors agree to a 10 year plea agreement in exchange for testimony on the advice of their psychiatrist But ADA McCoy later discovers the female participant in the crimes doesn't suffer from Battered Woman Syndrome, but enjoyed every moment of the sexual assaults, even those on her sister McCoy later tricks the Karla-like offender into admitting she doesn't suffer from BWS and enjoyed doing the crimes in front of a Judge, who overturns the 10 year sentence and gives her a 25-year-to-life sentence

  Mar 2000 - Bernardo's bid for a new trial is turned down by the Ontario Court of Appeal

  Mar 27, 2000 - Trial begins for Ken Murray, Bernardo's original lawyer, on charges of attempting to obstruct justice after concealing his client's sex-and-torture videotapes for more than 16 months

  Mar 31, 2000 - Robert Baltovich, jailed in 1992 after he was convicted of killing his girlfriend, is released on bail pending an appeal His lawyers suggest Bernardo was the real killer

  May 4, 2000 - Karla turns 30

  Jun 13, 2000 - Ken Murray is aquitted on charges of attempting to obstruct justice

  Sep 21, 2000 - Bernardo's final bid for a new trial is rejected by the Supreme Court of Canada

  Sep 22, 2000 - The "prison party" photos are published in Canadian newspapers showing Homolka modelling evening wear and enjoying a birthday party behind the walls of Joliette Institution near Montreal

  Oct 9, 2000 - Karla is transferred to a maximum security facility in Saskatoon to undergo forensic pyschiatric examination This is to determine if she still poses a risk to society and should be held beyond her two/thirds Statutory Release date She, at first, refuses to cooperate but later decides to participate in some aspects of the examination after being threatened to have her prison status changed from medium to maximum security

  Nov 29, 2000 - The Law Society of Upper Canada drops a professional misconduct charge against Ken Murray

  Nov 30, 2000 - The Crown abandons its case against Stephen Williams, author of Invisible Darkness, who was accused of viewing the banned tapes in defiance of a court order They do this for fear the tapes would be played in court

  Dec 6, 2000 - Karla's lawyer Marc Labelle says his client fears she will be killed by vigilantes upon her release and wants to serve out the rest of her 12-year prison sentence - at Joliette Karla had come across numerous threats against her life on the internet, and viewed the Karla Homolka Death Pool site

  Dec 8, 2000 - News surfaces of preliminary plans for a film version of the Bernardo saga, possibly to be shot in Toronto in January Jason Priestly is up for the part of Bernardo Outcry from NDP, Liberals prompts the Conservative government to promise no government property will be used as filming locations

  Dec 13, 2000 - Ontario Attorney General Jim Flaherty says he wants to destroy Bernardo videotapes "once they are no longer needed for the administration of justice"

  Jan 2001 - Correctional Services Canada recommends to the National Parole Board that Karla be held beyond her July 6, 2001 Statutory Release date and serve her full 12 year sentence This recommendation is based on the reports of 2 of 3 forensic psychiatrists who evaluated her The NPB is to hold a hearing on the matter before April 2001

  Jan 2001 - Karla is shipped to off to a Montreal psychiatric hospital to undergo treatment as a sex offender She refuses to cooperate with the treatment offered by psychiatrists who specialize in sexual criminality Her refusal to participate almost guarantees that her prison status will be changed from medium to maximum security

  Mar 8, 2001 - The National Parole Board orders that Karla be detained beyond her July 6, 2001 Statutory Release date and serve out her full 12 year sentence They state, "The board is satisfied that, if released, [Karla is] likely to commit an offence causing the death of or serious harm to another person before the expiration of the sentence [she is] now serving" Karla waived her right to be present at the hearing, and requested that it be held in French (Canada has two official languages, English and French)

  Mar 27, 2001 - The Toronto Sun reports that Bernardo is going 'stir crazy' in prison Five and a half years of isolation from other inmates, 24-hour video surveillance, and a tiny prison cell are apparently taking their toll on Mr Bernardo He wants more freedom but knows he can't have it because he is in 'grave danger' from the general prison population

  Mar 30, 2001 - The Toronto Sun reports that Bernardo still loves Karla, as told by a former friend who used to visit Bernardo It is reported Bernardo believes that love is forever and is under the impression that he and Karla will have contact later in life Even though Bernardo never bad mouthed Karla to his former friend, he still maintained that it was Karla who did the actual murders


Tammy In Jail?  Yes...This Picture Was Taken In Prison

  Apr 2001 - After refusing sex offender treatment at a Montreal psychiatric hospital Karla is moved to Ste Anne-des-Plaines maximum security prison in Quebec

  Apr 2001 - Elm Street Magazine comes out with an article titled, "The Case Against Karla" In this article renown profiler Candice Skrapec and expert Dr Vincent Di Maio argue that Karla is a "malignent narcissist" who purposely killed Tammy because of jealousy due to Bernardo's interest in Tammy "Anyone who puts an anesthetic on a cloth and holds it over a person's face long enough knows that person is going to die," Di Maio tells the magazine

  Dec 2001 - The six rape/torture video tapes and all their copies are destroyed With all of Bernardo's appeals for a new trial exhausted, the irrelevance of the tapes in future parole hearings and the fear that they could one day be leaked, the Ontario government comes to the conclusion that it is safe to destroy the tapes and does so Tim Danson, the lawyer representing the Mahaffy and French families, says, "With the destruction of this material, Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy are now free from this horror and their own dignity and respect have been restored"

  Jan 31, 2002 - The Toronto Sun reports Tim Danson, the lawyer representing the Mahaffy and French families, believes that Karla will one day try and make money off her involvement in the rapes and murders He says, "I'm convinced she will try to profit from this, somewhere, somehow" He is speaking in regard to a multi-million dollar lawsuit he filed against Bernardo and Homolka to ensure that they never profit from their crimes

  Fall 2002 - Karla writes a letter to the National Parole Board of Canada requesting parole for July 6, 2003 In the letter she points out the irony that Correctional Services Canada treated her for 8 years for psychological problems relating to Battered Woman Syndrome, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, etc according to the findings of 7 psychiatrists, and then, all of a sudden, changed their view of her to that of a psycopath, whose problems are still very present because she portrays herself as a victim CSC changed their view of Karla on the reports of 2 of 3 forensic psychiatrists who Karla didn't cooperate with, making their diagnoses essentially "long distance" diagnoses The two experts tended toward the diagnosis of a troubled personality, ``for example, either an antisocial personality or a psychopath''

  Nov 12, 2002 - Stephen Williams, the author of Invisible Darkness, has his new book on Karla released - but only in French The book is titled: Karla: Le Pacte Avec le Diable (Karla: A Pact with the Devil) The English publisher that was originally going to publish it, Stoddart Publishers, went out of business, and other English language publishers passed on the book, likely feeling there might be a public backlash against it like there was against the Bernardo/Homolka movie concept The book went on to become a bestseller in French, and it is rumoured it will be published in English in Febuary 2003 Among other things, the book contains correspondence between Williams and Homolka over a one-and-a-half year period

  Nov 2002 - Tim Danson, the lawyer for the Mahaffy and French families, suggests Karla's correspondence with Williams, which is published in Williams' new book, Karla: The Deal with the Devil, violates the terms of her 12 year plea agreement This prompts Ontario Attorney-General David Young to ask police to investigate Homolka's involvement in the book, possibly with an eye toward overturning her notorious plea bargain Her plea agreement stipulates: "She will not give an account directly or indirectly to the press, media, or for the purpose of any book, movie, or like endeavour"

  Jan 2003 - The National Parole Board of Canada denies Homolka's bid for parole in 2003 They cite there was "no significant change" in her case during the past year Homolka later tells the NPB she intends to serve her full sentence, which expires on July 6, 2005

  Jan 20-21, 2003 - The Toronto Sun comes out with 3 articles on Karla plus a number of pictures after they were contacted by Lynda Veronneau, Karla's wealthy lesbian ex-lover In the articles Veronneau says Karla used her to get $3000 in Victoria Secret lingerie and a $2500 computer Veronneau also claims that Karla always wanted to be tied up during sex and "play-hurt", which she says makes Karla a masochist, "soft, but a masochist" In the articles a fellow inmate of Karla's at Ste Anne-des-Plaines maximum security prison claims Karla had a relationship with a male inmate suspected of being in for murder and that at one time they exchanged underwear through a hole in the fence and had sexual relations The inmate claimed Karla told her she intends to marry the male prisoner The pictures show the "hard time" Homolka was doing at Joliette prison, where she was photographed at picnics on the prison grounds, modeling lingerie and evening wear, and sitting on Santa's knee

  Feb 2003 - Stephen Williams' book Karla: A Pact with the Devil is published in English
 


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