Paul Bernardo: Canadian Serial Killer and Rapist

The unconscious girl vomited, and started to choke. Unable to revive her, Homolka and Bernardo quickly dressed her, and moved her into her own bedroom, before Karla called 911.

Tammy never regained consciousness. The coroner ruled her death an accident.

Shortly thereafter, Paul and Karla rented a bungalow in Port Dalhousie, a suburb of St. Catharine’s.

Jane Doe

Karla had befriended a teenaged girl (called “Jane Doe” at the trials). On June 7, 1991, after a night out with the girl, Karla invited her home. Karla plied her with alcohol, laced with the sedative Halcion. When “Jane” lost consciousness, Karla called Bernardo to tell him his wedding gift was ready.

Karla raped her while Bernardo videotaped the attack. Then, he also raped and somodized the unconscious girl.

In the morning, the teenager was sick, and didn’t know she had been raped. She returned for another visit in August. Bernardo and Homolka drugged her again. As they started to rape her, “Jane” stopped breathing.

Karla called 911. A few minutes later, she called back and cancelled the emergency. Again, the girl was unaware she had been raped. At a later visit in December, Bernardo and Karla pressured her to have sex with Bernardo. She refused, and left.

Leslie Mahaffy

Paul Bernardo was no longer content with drugging and raping his victims. On June 15, 1991, he was in Burlington stealing license plates, when he saw Leslie Mahaffy.

The fourteen-year-old had been locked out of her house, and needed somewhere to spend the night. She asked Bernardo if he had any cigarettes. Bernardo blindfolded her, forced her into his car, and drove her back to St. Catharine’s.

In the twenty-four hours that followed, he and Karla tortured and raped the blindfolded girl repeatedly. They recorded Leslie’s ordeal on videotape. Finally, Homolka drugged her with sleeping pills, and Bernardo strangled her. They left her body in the basement, and went upstairs for Father’s Day dinner with Karla’s family.

The next day, Bernardo and Homolka cut Leslie’s body into pieces with a circular saw, and encased the pieces in cement. They drove the cement blocks to nearby Lake Gibson and dumped all but one into the lake. It was too heavy, so they abandoned it near shore.

On June 29, 1991, a pair of outdoor enthusiasts found the cement block. It had broken open. An orthodontic piece identified the remains of Leslie Mahaffy.

It was Paul and Karla’s wedding day.