Quebec town right to be shaken by Karla Homolka

[spaminator]

Quebec town right to be shaken by Karla Homolka

By Michele Mandel, Toronto Sun
First posted: Tuesday, April 19, 2016 02:53 PM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, April 19, 2016 08:18 PM EDT
Imagine, you’ve allowed your child to go over to their friend’s house after school — unaware the kid’s mom is a notorious serial killer.
Maybe she’s a chaperone for the basketball team or a volunteer at lunch. Wouldn’t you want to know that Karla Homolka is around your kids, or more worrisome, your young teenage girls?
No wonder parents in a Montreal suburb are outraged to learn Leanne Teal of Chateauguay is actually the infamous blond killer from St. Catharines whose “deal with the devil” netted her just a 12-year prison sentence for the rape and slayings of teens Leslie Mahaffy, Kristen French and her own sister Tammy — while her former husband Paul Bernardo was classified as a dangerous offender and is serving life.
The principal at Centennial Park elementary sent a letter home to parents Tuesday not confirming reports that Homolka’s children attend the school but reassuring them that their kids are safe. “Adults who work or volunteer with our students are required to have criminal background checks done,” Joanne Daviau wrote.
We learned the mother of three was back living quietly in Quebec in 2014 — thanks to her surviving sister Lori. Now going by the name Logan Valentini, she was subpoenaed to testify at the Montreal murder trial of Luka Magnotta, the former porn actor who floated rumours that he was dating Karla.
Valentini explained that she had no idea why Magnotta used her new name and address to send one of four boxes containing the severed hands and feet of his victim. But while being questioned via videolink from Kitchener, she was asked about her sister so the court would have context about Magnotta’s obsession. It was then that she disclosed under oath that Karla was back in Quebec after living for several years with her husband and children in Guadeloupe.
How seamlessly she had shed her criminal past; how enraging that she is allowed to live her life as a soccer mom.
Karla was released from prison in 2005 with a degree in psychology and fluency in French. She married her lawyer’s brother — Thierry Bordelais — and tried to live under the radar in Quebec. When those efforts were thwarted by investigative reporters, she moved with her husband to the French Caribbean and went by the name of Leanne Bordelais — until she was outed by journalist Paula Todd in 2012.
Now she’s been back in La Belle Province since at least 2014 and reportedly using the name Leanne Teale — an especially chilling choice. Homolka and Bernardo had applied to change their legal names to Leanne Teale and Paul Jason Teale after coming across the surname in a movie about a serial killer. They received formal approval five days before his arrest in 1993.
Karla was one half of the Barbie and Ken killers, so pretty to look at, so evil to the core. Their storybook wedding in 1991, complete with horse-drawn carriage, hid a depraved, sadistic couple who hunted pretty young teens to drug, rape and murder.
Homolka would claim that she was a battered wife forced to do Bernardo’s bidding — but their home movies of their sex assaults would put the lie to that. She was a predator, a killer, a full partner in crime. But before those videos surfaced, she negotiated a crafty deal: in exchange for pleading guilty to manslaughter and testifying against her former husband, she would serve just 12 years in jail.
She did every day of that time, some would argue. Hasn’t she served her debt to society? Shouldn’t she be left to live in peace?
Not at all. I do feel badly for her children — it’s not their fault that their mother is an infamous serial killer. But sympathy for her? Not a shred. Her plea deal remains an outrageous affront to those poor innocent schoolgirls robbed of the chance of ever having a husband and children as she has enjoyed.
She deserves to be hounded for the rest of her life.
Read Mandel Wednesday through Saturday.
mmandel@postmedia.com
Quebec town right to be shaken by Karla Homolka | Mandel | Canada | News | Toron

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

She deserves no peace. She should have had KILLER tattooed on her forehead for easy identification.

 

[Locutus]

here's hopin' she gets hit by a dump truck.

 

[Mowich]

Here's hoping the hue and cry will chase her out of Canada once again.

 

[spaminator]

Karla Homolka seemed pleasant: Next-door neighbour
Schoolgirl killer calls cops on reporters who knocked on door
Katherine Wilton and Andy Riga, Montreal Gazette
First posted: Wednesday, April 20, 2016 02:42 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, April 20, 2016 03:06 PM EDT
Chateauguay police turned up at Karla Homolka‘s house on Wednesday after reporters knocked on her door hoping to speak to her.
Homolka shouted at reporters to get off her property and called the police the day after it was revealed she was living in the South Shore town with her husband and three children.
Homolka’s next-door neighbour said she didn’t know that the notorious schoolgirl killer lived beside her. She said Homolka, who has changed her name to Leanne Teale, seemed pleasant and her three children were very nice.
“I feel very sad for the children,” she said.
Several residents who were out walking said they were stunned to learn that Homolka was living so close. Some said they want her to move, but others said she has a right to privacy, especially now that she has three children.
No evidence Homolka is ‘real and imminent’ danger to the public
Upon her release from prison in July 2005, Homolka’s movements were restricted by 14 court-imposed conditions.
She was ordered to report her whereabouts to police, not associate with violent offenders and not contact the families of murdered schoolgirls Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy.
Four months later, a Quebec court lifted those restrictions, ruling there was no evidence Homolka remained a “real and imminent” danger to the public.
Mayor speaks out about negative attention
Chateauguay Mayor Nathalie Simon said she understands the concerns of some of her city’s residents.
“The fact that our city is making headlines for something like this is not pleasant,” Simon told the Montreal Gazette on Wednesday.
“I don’t know who buys houses in the city of Chateauguay, I don’t know who moves into my community – it’s the same for any municipality. Today it’s Chateauguay that’s making headlines. Tomorrow, it could be another city.”
She said she “understands people’s questions, the fears that are being expressed (but) I imagine that as a larger society, we have mechanisms in place to protect our citizens, to ensure they are safe.”
Karla Homolka yells through a crack in the door at a reporter to get off her property, Wednesday, April 20, 2016 in Chateauguay, Que. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Karla Homolka seemed pleasant: Next-door neighbour | Canada | News | Toronto Sun

 

[spaminator]

An open letter to Karla Homolka

By Brad Hunter, 24 Hours
First posted: Saturday, April 23, 2016 01:33 PM EDT | Updated: Saturday, April 23, 2016 07:05 PM EDT
Dear Karla:


It’s been a while. You’re back in the news this week in a fairly big way.


What a drag. You’ve been discovered living in sleepy Chateauguay, Quebec with your three kids and hubby.


Bet you didn’t know both Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy would be celebrating their 40th birthdays this year. Wild, eh? Surrounded by adoring husbands, friends and family they’d hopefully be raising a glass to their sweet lives.


BTW: Your little sister Tammy would have turned 40 in 2015.


This trio of girls — forever teenagers — were robbed of graduations, proms, motherhood, weddings, travel, education and fulfilling careers. And we are the lesser for it.


Instead, nothing. The abyss.


And you? You Karla, got away with it.


Neighbours claim you are “nice”.


Mind, you did seem pretty pissed when reporters started pounding at your door and snapping photos of your cookie-cutter suburban home. So pissed, in fact, you called the cops.


And your hubby? He was indignant. Defiant even.


Hell no, we won’t go.


But here’s the thing: you’ve got kids now and as you might know, kids can be cruel and it’s kind of tough to run from your past.


Why didn’t you just stay in the sunny Caribbean?


The weather’s better and you wouldn’t have the media camped out in your front yard.


Yet, you came back. You always come back.


And you’ve always played your cards like a Vegas veteran.


The average Canadian had you pegged as a monster from day one. Not so the crown prosecutors, Corrections Canada, social workers and your own damn family.


And as for you, the mantra’s always been self-servingly the same: it was Paul, it was Paul.


A criminal psychologist pal of mine once pointed out a very salient fact: Paul Bernardo didn’t kill until he met you.


Even while you were out on bail you were going to Brampton bars and picking up men for sex. The horrors you took part in didn’t seem to cramp your style.


Then there was the soft time you did during your 12-year jolt in jail. In the joint, you preyed on weaker women than you for favours and sex.


But that time wasn’t all fun and sexual games.


You earned a degree and learned to speak French.


Bravo.


The problem for most of us following the “Deal with the Devil” plea bargain that let the Crown throw away the keys for Bernado is that we felt you deserved the same fate.


And now you’re back.


At the end of Paul Bernardo’s trial, Kirk Makin from The Globe and Mail wrote that perhaps your real punishment would be when you walked out of prison.


Makin seemed to believe you would be hounded by the media and your fellow lunatics until the day you were toe-tagged in the morgue. It appears he was right.


I’m certain at this moment you’re distressed at how this attention is affecting your family, and it’s a shame your children have to bear it.


But when you put your blonde tresses on the pillow tonight, give a thought to three other children – Tammy, Kristen and Leslie.


Tough to feel sorry for you.


Sincerely,


Crime Hunter
An open letter to Karla Homolka | Crime Hunter | Canada | News | Toronto Sun

 

[spaminator]

Many Canadians wouldn't risk letting kids play with Homolka's
By Kevin Connor, Toronto Sun
First posted: Thursday, May 05, 2016 07:14 AM EDT | Updated: Thursday, May 05, 2016 09:35 AM EDT
Not surprisingly, many parents say they would be “wary” of allowing their children to socialize with the kids of Karla Homolka, even though they haven’t committed a crime, according to new research.
“Homolka was involved in one of the most horrific crimes in Canada,” said Quito Maggi, president of MainstreetResearch, which released the poll on Thursday.
Homolka went to jail for 12 years for the rape and slayings of teens Leslie Mahaffy, Kristen French and her own sister Tammy. Her former husband, Paul Bernardo, was also convicted of the murders and is serving life.
“Many still remember the trial, though others would have been too young to follow it. While Homolka, now Leanne Teale, is someone few would want to associate with, she has a family, and her children have done nothing wrong in Canadian society,” Maggi said.
“Despite that, even though Canadian parents are not especially following the news surrounding Homolka, they would not want their children to interact with hers.”
The poll only surveyed parents and guardians of children under the age of 18.
Around 41% of those asked said they wouldn’t allow Homolka’s kids to attend their child’s birthday party.
However, 71% said they wouldn’t move if they found Homolka was living in their neighbourhood, while 6% said they would move and 13% would consider moving.
“Even in situations where Homolka would be unlikely to be present without supervision, parents are wary of allowing their children to interact with Homolka’s,” Maggi said.
Just over one-third of parents wouldn’t let their kids attend school with Homolka’s kids and just over half of those surveyed wouldn’t allow their children to attend a sleepover if Homolka’s kids were there.
“Homolka committed horrific crimes which will follow her for the rest of her life,” Maggi said.
“It appears, through no fault of their own, her children may have to live with her sins, as well.”
The Mainstreet Research/Postmedia poll has a margin of error plus or minus 3.09%, 19 times out of 20.
kconnor@postmedia.com
Many Canadians wouldn't risk letting kids play with Homolka's | Canada | News |