Schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo set to have parole hearing

[spaminator]

Schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo set to have parole hearing
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Colin Perkel
Publishing date:Jun 02, 2021 • 4 hours ago • 2 minute read • 41 Comments
Schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo, right.
Schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo, right. PHOTO BY FILES /TORONTO SUN
Article content
Convicted teen killer and serial rapist Paul Bernardo is set to have another parole hearing this month.

The Parole Board of Canada says the hearing is tentatively scheduled for June 22.


Bernardo is serving a life sentence for kidnapping, torturing and killing two girls, Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, in the early 1990s near St. Catharines.

Now 56, Bernardo became eligible for parole more than three years ago but was denied release at a hearing in October 2018.

At the time, he said he cried over what he had done and had improved himself.

The parole panel, however, said he showed little insight into his crimes.

“What I did was so dreadful. I hurt a lot of people,” Bernardo said then. “I cry all the time.”

Dubbed the “Scarborough Rapist,” Bernardo is nearing three decades in prison, most of it in solitary. He was convicted in 1995 of first-degree murder, kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault among other offences.

Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Article content
His crimes over several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, some of which he videotaped, sparked widespread terror and revulsion.

Among his brutal acts, Bernardo and his then-wife Karla Homolka kidnapped, tortured and killed Mahaffy, 14, of Burlington, Ont., in June 1991 at their home in Port Dalhousie, Ont., before dismembering her body, encasing her remains in cement and dumping them in a nearby lake.

Kristen French, left, and Leslie Mahaffy were murdered by Paul Bernardo.
Kristen French, left, and Leslie Mahaffy were murdered by Paul Bernardo. PHOTO BY FILE PHOTO /Postmedia
They similarly kidnapped and killed 15-year-old French in April 1992 after torturing her and ignoring her entreaties over three days.

The lawyer who has represented the French and Mahaffy families did not immediately respond to word of the new parole hearing.

At his last hearing, Bernardo, incarcerated at Millhaven penitentiary in eastern Ontario, argued low self-esteem drove him to commit the crimes he said he now rued and that he no longer posed any threat to the public.

Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Article content
The parents of two of his murder victims, who have long argued the designated dangerous offender should never be released, made impassioned pleas he be kept behind bars.

Mahaffy’s mother, Debbie Mahaffy, described the crushing pain the parole hearing had rekindled, saying the “unspeakable and brutally sadistic acts” Bernardo committed defied description.


“How does one describe such immeasurable pain so as to give even the slightest understanding of the overwhelming sadness, the emptiness, and pain we feel even after 26 years of dealing with our loss?” French’s mother, Donna French, said then.

The panel took about 30 minutes to reject Bernardo’s request for both day and full parole.

Bernardo, who ultimately admitted raping 14 other women, was also convicted of manslaughter in the December 1990 death of Homolka’s younger sister, Tammy. The 15-year-old girl died after the pair drugged and sexually assaulted her.

Schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo set to have parole hearing

Convicted teen killer and serial rapist Paul Bernardo is set to have another parole hearing this month.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

MANDEL: 'Emotional hell' looms as Paul Bernardo to attempt second parole bid
Author of the article:Michele Mandel
Publishing date:Jun 02, 2021 • 6 minutes ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
Schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo, right.
Schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo, right. PHOTO BY FILES /TORONTO SUN
Article content
When at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again. Every couple of years, ad infinitum if you’d like. Even if you are a heinous serial rapist and murderer.

Even if every futile attempt at parole sends yet another dagger into the hearts of the families you’ve devastated.


So, of course, the narcissist that is schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo will appear again before the parole board on June 22 — just more than two years since he first applied and miserably failed to win release from his life sentence.

Bernardo, 56, has been serving a life sentence at Millhaven Penitentiary since his 1995 convictions for the kidnapping, rape and murder of Leslie Mahaffy, 14, and Kristen French, 15, with the able assistance of his then-wife, Karla Homolka.

For the victims’ families, another parole bid so soon is gut-wrenching, said their lawyer Tim Danson. Especially when there’s no guarantee he won’t toy with them as he did last time, postponing the date six times before finally going ahead.

Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Article content
“I’ve expressed the view to them that it’s actually cruel to families,” Danson said. “These last-minute adjournments are not fair and should not be allowed.”

He’s also calling for these hearings to be spaced every five years and not every two. “It’s very, very tough,” he said.

Debbie Mahaffy has called it “emotional hell.”

“The effect of this parole hearing allows Bernardo to abduct our beautiful memories of Leslie as he has inserted himself, and the ugliness of her death, into our lives yet again,” Leslie’s mother told the board on Oct. 17, 2018.

This hearing will be even more difficult, their lawyer said, because it will be held over Zoom. Last time, the families could deliver their victim impact statements by physically sitting behind Bernardo, so they wouldn’t have to see him. Now it will be hard to avoid staring into the face of the man who tortured and killed their daughters.

Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Article content
Despite the pain, they are determined to be there — this time virtually — for their girls.


The prevailing wisdom is that the multiple murderer doesn’t stand a chance at release, that he’ll remain in maximum security for the rest of his pitiful life, especially as Bernardo was also designated a dangerous offender for sexually assaulting 14 women as the Scarborough Rapist before escalating to murder.

Also on his sadistic record is a manslaughter conviction for the December 1990 death of Homolka’s 15-year-old sister, Tammy, who died after being drugged and sexually assaulted by the pair.

Justice Patrick LeSage said it best when he sentenced the monster, telling him he has no right to ever be released and should remain behind bars “for the rest of your natural life.”

Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Article content
Yet, his victims must go through this charade nonetheless.

Described as glib, selfish, cunning, and grandiose, the parole board took only 30 minutes to deny his first release request, finding Bernardo showed no insight into his horrific crimes and continues to pose an “undue risk.”

He talked a lot of psychobabble in trying to convince them otherwise: in a laughable attempt at self-diagnosis, he blamed his reign of terror on his problems with self-esteem, poor communication skills and being bullied as a child. He also threw in his OCD and sexual performance anxiety.

“What I did was horrific,” Bernardo insisted. “Emotionally, it devastates me what I did in the past. I cry all the time.”

Crocodile tears, that is. No one was convinced, least of all the parole board.

Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Article content
What has changed this time around? No one’s allowed to know. The only information about Bernardo’s progress comes either through the questions asked by the parole board at his hearing or what they write in their decision.

Correctional Service of Canada claims access to Bernardo’s prison records violates his privacy rights — a position Danson challenged in federal court in February. He’s still awaiting the decision, but it’s unlikely to come before this parole hearing.

“We go in blind,” complained Danson.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC

Kristen French, left, and Leslie Mahaffy were murdered by Paul Bernardo.
Parents of Paul Bernardo's teen victims trying to obtain his file
For the second time, Michelle Erstikaitis, 40, has been declared a dangerous offender.
HUNTER: Bernardo fangirl's dispatches from the fringe
Paul Bernardo at Kingston Penitentiary in 1995.
MANDEL: Schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo won't appear in person at trial

As I concluded back in 2018, Bernardo’s feeble attempt at impersonating a real human being fooled no one.

“The problem,” I wrote, “is that he has another few years to rehearse his next try.”

And unfortunately, that next attempt is upon us.

mmandel@postmedia.com

MANDEL: 'Emotional hell' looms as Paul Bernardo to attempt second parole bid

When at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again. Every couple of years, ad infinitum if you’d like. Even if you are a heinous serial rapist and murderer.

torontosun.com

 

[petros]

Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose...