WARMINGTON: Father shocked teen daughter's imprisoned killer, Paul Bernardo, allegedly caught with shank
Joe Warmington
More from Joe Warmington
Published:
April 13, 2018
Updated:
April 13, 2018 8:51 PM EDT
Schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo is seen here in his prison mug shot while locked up in the now closed Kingston Penitentiary on Nov. 8, 1995.
When told Paul Bernardo was arrested for a home-made shank found in his Millhaven Penitentiary cell Doug French had just one question.
“Was he going to use it on himself?”
The father of Kristen French, 15, who was murdered 26 years ago this month, admitted Friday that he has no time for news on Bernardo or his then wife Karla Homolka.
Time may have moved on but the hurt hasn’t for him and his wife Donna or for the family of 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy, who was murdered less than year earlier.
Doug and Donna French, whose daughter Kristen, 15, was killed by Paul Bernardo in 1992, are seen in their St. Catharines home on April 14, 2002.
However, French was surprised to learn Bernardo, 53, was found in possession of a weapon made from a pen as the base a screw as the sharp end on Feb. 9th.
“The prison tells us stuff sometimes and sometimes they don’t,” he said. “I hadn’t heard about this.”
It’s the kind of thing that drives the family’s lawyer Tim Danson crazy.
“There was no advance notice to us” he said. “We heard about this through the media.”
It’s not an easy thing for a dad or mom to hear on the radio or TV or through a call from a newspaper columnist.
Danson said it’s “particularly difficult right now” since he has been preparing the families for a fall parole hearing.
Leslie Mahaffy, 14, who was killed by Paul Bernardo in 1991, is seen in a photo behind her parents on Feb 21, 1993.
But to hear CTV’s Tamara Cherry report that Bernardo was laughing and joking as his video conference was piped into a Napanee courtroom was like a punch in the gut for the families of his victims.
“This was all entertainment for Paul Bernardo,” said Danson. “It’s just a distraction for him. He enjoys it.”
Meanwhile, the families had to be exposed not only Bernardo’s mocking but the mortifying thought of a potential prison escape or that someone else could have been hurt at his hands.
“It’s gut-wrenching for them. It’s like it just happened yesterday. The pain and anguish has never gone away,” said Danson. “Paul Bernardo is a psychopath and a sadistic sexual predator. He has never had any remorse.”
Danson said he has been trying to get Bernardo’s records from his almost quarter century in prison to ready himself for the hearing, which “I suspect after this charge could be delayed.”
Lawyer Tim Danson, speaks to media outside the Ontario Court of Appeal at Osgoode Hall on Dec. 19, 2005.
In the meantime French wants to know how this happened?
“I thought there was a ton of security on him and cameras,” Kristen’s father said, the heartache still palpable in his voice. “People think he’s in segregation but who knows? Is he now in one of those cottages? Who knows what’s going on down there?”
Perhaps there will be more details provided when he goes back to court May 18th.
Correctional Services Canada has yet to respond to a late request for information on Bernardo’s lodging status at Millhaven.
But Danson said “the family and the public has every right to know what his arrangement is in the prison and how this happened.”
“He is a guy applying for parole and we don’t know if he is in protective custody or some other type of segregation,” he said.
How could Bernardo have been in a position to allegedly gain the items needed to make a weapon? And is the alleged possession of a shank an indication his security is not as tight as it was at the now closed Kingston Penitentiary?
“When a guy is applying for a release these are relevant questions,” said Danson.
But not as poignant was the first one asked by Doug French.
jwarmington@postmedia.com
WARMINGTON: Father shocked teen daughter’s imprisoned killer, Paul Bernardo, allegedly caught with shank | Toronto Sun
Sadistic schoolgirl serial killer Paul Bernardo nabbed with shank
Brad Hunter
More from Brad Hunter
Published:
April 13, 2018
Updated:
April 13, 2018 7:38 PM EDT
Serial killer Paul Bernardo has been busted for having a homemade knife in prison.POSTMEDIA
Sadistic schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo was pinched in prison with a homemade shank.
According to CTV News, Bernardo, 53, appeared via video from Millhaven Institution maximum security prison where he is serving a life sentence for the murders of three teenage girls.
Bernardo appeared via video link in Napanee Superior Court Friday.
He is accused of having the shank — made from a screw as the tip and a pen as the handle — for the purpose of committing an offense.
He reportedly was smiling and laughing with someone off camera.
His blonde hair, an unruly mop, was piled on his head.
Bernardo — who was also the notorious Scarborough Rapist — was nabbed on Feb. 9.
During the 10-minute appearance, he wore a blue t-shirt.
The most hated couple in Canada. (POSTMEDIA)
The serial killer’s lawyer asked for more disclosure and the matter was put over until May 18.
The crimes Bernardo committed with his ex-wife Karla Homolka shocked the nation.
He was convicted in the kidnapping, torture and sex murders of Leslie Mahaffy, 14, from Burlington and Kristen French, 15, of St. Catharines.
Ruled a dangerous offender, Bernardo was sentenced to life in prison. He was eligible for parole last year but is unlikely ever to leave prison — except in a pine box.
Homolka was convicted of manslaughter in the homicides and served her 12-year sentence. She was released in 2005.
She is now married and lives in suburban Montreal with her husband and three children.
Last year, her identity was revealed creating a firestorm among parents terrified that the most reviled woman in Canada was living among them.
bhunter@postmedia.com
Sadistic schoolgirl serial killer Paul Bernardo nabbed with shank | Toronto Sun
Joe Warmington
More from Joe Warmington
Published:
April 13, 2018
Updated:
April 13, 2018 8:51 PM EDT
Schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo is seen here in his prison mug shot while locked up in the now closed Kingston Penitentiary on Nov. 8, 1995.
When told Paul Bernardo was arrested for a home-made shank found in his Millhaven Penitentiary cell Doug French had just one question.
“Was he going to use it on himself?”
The father of Kristen French, 15, who was murdered 26 years ago this month, admitted Friday that he has no time for news on Bernardo or his then wife Karla Homolka.
Time may have moved on but the hurt hasn’t for him and his wife Donna or for the family of 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy, who was murdered less than year earlier.
Doug and Donna French, whose daughter Kristen, 15, was killed by Paul Bernardo in 1992, are seen in their St. Catharines home on April 14, 2002.
However, French was surprised to learn Bernardo, 53, was found in possession of a weapon made from a pen as the base a screw as the sharp end on Feb. 9th.
“The prison tells us stuff sometimes and sometimes they don’t,” he said. “I hadn’t heard about this.”
It’s the kind of thing that drives the family’s lawyer Tim Danson crazy.
“There was no advance notice to us” he said. “We heard about this through the media.”
It’s not an easy thing for a dad or mom to hear on the radio or TV or through a call from a newspaper columnist.
Danson said it’s “particularly difficult right now” since he has been preparing the families for a fall parole hearing.
Leslie Mahaffy, 14, who was killed by Paul Bernardo in 1991, is seen in a photo behind her parents on Feb 21, 1993.
But to hear CTV’s Tamara Cherry report that Bernardo was laughing and joking as his video conference was piped into a Napanee courtroom was like a punch in the gut for the families of his victims.
“This was all entertainment for Paul Bernardo,” said Danson. “It’s just a distraction for him. He enjoys it.”
Meanwhile, the families had to be exposed not only Bernardo’s mocking but the mortifying thought of a potential prison escape or that someone else could have been hurt at his hands.
“It’s gut-wrenching for them. It’s like it just happened yesterday. The pain and anguish has never gone away,” said Danson. “Paul Bernardo is a psychopath and a sadistic sexual predator. He has never had any remorse.”
Danson said he has been trying to get Bernardo’s records from his almost quarter century in prison to ready himself for the hearing, which “I suspect after this charge could be delayed.”
Lawyer Tim Danson, speaks to media outside the Ontario Court of Appeal at Osgoode Hall on Dec. 19, 2005.
In the meantime French wants to know how this happened?
“I thought there was a ton of security on him and cameras,” Kristen’s father said, the heartache still palpable in his voice. “People think he’s in segregation but who knows? Is he now in one of those cottages? Who knows what’s going on down there?”
Perhaps there will be more details provided when he goes back to court May 18th.
Correctional Services Canada has yet to respond to a late request for information on Bernardo’s lodging status at Millhaven.
But Danson said “the family and the public has every right to know what his arrangement is in the prison and how this happened.”
“He is a guy applying for parole and we don’t know if he is in protective custody or some other type of segregation,” he said.
How could Bernardo have been in a position to allegedly gain the items needed to make a weapon? And is the alleged possession of a shank an indication his security is not as tight as it was at the now closed Kingston Penitentiary?
“When a guy is applying for a release these are relevant questions,” said Danson.
But not as poignant was the first one asked by Doug French.
jwarmington@postmedia.com
WARMINGTON: Father shocked teen daughter’s imprisoned killer, Paul Bernardo, allegedly caught with shank | Toronto Sun
Sadistic schoolgirl serial killer Paul Bernardo nabbed with shank
Brad Hunter
More from Brad Hunter
Published:
April 13, 2018
Updated:
April 13, 2018 7:38 PM EDT
Serial killer Paul Bernardo has been busted for having a homemade knife in prison.POSTMEDIA
Sadistic schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo was pinched in prison with a homemade shank.
According to CTV News, Bernardo, 53, appeared via video from Millhaven Institution maximum security prison where he is serving a life sentence for the murders of three teenage girls.
Bernardo appeared via video link in Napanee Superior Court Friday.
He is accused of having the shank — made from a screw as the tip and a pen as the handle — for the purpose of committing an offense.
He reportedly was smiling and laughing with someone off camera.
His blonde hair, an unruly mop, was piled on his head.
Bernardo — who was also the notorious Scarborough Rapist — was nabbed on Feb. 9.
During the 10-minute appearance, he wore a blue t-shirt.
The most hated couple in Canada. (POSTMEDIA)
The serial killer’s lawyer asked for more disclosure and the matter was put over until May 18.
The crimes Bernardo committed with his ex-wife Karla Homolka shocked the nation.
He was convicted in the kidnapping, torture and sex murders of Leslie Mahaffy, 14, from Burlington and Kristen French, 15, of St. Catharines.
Ruled a dangerous offender, Bernardo was sentenced to life in prison. He was eligible for parole last year but is unlikely ever to leave prison — except in a pine box.
Homolka was convicted of manslaughter in the homicides and served her 12-year sentence. She was released in 2005.
She is now married and lives in suburban Montreal with her husband and three children.
Last year, her identity was revealed creating a firestorm among parents terrified that the most reviled woman in Canada was living among them.
bhunter@postmedia.com
Sadistic schoolgirl serial killer Paul Bernardo nabbed with shank | Toronto Sun