One of my pet cases has been Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. I wrote a long article about them here .
As an update, Karla was released from prison and is living in Montreal allegedly. She has given birth to a baby boy and is either married or getting married. (Note: What type of guy would marry Karla Holmolka let alone reproduce with her? Serious squee factor there.)
Bernardo, in the meantime, has been designated as a "dangerous offender" and will likely be incarcerated for the rest of his life. In 2005, he confessed to at least 10 additional assaults occurring between 1986 and 1991 as the Scarborough Rapist.
In 1991, Elizabeth Bain, a beautiful 22 year old University of Toronto student, disappeared. Her body was never recovered although her blood soaked car was found several days later in the Scarborough neighborhood. Her boyfriend, Robert Baltovich, was convicted of second degree murder. The Crown's theory was that Baltovich was an obsessed boyfriend who murdered her in a fit of rage after she broke up with him.
Baltovich never confessed to the crime, denied any involvement in it and successfully appealed his sentence when a higher court ruled that the Justice on the case "unduly promoted" the prosecution's theory and ignored Baltovich's defense completely. Baltovich's legal team also introduced new evidence that they said pointed to Bernardo as the actual killer. The high court overturning Baltovich's conviction never commented on the new evidence, but did release Baltovich on bail in 2000. His case is set to be retried this fall.
Some striking coincidences: Bernardo and Elizabeth Bain both attended the University of Toronto on the same campus. Paul's earlier crimes as the Scarborough Rapist were in the same neighborhood, one that both Bain and Bernardo were very familiar with. A woman recalled seeing a man fitting Bernardo's description around campus the day Elizabeth disappeared. Her car was seen after her disappearance outside a restaurant Bernardo was known to frequent. The radio was tuned to the station he routinely listened to. His brand of cigarettes were evident in the car. She fit his preference for victims: long dark hair and very attractive. Elizabeth's disappearance occurred after the rash of Scarborough rapes but before Bernardo and Karla's Schoolgirl killings.
In addition, when Bernardo and Karla were on their honeymoon in Hawaii, a young woman was snatched from her car, raped and murdered. The crime was never solved, but police later found newspaper clippings about it when their house was searched during the Schoolgirl Killings investigation.
Originally, I had read an article that claimed that Bernardo requested to speak to investigators about the case. Not true. He did not request the meeting. The Crown and the Toronto detectives interviewed Bernardo at the Kingston Prison yesterday. According to Bernardo's attorney, Tony Bryant, Bernardo claims he didn't know Elizabeth, had never seen her or met her and had nothing to do with her presumed murder.
I have to wonder if Karla Holmolka will also be questioned about Elizabeth's disappearance? What would that do with the sweet plea deal she wrangled that stood, even though it was later revealed that she concealed evidence and didn't give true testimony, leaving out many things in a most self-serving way.
