Murderer: Paul Bernardo
About
About
- Birth name:
- Alias/nickname: Scarborough rapist, Schoolgirl killer, Ken & Barbie killers
- Sex: Male
- Date of birth: August 27, 1964
- Location of birth: Scarborough, Ontario
Physical Description
- Ethnicity: Caucasion
- Hair: Blonde
- Eyes: Blue
- Height: 6'
- Weight:
- Build: Medium
- Other descriptors:
Early Life
- Birth order: Third, baby of the family
- Number of siblings: 2
- Parent’s marital status: Married
- Father’s occupation: Accountant\
- Abuse by father?: Not directly, witnessed father's abuse of mother, father sexually abused his sister
- Mother’s occupation: Homemaker
- Abuse by mother?: Yes, psychologically. Called him a bastard.
- Parental substance abuse issues: N/A
- Traumatic family event: Told his father was not his real father, his mother got pregnant through an affair
- Age at traumatic family event: 16
McDonald Triad
- History of starting fires: Yes
- History of animal abuse:
- History of bed wetting:
Relationships
- Sexual preference: Heterosexual
- Marital status: Married
- Number of children: 0
Living arrangements during series:
Lived with spouse: Lived with children: N/A Lived with parents: No Lived with room-mate(s): Lived alone: Traveled for a living: Transient:
Psychological History
- History of substance abuse: No
- Had received psychological therapy?:
- Institutionalized for mental illness?:
- Psychological diagnosis:
Potential Contributors
- XYY: N/A
- Physically attractive: Yes
- Physical defect: No
- Speech defect: No
- Head injury: No
- Physical abuse: No
- Psychological abuse: Yes
- Sexual abuse: No
Education
- Highest grade completed: 12
- Highest degree achieved: B.A. in Commerce
- Grades at school: Good grades, good student
- IQ:
Employment History
- Military service: No
- Attempted career in law enforcement: No
- Worked in law enforcement: No
- Types of jobs worked: Accountant, sold Amway
- Fired from jobs?: Yes
The Murders
The Series
- Time span of series: December, 1990 to April, 1992
- Number of victims: 3+
- Location of murders: Her parent's home in St. Catharines, Ontario
- Victim profile: Teenaged girls
- Accomplice?: Yes
- Name of accomplice: Karla Homolka
- Relationship to accomplice: Husband
Profile
- Murderer category: Serial killer
- Serial killer sub-type: Hedonistic, Power-Oriented
- Serial killer characteristics:
- Domestic killer sub-type: N/A
Criminal History
- Committed crimes previous to series?: Yes
- Description of previous crimes: Rape
- Previously convicted of a crime: No
Murder Method
- Murder method: Strangulation
- Characteristics of crime: Dismemberment
- Types of sexual assault: Forced sexual acts: victim forced to perform sexual acts, such as oral sex or penetrating the perpetrator’s body, Rape: Penetration of the victim’s vagina with sex organ, Anal rape: Penetration of the victim’s anus with sex organ, Oral rape: Penetration of the victim’s mouth with a sex organ
After Death Behaviour
- Disposal of bodies: N/A
Arrest
- Date of arrest: February 17, 1993
- Did killer confess?: Yes
- What did murderer confess to?: Confessed to kidnappings and rape, but not to murders which he blamed on his then wife Karla Homolka
- Date convicted: September 1, 1995
- Sentence:
- Status:
Timeline
Aug. 27, 1964
Paul Bernardo is born to Kenneth and Marilyn Bernardo, as a result of her affair with a former boyfriend, in Scarborough, Ontario.
May 1975
Bernardo becomes close friends with Van and Steve from his neighbourhood and the three begin to start fires.
June 1980
Bernardo is told by his mother that Kenneth was not his real father. Paul begins calling his mother a slut and whore. She begins to call him a bastard.
Bernardo’s mother becomes withdrawn from the family and lives in the basement. Bernardo’s father begins sexually molesting his sister.
1982
Graduated from Sir Wilfred Laurier High School.
Fall 1983
Bernardo begins classes at the University of Toronto, Scarborough campus, and tells his friend Van about his “Virgin Farm Fantasy” where he would keep women as sex slaves. The women Bernardo dates describe him as abusive and controlling.
1985
Bernardo’s father is arrested for peeping in neighbourhood windows.
Summer 1986
Bernardo receives two restraining orders: one from an ex-girlfriend and another from his friend Van’s ex-girlfriend to whom he had been making obscene phone calls.
1987
Bernardo graduates and becomes a junior accountant at Price Waterhouse in Toronto.
The Scarborough Rapist
May 4, 1987
Bernardo rapes a woman as she waits at a bus stop, dragging her at knife point into bushes.
May 14, 1987
Bernardo rapes another woman in front of her house.
July 27, 1987
Bernardo attempts another rape of a woman at a bus stop.
Oct., 1987
Bernardo met Karla Homolka, 17, at a Howard Johnson’s Hotel in Toronto where she was attending a pet convention.
Bernardo and Homolka have sex the first night and he takes her name and number.
Nov. 1987
Bernardo and Karla meet again. Paul drives to see Karla twice a week, and gives her
love and attention as their relationship develops. Eventually, he starts to run every
aspect of her life. He tells her what to wear, how to style her hair, what opinions to
have and what to eat. He calls her fat and ugly. He learns that Karla is not a virgin
and he is upset about this, although he is still very interested in her.
Dec. 16, 1987
Paul commits 3rd rape, age 15, getting off a bus, media coins the name “Scarborough Rapist”
Dec. 23, 1987
Paul commits 4th rape, age 27, stalked and attacked her with a knife
1988 Karla’s friends find handcuffs in her bedroom; Karla reveals that Paul enjoys
“playing games” in bed
March 1988
The Scarborough Rapist Task Force is formed by Metro Police.
April 18, 1988
Paul commits 5th rape, age 19, getting of the bus
May 30, 1988
Paul commits 6th rape, age 18, 10 miles from Scarborough
Oct. 4, 1988
Paul attempts 7th rape, she fought him off, stab wounds on thigh and buttock, 12
stitches
Nov. 1, 1988
Bernardo meets a girl named Anna and begins dating her while he is in Toronto, and also continues to see Karla. Paul also begins to become attracted to Karla’s younger sister Tammy. He demands that Tammy not have sex with any guy.
Paul commits 7th rape, age 18, parent’s backyard
Dec. 27, 1988
Paul attempts 8th rape, chased him off by getting neighbour’s attention
June 20, 1989
Paul attempts 8th rape again, she screams for her neighbours, he flees
Aug. 15, 1989
Paul commits 8th rape, age 22, stalked her outside her window
Nov. 21, 1989
Paul commits 9th rape, age 15, at a bus shelter
May 26, 1990
Paul commits 11th rape, age 19, exiting a bus
Nov. 20, 1990
Detectives interview Paul for 35 minutes, Paul gives them hair, saliva, and blood
samples for testing, swears that he isn’t the Scarborough rapist
The Victims
Tammy Homolka
Date of birth: January 1, 1975
Date of murder: December 24, 1990
Age at death: 15
Sex: Female
Ethnicity: Caucasion
Location of murder: Her parent's home in St. Catharines, Ontario
Relationship to killer: Younger sister of Bernardo's then girlfriend, Karla Homolka
Original location of interaction with killer: Her parent's home
Cause of death: Asphyxia
Description of Crime Scene: Her parents basement
Objects Found at Crime Scene: Objects were hidden by Bernardo and Homolka
Objects Found with Body: N/A
Description of Injuries: Choked on her own vomit after Homolka drugged her alcoholic drinks, chemical burn from vomit on the side of her face
Other descriptors:
Circumstances
Bernardo expressed that he was disappointed that Karla Homolka was not a virgin when they met, so she decided to drug her sister and let him take her virginity as a Christmas present.
Homolka drugged Tammy’s alcoholic beverage with halothane – an anesthetic she had stolen from a veterinarian clinic where she worked. Once Tammy was unconscious, she and Bernardo sexually assaulted and video taped her.
Tammy began vomiting from the drug cocktail and choked to death, leaving a chemical burn on her face.
Before calling an ambulance, Bernardo and Homolka put Tammy’s clothes back on and hide all evidence of the drugging and assault. Bernardo says he had attempted to revive Tammy, but was unable to. Her death was originally ruled accidental due to alcohol consumption.
Vulnerabilities
Medical Condition:
Description of Medical Condition:
Mental Illness:
Description of mental illness:
Disabled:
Description of disability:
First Nations:
Substance addiction:
Sex Worker:
Leslie Mahaffy
Date of birth: July 5, 1976
Date of murder: June 16, 1991
Age at death: 14
Sex: Female
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Location of murder: Bernardo and Homolka's home in the Port Dalhousie neighbourhood of St. Catharines
Relationship to killer: Stranger
Original location of interaction with killer: Her backyard in Burlington, Ontario
Cause of death: Asphyxia
Description of crime scene: Bernardo and Homolka's home at 57 Bayview Drive, Port Dalhousie, Ontario
Objects found at crime scene: Video of Barnardo and Homolka sexually assaulting her
Objects found with body: Dismembered, encased in concrete and dumped in nearby Lake Gibson
Description of injuries: Strangled with an electrical cord, dismembered
Other descriptors:
Circumstances
Leslie Mahaffy, 14, was kidnapped from her backyard in Burlington on June 15, 1991. She had missed curfew and her mother had locked the door to teach her a lesson. Bernardo happened to see her there and offered her a cigarette from his car. When she entered the car, he kidnapped her and took her back to the Port Dalhousie neighbourhood home he shared in St. Catharines with Homolka.
Bernardo and Homolka video tape the rape, sodomizing and torture of Mahaffy, which at one point features Bernardo smiling into the camera as she screams in the background and also shows Homolka sexually assaulting the girl.
Both Bernardo and Homolka blamed the other for Mahaffy’s murder. Bernardo claimed he was out gassing up his car and that Homolka killed Mahaffy with a lethal dose of Halcion. Homolka said that Bernardo strangled Mahaffey with an electrical cord.
Mahaffy’s body was dismembered, encased in concrete and dumped in Lake Gibson.
On June 29, 1992, the same day that Bernardo and Homolka get married, boaters found the concrete blocks containing Mahaffy’s arms, legs, feet, and head. The next day a boater found her torso floating in the water.
Vulnerabilities
Medical Condition: No
Description of Medical Condition:
Mental Illness: No
Description of mental illness:
Disabled: No
Description of disability:
First Nations: No
Substance addiction: No
Sex Worker: No
Kristen French
Date of birth: May 10, 1976
Date of murder: April 19, 1992
Age at death: 15
Sex: Female
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Location of murder: Bernardo and Homolka's home in the Port Dalhousie neighbourhood of St. Catharines
Relationship to killer: Stranger
Original location of interaction with killer: Entrance of the Grace Lutheran Church parking lot where Homolka stopped her car to ask for directions. Bernardo then forced French into the car at knifepoint.
Cause of death: Asphyxia
Description of crime scene: In Bernardo and Homolka's bedroom at their home
Objects Found at crime scene: Video tape of the sexual assault of French
Objects found with body: None
Description of injuries: Strangulation with electrical cord
Other descriptors:
Circumstances
In one sequence, Bernardo could be seen raping a bound French, who was abducted while returning home from school on April 16, 1992, and held for several days. On the tape he can be heard forcing her to say “I love you” over and over to him, even as she cries out in pain. At one point he ordered Homolka to get him a Kleenex. “Get me a couple, Kar,” he said. Then he barked, “Get me a lot. What are you, a f—king idiot? “
At one point, Kristen, who had been repeatedly raped, told Bernardo, “I don’t know how your wife can stand being around you.”
Vulnerabilities
Medical Condition: N/A
Description of Medical Condition:
Mental Illness: No
Description of mental illness:
Disabled: No
Description of disability:
First Nations: No
Substance addiction: No
Sex Worker: No
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/8364816-dellen-millard-argues-life-sentence-in-laura-babcock-murder-is-too-harsh/
http://edmontonjournal.com/news/canada/dellen-millard-and-mark-smich-to-be-sentenced-for-laura-babcocks-murder/wcm/0d4547ff-6bd4-495f-9fef-edd0483488c6
https://www.toronto.com/opinion-story/8001529-his-letters-to-a-girlfriend-were-the-undoing-of-dellen-millard/
http://www.iheartradio.ca/610cktb/news/witness-testifies-about-bad-blood-between-dellen-millard-and-laura-babcock-1.3455789
http://www.intelligencer.ca/2016/04/14/parties-with-drugs-women-and-bacon-the-millionaire-lifestyle-of-tim-bosmas-accused-killer-dellen-millard
https://www.vice.com/en_us/topic/dellen-millard