School Girl Serial Killer Set to Leave Prison

June 16, 2005 — -- The accomplice in a series of rapes and murders of teenage girls, reviled as one of Canada's most infamous criminals, will walk free in a few weeks.

Karla Homolka, now 35, has finished her 12-year sentence for her role in the sexual assault and slaying of two pubescent girls in the early '90s. She also took part in the slaying of her sister, Tammy, but wasn't charged in her death. Many in Canada believed at the time she deserved to spend the rest of her life behind bars, but in a rush to get her to testify, the Canadian justice system agreed to a plea bargain and reduced her sentence putting her away only a dozen years in prison.

Now that her release is imminent, many Canadians fear the "bloodless blonde" will strike again and are demanding further punishment. Legal experts say the case is closed and Homolka has a right to move on with her life. Regardless, the case still has people wondering if Homolka was her husband's pawn or a cold-blooded killer.

"This is one of the most well-known, horrible cases in Canada," said Anthony Doob, a criminology professor at the University of Toronto. "People believe she got away with murder, literally."

Seventeen-year-old Homolka felt bored with high school boys, so when she met Paul Bernardo, 23, in 1987, she was swept off her feet. He was tall, good-looking and worked in an accounting firm near Toronto. Bernardo's charm won over Homolka's parents and he started spending more time in their home in St. Catharine's, near Niagara Falls. Homolka became obsessed with her new boyfriend, believing he was her ticket out of her hometown. Her parents liked the calming effect Bernardo was having on their daughter as she began to shed her rebellious teenage attitude, according to the Toronto Star.

But it turned out Homolka's Prince Charming was not all he seemed. He began to play rough sexual games with his young girlfriend, but Homolka stayed with her beau and loved the attention and gifts he lavished upon her. During their courtship, Bernardo also conducted a series of rapes that baffled local police.

According to court testimony, Bernardo escalated his demands on Homolka. She claimed Bernardo beat her until she agreed to drug and rape her sister, and said he would kill her and her family if she didn't.

On Christmas Eve in 1990, the couple drugged Homolka's youngest sister, Tammy, to knock her unconscious while they sexually assaulted her and videotaped the assault. The episode ended horrifically, with Tammy choking on her own vomit and dying.