Paul Bernardo: A True Dangerous Offender? According to the Criminal Code of Canada the label "dangerous offender" refers to Canada's most violent criminals and sexual predators. The offender is considered dangerous if s/he demonstrates a pattern of repeated behaviour showing a failure to control the behaviour and the possibility of causing injury or death to others or if s/he inflicts severe psychological damage on other people. The offender is considered dangerous if s/he shows a pattern of repeated aggressive behaviour and shows indifference toward consequences of his/her actions toward others. The offender is considered dangerous if her/his actions are brutal or sexual in nature and s/he has shown a failure to control her/his sexual impulses and s/he will probably cause injury, pain or evil to others because of lack of control of sexual impulses. According to the Correctional Service of Canada, as of April 2011 there were 458 dangerous offenders one of whom is Paul Bernardo. In 1995 Paul Bernardo was convicted of the kidnapping, rape and murder or two teenage girls, Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, of southern Ontario. Bernardo also faced 53 other charges related to the rape and murder of young women spanning a ten year time period. If someone is labelled a dangerous offender they are automatically given a sentence of imprisonment for an unspecified period of time, which usually equals life. Bernardo was declared a dangerous offender in November 1995. “Paul Bernardo’s criminal career began with repeated brutal sexual assaults in 1987 and escalated to kidnapping, torture and murder in 1992.” (Maclean's, Volume 108, Issue 42) In 1987 he was dubbed the Scarborough Rapist, as this was the area of Toronto where most of his victims were assaulted. Bernardo attacked his victims on their way home alone, usually at night. He carried a knife and threatened to kill them and then forced them to perform lude sexual acts. His criminal behaviour excalated to the murder of Tammy Homolka in 1990, and the kidnapping, torture and murders of Leslie Mahaffy in 1991 and Kristen French in 1992. Tammy Homolka was the younger sister of Karla Homolka, Bernardo’s partner. On 24 December 1990, Bernardo and Homolka gave Tammy Homolka alcoholic drinks spiked with a sedative. After Tammy Homolka passed out the two raped her. Tammy Homolka became sick while sedated and died. Homolka covered up evidence of the assault and called an ambulance. At the time, the drugs in Tammy Homolka’s system went undetected and the official cause of death was listed as choking to death on her own vomit but later the truth came out that Homolka and Bernardo were responsible for her death. On June 14 1991, Lesley Mahaffy decided to walk home and face the fact that she was out past curfew. Bernardo was on Mahaffy’s street to steal license plates. He saw Mahaffy alone and kidnapped her and took her to the home he shared with Homolka. After 24 hours of rape and abuse by both Bernardo and Homolka, Mahaffy was murdered. According to Homolka, Bernardo strangled Mahaffy with an electrical cord. Homolka, a veterinary technician, had access to sedative drugs which were used to subdue Mahaffy, the same technique the pair used in the rape of Homolka's sister six months before. Bernardo claimed he did not even know she was dead until he tried to pick her up to carry her away. He said he and Homolka panicked, and that he tried to resusitate her, without success. To get rid of the body, a saw was used to dismember the body into small pieces and then covered the pieces with cement. Homolka claims that Bernardo did this on his own while she was at work. Bernardo claims that she was, indeed, a part of the process. On April 16, 1992, Kristen French was walking home alone from school. She was kidnapped by Homolka and Bernardo at knifepoint. Like, Mahaffy she as taken to Bernardo/Homolka residence and held captive. During her three days of captivity French was tortured, raped repeatedly and finally murdered. Bernardo and Homolka threw her naked body into a lake. Based on many facts, Paul Bernardo is a true dangerous offender. He sexually assaulted many women over a period of many years and then his criminal behaviour escalated to the murders of at least three girls. “He demonstrated a pattern of repetitive behaviour of brutal sexual assaults which showed that he would, in all likelihood, continue such behaviour and so was a threat to the life, and/or well being of others. Throughout the trial Bernardo remained unmoved and showed a lack of remorse. He acknowledged his guilt in the sexual assaults and that he was unable to control his sexual urges.”(NBC. MSNBC, 21 May 2002) Bernardo denied murdering French and Mahaffy blaming
Karla Homolka and stating that no one ever died until she came into his life. Bernardo claimed that he had always intended to free the girls and claimed that it was Homolka who wanted Mahaffy dead because her blindfold had fallen off. Homolka was worried that she would be able to identify them. However, there was physical evidence of the torture and rape and a video which Bernardo made of the torture which later proved to be key evidence in his trial. The decision to label Paul Bernardo a dangerous offender was also based on impact statements made by the family of the murdered girls as well as the statements made by many victims who were violently raped by Bernardo. “The rape victims stated to the court that Bernardo had ruined their lives. They were suicidal, suffered from anxiety, fear, had trouble eating, sleeping and leading a normal life. Some of them had to drop out of school or quit their jobs.” (Maclean's Magazine, Volume 108, Issue 22 ) Don French, Kristen’s mother told the court she can not sleep at night but instead sits alone on Kristen’s bed surrounded by her stuffed animals and smelling her perfumes. Dan and Debbie Mahaffy, Lesley’s parents, showed the court a one hour family video taken before their daughter’s murder. The statements proved that Bernardo had inflicted severe psychological damage to the rape victims and to the families of the murder victims. The courts were justified in labelling Paul Bernardo a dangerous offender.

Works Cited

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"Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, C. C-46)." Legislative Services Branch. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2013.

Dark Heart, Iron Hand. NBC. MSNBC, 21 May 2002. Web. 5 May 2013.

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Wood, Trisha. "The Case Against Karla." Elm Street Magazine Apr. 2001: n. pag. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.