I was browsing the news and saw - BREAKING News Convicted rapist and killer Paul Bernardo denied parole.
I read it again thinking maybe it said granted parole. That would be news. Denied? Of course he was denied!
It was one of the largest most horrifying cases in Canada. Hard to believe it has been 25 years.
I’m not Canadian, but I expect news media consider it news for two reasons:
People might have been aware there was a parole hearing and would want to hear the results, or they didn’t already know there was a parole hearing and would still want to hear the results.
They get to put “Paul Bernardo” in headlines and draw in people.
Pretty much this. Plus three, it’s a Canadian news story today that doesn’t involve pot.
I’m not at all surprised he didn’t get paroled and I hope he never does. But considering the world we are living in, I can’t say it would surprise me, especially the older he gets.
For Bernardo I would make an exception to my opposition to capital punishment. Except he deserves to die in the clink. Preferably a lingering horrible death without any pain meds.
No one’s interested in Mark Chapman’s 10th parole denial. This is enough to make anyone mad:
“You admittedly carefully planned and executed the murder of a world-famous person for no reason other than to gain notoriety…”
Every time Manson was up for parole (and was denied) it made news. I’m not sure I’m understanding your confusion. Especially in today’s climate for “news”.
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I read that article with disgust and revulsion. That said, if he has genuinely sufficiently reformed then he has earned parole. He got his hearing and the parole board decided that he had not genuinely sufficiently reformed.
Says it all really. The man’s a monster who needs to stay locked up until he has genuinely sufficiently reformed.
There’s also the factor that it’s an exceptionally long sentence in the Canadian system, I think.
It’s the standard sentence for first degree murder. Even if you only kill one person without raping and torturing them.
Yeah, the sentence for first-degree murder is always life in imprison with no possibility for parole for 25 years. The judge has no discretion for first-degree murder.
There was a parole hearing so there was at least the possibility of Bernardo being released. The outcome of the hearing was therefore newsworthy even though it was the expected decision.
IMO, it’s a shame that Carla Homolka isn’t rotting in jail with him. I really try to believe that there is redemption within everyone but I also hold the view that some people need to be put down humanely with a bullet in the back of the head.
It’s not just the life sentence. He was convicted of numerous vicious sexual assaults and sentenced as a dangerous offender. That is an indeterminate sentence. Most people who are sentenced DO die in jail, because the standard to meet that sentence is so high and you only get out if you demonstrate rehabilitation. He couldn’t begin to apply for remission of the DO sentence unless he was first paroled on the murder charge.
These crimes are still pretty fresh in my mind, as I’m sure they are for anyone who followed the cases. But they happened so long ago they predated being discussed on this board.
I’m American and I remember who Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka are and what they did.