# Question for Canadians: Karla Homolka, sadistic sexual psychopath **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 4, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026 "2005-07-04T16:10:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/41 "2005-07-05T21:18:46Z")
She spent her time in prison learning to speak fluent french and her new murderer love interest will be deported back to France once his prison term is up, by law. To me, it sounds like she’ll be moving to France, but no one is talking about this, which makes me think it’s a very likely possibility. I’d love to find a transcript (in english) of her interview on French tv last night, but I haven’t had any luck yet. (Still looking). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/42 "2005-07-05T21:33:30Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > To me, it sounds like she’ll be moving to France, but no one is talking about this, which makes me think it’s a very likely possibility. France might have something contrary to say about a foreigner with a manslaughter conviction wanting to become a permanent resident. “Violent criminal record” is one of those things that tend to raise red flags for immigration officers. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/43 "2005-07-05T21:50:27Z")
She’s about to change her name legally, I suspect she’ll radically change her physical appearance in the next couple of days, lay low for some time, entering France as a tourist. Sheesh, (and I’m not even a criminal), I didn’t think she was going to legally immigrate, just end up there. (I did find an english translation of the interview but don’t know how to link.) ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/44 "2005-07-05T23:16:53Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Nobody is advocating forgetting anything or being cavalier about anything. You can stop hitting that straw man now. Sorry, but phrases like “blah blah blah”, “shit happens” and “that’s the way the cookie crumbled” sound cavalier to me. I’m happy to agree to disagree. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/45 "2005-07-05T23:52:28Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > She’s about to change her name legally, I suspect she’ll radically change her physical appearance in the next couple of days, lay low for some time, entering France as a tourist. > > Sheesh, (and I’m not even a criminal), I didn’t think she was going to legally immigrate, just end up there. > > (I did find an english translation of the interview but don’t know how to link.) Yeah, but…can she even get a passport with her record? If she can get a passport, wouldn’t French officials red flag her and not allow her in? ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/46 "2005-07-06T00:01:44Z")
Maybe I’m wrong, but I get the feeling that Homolka is not a psychopath at all. She obviously has psychological problems, but what I remember hearing is that she probably has a dependent personality. And that makes sense to me. Her role in the crimes was greater than she admitted (although I don’t know _what_ it was exactly), but I believe that she did it not because she’s a sexual predator, but rather because she was ready to do anything to please Bernardo. That’s similar to what **RickJay** said earlier, except that I don’t think she’s a psychopath. (If I’m wrong and she’s been diagnosed as one, I’d be interested to hear it, so post a link.) In other words, if she doesn’t get involved with other criminal men, she shouldn’t get into more trouble. The problem, of course, is that she seems to be attracted to violent criminals. First Bernardo, and now Gerbet, although she claims she’s not seeing him anymore. What I think we should do: she’s served her sentence, and she also has been imposed conditions. I say we should leave her alone. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/47 "2005-07-06T02:50:36Z")
No nation would grant her a visa. If she’s going to sneak into another country she’ll have a hard time given her public profile. Any reporter would love to break that story. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgonzola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e480ec/32.png) [@Gorgonzola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgonzola)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/48 "2005-07-06T04:21:36Z")
[This is the CBC Radio-Canada interview transcript, translated.](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050704.wtranscript0705/BNStory/Front) I see no real remorse for her acknowledged crimes, which frankly merited far more than a 12-year sentence. Rather than saying she’s SORRY SORRY OH GOD I AM SO SORRY, she blathers on about the “interior prison” and remarks only that what she did was “terrible.” (No shit, honeybun!) Very cool and distanced from anything resembling remorse. She cries often, for instance: > [@](#): > > I think about it all the time. At every anniversary, every Christmas, all the time. And to add insult to injury, she goes on about what an exemplary detainee she was, earning a degree and learning French thanks to the French’s and Mahaffy’s tax contributions. Oh, and she doesn’t deny an ongoing relationship with Gerbet, even getting haughty at being asked about it. A more convincing play at remorse would take the form of an apology to the French and Mahaffy families, who (I don’t know how) manage to get up every day knowing their children died in horror and that this bitch is drinking an iced cap at Tim Horton’s. You won’t see it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/49 "2005-07-06T04:46:10Z")
She’s a bitch and I hope she dies horribly. ---
**Author:** ![Winnie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e480ec/32.png) [@Winnie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnie)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/50 "2005-07-06T12:13:25Z")
> [@Larry Borgia](#): > > She’s a bitch and I hope she dies horribly. Well said 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/51 "2005-07-06T13:27:02Z")
So, watching a bit of the news last night, Paul Bernardo’s lawyer comes on and tells us that Bernardo is saying, once again, that Karla was the one who did the killing, and that he’s bad, but she’s worse. Well. ---
**Author:** ![Phish\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9adbd/32.png) [@Phish\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phish_Head)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/52 "2005-07-06T13:59:58Z")
I can’t believe this monster is getting out of prison after 12 years! And her stay in prison has been a joke! > [@](#): > > While Joliette prison authorities were reviewing Karla Homolka’s prison conduct to see if she should be kept in prison for another four years, a Montreal newspaper published a series of party photos of the killer. Several of the photos showed Homolka and fellow inmate, Christina Sherry, convicted for her role in a Montreal rape and torture case, modeling black cocktail dresses for other inmates at a birthday party. The former inmate who sold the pictures to the newspaper described Joliette as an “adult daycare center that pampered inmates.” At the time the photos were taken, Christina Sherry was serving a five-year sentence that began in April, 1997 after pleading guilty to kidnapping, forcible confinement, sexual assault and sexual assault causing bodily harm. Also seen in the photos was Tracy Gonzales, Sherry’s accomplice, who was sentenced to less than eight years. _Source: Court TV’s Crime Library_ Nice. This monster gets to hang out with other monsters (other sexual predators who kidnap, rape, and torture girls), while modeling dresses!? How the hell does this happen? > [@](#): > > In January, 2003 the Toronto Star reported that the National Parole Board had ruled that Karla Homolka must stay in prison until her sentence is completed in July of 2005. The board’s decision represented the third time that Homolka’s request to be transferred to a half-way house was refused. > > Two reasons for the refusal were given. One reason was her sexual relationship with another convict at the Ste.-Anne-des-Plaines detention center. The other reason stated by the board was her refusal to participate in rehabilitation programs. The Toronto Star reported on January 19, 2003, that “Commissioners noted she had not yet started therapy for her role as a sexual aggressor and showed little interest in other rehabilitation programs.” Adding to the scandal, the Toronto Sun published photos it bought from Homolka’s former lesbian lover when the two women were housed in a prison in Quebec. _Source: Court TV’s Crime Library_ So this piece of shit doesn’t participate in rehabilitation programs, gets to party with other sexual predators, has sexual relations, and gets a free education!? Now that’s what I call “hard time”. :dubious: Justice was not fucking served in this case!!! :mad: :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/53 "2005-07-06T16:37:32Z")
She deserves to live in fear for the rest of her miserable life. The innocent girls she helped kill will never have the chance to get married, have a career, have kids. And this bitch will. There are no adequate words to describe how wrong this is. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/54 "2005-07-07T01:33:06Z")
> [@Gorgonzola](#): > > Oh, and she doesn’t deny an ongoing relationship with Gerbet, even getting haughty at being asked about it. Ah? I thought I had heard that she wasn’t seeing him anymore. I didn’t watch the interview, so I can’t really say. In any case, as has been mentioned before, he’ll be deported as soon as his sentence is over (in a few years, I think), so I don’t think that will amount to much anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/55 "2005-07-07T03:55:15Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgonzola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e480ec/32.png) [@Gorgonzola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgonzola)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/56 "2005-07-07T04:35:05Z")
> [@severus](#): > > Ah? I thought I had heard that she wasn’t seeing him anymore. I didn’t watch the interview, so I can’t really say. In any case, as has been mentioned before, he’ll be deported as soon as his sentence is over (in a few years, I think), so I don’t think that will amount to much anyway. Her lawyer said she had broken ties to Gerbet, says the [Globe and Mail:](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050705.wxhomolka05main/BNStory/National/) > [@](#): > > In that same interview, her lawyer, Sylvie Bordelais, said her client had broken ties with Jean-Paul Gerbet, the convicted murderer with whom she had had a liaison behind bars, a relationship that had raised concerns about Ms. Homolka’s rehabilitation. Karla herself made no such denial in the [transcript:](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050704.wtranscript0705/BNStory/Front) > [@](#): > > Napier: You had a relationship in prison with someone who killed his wife. Have you continued this relationship with Jean-Paul Gerbet? > > Homolka: I am not prepared to talk about people I knew in prison. > > Napier: Why? Is there a particular reason you don’t want to talk about it? > > Homolka: Yes, because I have lived through the whole media circus and I don’t want the friends I had in jail to be subjected to that. I am not here to talk, but … > > Napier: Are you still communicating with him in any way? > > Homolka: I have already answered that question. Well, there’s one thing she’s not lying about. She’s not here to talk. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/57 "2005-07-07T17:10:48Z")
> [@Northern Piper](#): > > This isn’t the first time that a s. 810 application has been made for a person just out of prison. There was one about a year ago when a Very Bad Dude got out. The Crown made a similar application, supported in part by the testimony of VBD’s own mother, and got a series of restrictive conditions placed on him. He breached within a couple of weeks, if I recall correctly, and got jugged for two years. I’m afraid I can’t remember VBD’s name to do a google search, but he had the kind of record that even make John Howard Society folks think about the utility of life imprisonment… Thanks for the clarification, **Northern Piper**. It’d be interesting to know whether the Crown then followed up with a dangerous offender application at time of sentencing for the breach of the 810 recognizance. Do you happen to recall? As to what Homolka said in her interview, I found it interesting that if she’s trying to portray herself as remorseful, rather than saying the first thing she wanted to do was at least visit the gravesite of her sister, she said she wanted an iced cappuccino from Tim Horton’s. I also continue to be puzzled by her mother’s ongoing support for her. I would find it strange enough considering her involvement in the rapes and murders of strangers to the Homolka family, but when she was involved in the apparent rape and death of her sister? And I don’t know if it’s just the photos that the media always selects of Homolka, but in the pictures that are constantly used, she has dead eyes. Absolutely flat. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/58 "2005-07-07T18:08:13Z")
> [@LionelHutz405](#): > > If she loses her second attempt to have a ban placed on publishing details of her release, I think she will voluntarily choose to remain in prison. Even if she succeeds, banning != prevention. IIRC, even during the original trial the net was making a mockery of the Canadian government’s news embargo, and information hasn’t gotten any easier to control since then. ---
**Author:** ![sj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@sj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sj2)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/59 "2005-07-07T18:32:49Z")
I am currently reading Invisible Darkness… I picked it up months ago for a dime at a book sale. From what I’ve read/heard, I have to agree with those that claim she is a sociopath, a master manipulator and has some sort of attachment disorder. Sadly, there are a lot of folks with this pathology around us. Some use their “powers” for good, some for evil. Charisma works in mysterious ans often cruel ways. I hope tp heaven she is watched closely. I do not believe she could ever change, and her refusal to seek/take therapy is very, very frightening. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026/60 "2005-07-08T05:32:49Z")
> [@PastAllReason](#): > > Thanks for the clarification, **Northern Piper**. It’d be interesting to know whether the Crown then followed up with a dangerous offender application at time of sentencing for the breach of the 810 recognizance. Do you happen to recall? Doesn’t look as if the dangerous offender sentence is available for breach of a peace bond under s. 810 and the related provisions. [Section 811](http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-46/45360.html#section-811) is the offence section. It reads: > [@](#): > > 1. A person bound by a recognizance under section 83.3, 810, 810.01, 810.1 or 810.2 who commits a breach of the recognizance is guilty of > > (a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding **two years** ; or > > (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction. So it’s a maximum two year sentence. The Crown can only apply for a dangerous offender sentence when the accused has been convicted of a “[serious personal injury offence](http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-46/45127.html#section-752)”, which is defined as follows: > [@](#): > > “serious personal injury offence” means > > (a) an indictable offence, other than high treason, treason, first degree murder or second degree murder, involving > > indent the use or attempted use of violence against another person, or > > (ii) conduct endangering or likely to endanger the life or safety of another person or inflicting or likely to inflict severe psychological damage on another person, > > and for which the offender may be sentenced to imprisonment for **ten years or more,** or > > (b) an offence or attempt to commit an offence mentioned in section 271 (sexual assault), 272 (sexual assault with a weapon, threats to a third party or causing bodily harm) or 273 (aggravated sexual assault).[/indent] Since the sentence for breach has a maximum of two years, and s. 811 is not listed as one of the specific offences, it doesn’t look like a dangerous offender sentence would be available for breach of a recognizance. Getting back to the OP, I see I need to clarify my comment about **Qadgop’s** use of the term “primary instigator” to describe Homoloka. I’d forgotten that Bernardo had said she was the one who pushed for murder, instead of his stated preference of “catch, torture/abuse, and release,” which he has recently repeated through his lawyer. However, that sounds to me like to very bad people blaming each other; I’m not aware of any evidence that she is considered the “primary instigator”, other than their mutual finger-pointing. If I’m wrong on that, I’d be interested in hearing it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026.md?page=4)