Tears as court hears horrors

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/06/2005 (7658 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

JOLIETTE, Que. — It was a rare glimpse of Canada’s most notorious female convict — Karla Homolka, weeping and wearing leg irons as the details of her horrific crimes were read out to a packed courtroom.

Like every other chapter in the saga of Homolka and her ex-husband, Paul Bernardo, yesterday’s hearing to determine whether her movements should be restricted once she’s released from prison was a media spectacle that featured at least one courtroom reporter gazing at her through binoculars.

Homolka’s 12-year prison term expires on July 5.

Homolka, a onetime straight-A student who possesses a higher-than-average IQ, rarely looked at courtroom spectators except for quick glares or rolls of her eyes as she was scrutinized by media and a small group of townsfolk northeast of Montreal.

The most dramatic moment came when she bowed her head, her mouth contorting into a tight grimace, as details of her sister Tammy’s death and the abductions, tortures and rapes of two Ontario schoolgirls were read aloud at the hearing to determine if her movements should be restricted once she’s released from the Joliette Institution.

Her breathing became faster and faster and she began to rock slightly in her seat in the prisoner’s dock as a Niagara Regional Police constable told of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy’s last hours after being abducted by Homolka and Bernardo in the early 1990s.

As Const. Brian Noble recounted how Homolka got drugs to dope her kid sister, Tammy, she rubbed at her eyes with her fingers, then dabbed at them with a handkerchief before burying her face in her right hand and sobbing.

Her hands, which had been clasped in her lap, hugged her body and she clutched at her elbows.

Her cooler demeanour returned as she glimpsed a reporter in the front row of the spectators’ gallery studying her with a small pair of binoculars.

It was Homolka’s first court appearance since she testified against Bernardo at his 1995 first-degree murder trial. She’s close to wrapping up her full 12-year manslaughter sentence.

Rumours that Homolka has drastically changed her appearance were put to rest when she entered the courtroom wearing a gold pantsuit, black pullover and silver watch.

Her light blond hair is now a darker, dirty blond and falls just over her shoulders in a layered cut.

The day was largely taken up by her lawyer challenging the assertion by Ontario authorities that she will reoffend if she’s let out of jail without restrictions upon her release in about a month.

Sylvie Bordelais asked Noble to prove Homolka poses a threat to the public.

“You’re before the court to say she is still a danger,” Bordelais said. “Apart from one report, no others are saying this woman is dangerous.”

Bordelais had Noble read from about half a dozen psychiatric and psychological reports that suggested she posed a minimum risk to society.

“The likelihood of her finding a second Paul Bernardo is extremely low, although she may be attracted to traditional males,” said one excerpt.

Another excerpt read out said the risk of Homolka reoffending “is much lower than the majority of offenders who have been released from the federal system.”

And yet another compared her to a “concentration camp survivor.”

The Crown did not outline the restrictions it is seeking but they are believed to include provisions that Homolka must report to police twice a month, give authorities four days notice before travelling to Ontario and stay away from convicted criminals.

That condition might already pose a problem for Homolka, according to the Toronto Sun. The paper reported yesterday that Homolka is in love with convicted killer Jean-Paul Gerbet, who is up for parole in 2008 for the murder of his girlfriend seven years ago.

Homolka was handcuffed as she was led into the courtroom northeast of Montreal and escorted to the dock. She had the cuffs removed but the chains around her legs stayed throughout the day, jangling at times as she fidgeted in her seat.

Noble said Homolka must face tough restrictions.

“She is well-known all over Ontario,” Noble told Quebec court Judge Jean Beaulieu. “Everybody is talking about her and saying her sentence is too lenient… they’re talking about the deal with the devil.”

Noble was referring to the plea-bargain agreement the Crown struck with Homolka to secure her testimony against Bernardo, who was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the French and Mahaffy slayings and later declared a dangerous offender.

The deal was done before authorities learned of the horrific images of torture and rape caught on videotape and hidden in the couple’s southern Ontario home — tapes that also cast a different light on the woman who had portrayed herself as a battered wife under the control of her violent and psychopathic husband.

Lawyer Tim Danson, who is representing the French and Mahaffy families, said he expects his clients to instruct him to intervene at the hearing.

Danson said outside the courtroom that he still doesn’t buy Homolka’s argument that she suffered from battered wife syndrome. “This is a continuation of a big con,” he said.

Asked about Homolka crying during the description of the deaths, Danson said: “It’s a little bit late … there is no evidence that there is any remorse. If she feels bad, it’s because of the predicament she now finds herself in.”

Earlier, Bordelais tried to have proceedings stopped as she argued her client’s constitutional rights were being violated and that the Crown was reneging on its deal with Homolka.

Beaulieu dismissed the argument.

The hearing will resume today with more witnesses.

The notion of granting complete freedom to the woman involved in the deaths of French and Mahaffy, not to mention the drug-rape death of her own sister, has proven unpalatable to politicians and the public alike.

Where Homolka will go after her release is still a mystery. The Montreal neighbourhood of Notre-Dame-de-Grace had been mentioned but Homolka has reportedly ruled it out because it is out of her price range.

Homolka won’t be getting a warm welcome from her own family. Her father Karel said he’s not yet ready to rebuild his relationship with his oldest daughter.

“Someday, I guess,” the senior Homolka said Wednesday from the doorway of his home in St. Catharines, Ont., when asked whether he expects to have a relationship with Karla.

— Canadian Press