PING!
Posted on 06/02/2005 11:15:52 AM PDT by GMMAC
Homolka hearing begins in Quebec Court
By TERRY WEBER
Toronto Globe and Mail
Thursday, June 2, 2005
Karla Homolka, one of the country's most reviled killers, made her first public appearance in a decade Thursday, attending a Quebec court hearing to determine whether she should be placed under increased scrutiny when she ends her prison sentence next month. According to television and wire reports from the Joliette, Que., courthouse, Ms. Homolka, dressed in a pinkish suit and sporting blond hair, was quietly brought into the courtroom in handcuffs about 10 a.m. EDT.
After being seated, her handcuffs were removed.
Her lawyer, Sylvie Bordelais, then asked that the motion brought by the Ontario government — which is seeking strict controls on Ms. Homolka after her release — be thrown out, arguing that the province's request breaches a deal reached more than a decade earlier when she agreed to plead guilty and testify against her former husband, Paul Bernardo.
The request was rejected by Judge Jean Beaulieu, allowing Thursday's hearing to proceed.
Earlier, Ms. Homolka arrived at a Quebec courthouse under heavy guard to face calls from the Ontario government that she be put under close watch following her release from prison next month.
Televised images from Joliette, Que., showed a crush of journalists trying to get photos of Ms. Homolka as she was brought into the courthouse by van just before 7 a.m. EDT.
She was not visible as the vehicle drove into an indoor parking bay. The doors to the outside were closed before Ms. Homolka was taken from the van.
Outside the courthouse, curious onlookers gathered early, trying to get a glimpse of Ms. Homolka.
Lance Campeau, who travelled from Montreal for the hearing, told Canadian Press that "I want to see how she reacts, her facial expressions — does she cough, does she turn her head, will she address anyone with her eyes?
"I'm not sure she's aware how much attention she's attracting."
Armand Goulet, a regular visitor to the courthouse, also told CP that he just wanted "to see Karla."
"We want to see if she has black hair," said Mr. Goulet, 72, referring to a recent media report that she had dyed her blond hair.
"We've been talking about her the last few days. There are some people who are afraid of her and there are others who aren't."
The Ontario government is asking a judge to invoke controls on Ms. Homolka's movements after her release from prison on July 5, when she finishes her sentence for her role in the murders of Ontario schoolgirls Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy and the death of her sister Tammy Homolka.
Thursday marks Ms. Homolka's first public appearance in more than a decade. She pleaded guilty to her role in the killings in 1993 and subsequently testified at the trial of her former husband Paul Bernardo, who is now serving life behind bars for the murders.
The details of the crimes shocked the nation, with both Ms. Homolka and Mr. Bernardo quickly becoming among the most reviled criminal figures in Canadian history.
The Ontario government's application is being made under Section 810 of the Criminal Code, which can be used to control where offender go and whom they see even after they finish serving their sentences.
The provision was the result of public outcry in the 1990s over the need to protect the public from sex offenders who reoffended after their release. If granted, an order under the section would run 12 months.
The Crown is expected to argue that Ms. Homolka is a danger to the public.
Published reports out of Quebec earlier in the week have alleged she has been corresponding with Jean-Paul Gerbert, a male inmate who has been incarcerated in Quebec for the 1998 second-degree murder of his girlfriend, 23-year-old Cathy Caretta. She was strangled after trying to break up with Mr. Gerbet.
It remains unknown exactly where Ms. Homolka intends to live after her release.
Ms. Homolka's lawyers are expected to call evidence from a psychiatrist who will say that Ms. Homolka is no longer a danger to the public as well as a case-management work.
Speaking with reporters outside the courthouse, lawyer Tim Danson, who represents the French and Mahaffy families, said the families want a court order forcing Ms. Homolka to keep authorities informed of where she lives and works following her release.
They also want her prevented from contacting the victims' families and from associating with anyone with a criminal record. The also want Ms. Homolka to report to authorities twice a month an notify them of any travel plans so they can relay that information to officials in those jurisdictions.
"I think it's important that authorities know where she is at all times," Mr. Danson said.
Flash Video narrated by the Globe's Christie Blatchford
The ice queen.
I think I saw this case on A@E Cold Case files. Is this the woman that killed her own younger sister?
Interesting comment. Canada may be turning back around in a few years, huh?
Myself, she did her full sentence in prison. Leave her alone.
***I think I saw this case on A@E Cold Case files. Is this the woman that killed her own younger sister?***
Yes! But it's all right to let her go free because she gave her sister a teddy bear to hold while she was being killed. I'm not making that up.
She is a sicko! I remember some of the video tapes they showed of her wearing their victims clothes after the murders.
Civilized countries too often set their monsters free.
Actually, her sister died while unconscious (Karla drugged her so Paul could rape her). The teddy bear incident was with Leslie Mahaffey, IIRC.
When I was still in Canada, I heard some of the sick, I mean really sick, things this waste of skin did. It was disgusting that she got a plea deal while it seemed she was just as guilty as Bernardo, maybe even inspired him in their loathsome freak crimes. There is no way on Earth she can ever be anything but a spawn of Satan.
This is Paul Bernado and Karla on their wedding day. Don't they look innocent? Tell your daughters not to trust ANY man whom they don't know a great deal about.
Thanks for the correction. If I remember correctly, the murders occured in St. Catharines, Ont. And the people in that city demanded that the house be torn down. Do I have that right?
The story I heard was she was playing sex games with the decapitated heads of their victims. Don't remember if she video taped it or not. She should be rotting in prison for the rest of her unnatural life.
I nhave a question, why is this witch only getting 12 years for killing three people?
You are right. Let her rot seems like a fair enough fate for her.
I believe technically they lived in Port Dalhousie, just outside St. Catherines, but anyone that doesn't actually live there generally doesn't distinguish between the two.
I think it had something to do with the "I'm an innocent woman who has been forced to do this by the evil man I was living with" defense.
I'd love to blame it on liberal Canada, but we do things just as stupid.
Why would anyone object to a cold-blooded killer, who got a very light sentence only because she agreed to rat out another killer, being carefully monitored upon her release from prison? Who would be harmed by that?
that alaibi is getting pretty old and tired!
I bet she was a WILLING participant and she looks like she is just as evil as he is, and I think she should either get life in prison, no parole, or the needle. (and I'm against the death penality except were the wonton murder of children and adults who can't defend themselves.)
But of course this isn't the US but the libs are bad everywhere.
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