Paul Bernardo denied 2nd attempt at parole after victims’ families speak out

Killer and serial rapist Paul Bernardo has lost his second bid for parole after the families of victims Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy — as well as a survivor of an attack — vehemently opposed his release during a Parole Board of Canada hearing Tuesday.

The parole board, which also heard from Bernardo, who’s serving life at Millhaven Penitentiary in eastern Ontario, said he won’t be granted release on either full or day parole. 

“You remain to be a high risk for sexual reoffending,” the board said after deliberating for about 50 minutes, despite Bernardo saying he was low risk and not the person he was when he committed the crimes.

At the hearing, Donna French, Kristen’s mother, expressed the enduring pain felt since her daughter’s death.

“For those who say that time heals, they don’t know the excruciating pain that comes from such a horrific loss,” she said. 

“Time doesn’t heal the pain. The pain is a life sentence.”

Bernardo’s crimes in the 1980s and early ’90s include kidnapping, torturing and killing Kristen and Mahaffy near St. Catharines.

Bernardo, now 56, was convicted in 1995. 

Kristen French, left, was 15 and Leslie Mahaffy was 14 at the time of the killings. (Handout/The Canadian Press)

Kristen’s mother also spoke at the virtual hearing about the 29 years of experiences her daughter would never have, and the agonizing process of accepting all she had to endure. 

Leslie, of Burlington, was 14 in June 1991 when Bernardo and his then wife, Karla Homolka, tortured and killed her at their Port Dalhousie home.

Kristen, of St. Catharines, was 15 when she was held captive for three days and killed in April 1992. 

Bernardo, a designated dangerous offender, has been eligible for full parole for more than three years. But relatives of his victims have remained adamant he should never be allowed out of prison. 

2018 parole attempt denied

In his first attempt at parole, in October 2018, it took the board just 30 minutes to reject his request.

“It seems that just as the ink has dried on our previous victim impact statement, Doug [Kristen’s father] and I have to muster up the strength to prepare a second statement,” French said Tuesday. 

“This is a painful and difficult process as there are no words that can capture the depth of our loss, anguish and despair.”

Bernardo, now 56, was convicted in 1995 and is serving a life sentence.  (Pam Davies)

Read aloud by lawyer Tim Danson, the statement from Debbie Mahaffy talked about how this second attempt at parole felt like another exhumation, violation and loss.

“Thirty years have passed since Leslie was taken from us, but the memories of that horrendous time are just as vivid today as they were then. There is no escape for us from this horror,” Mahaffy’s statement said.  

Parole hearings for offenders like Bernardo, she wrote, should be at least five years apart. 

‘Please keep him where he is’

Bernardo has admitted to raping at least 14 women.

A survivor of one of his attacks told the parole board that she wants to forgive Bernardo, but also wants him to “rot.”

“Please don’t be fooled by this if I am the only living survivor to testify here today… I beg you on behalf of all of us, please keep him where he is,” she said.

Bernardo was also convicted of manslaughter in the death of Homolka’s 15-year-old sister, Tammy. In December 1990, she was drugged, sexually assaulted and died. 

Homolka was released in 2005 after pleading guilty to manslaughter and serving 12 years in prison.

CBC’s Ellen Mauro, who watched the proceedings, said Bernardo wore a blue T-shirt and listened to the statements without showing emotion. 

Bernardo addresses hearing

Bernardo spoke about the stress of losing human contact in isolation. He said he was wrong to think anxiety was to blame for his crimes, and he has brought himself to a level of “extraordinary restraint.” 

“It is not who I am today,” he said. 

Maureen Gauci, one of two parole board panellists, said that despite Bernardo’s claims he has stopped all deviant sexual behaviour, he hadn’t had exposure to women he could control. 

Bernardo insisted that with his plan — which included medication, psychiatry sessions and going to church — he was “without a doubt low risk.”

He said he had empathy for the victims and would follow any conditions for parole. Bernardo expressed a desire to live near his parents in Ontario or in British Columbia, saying a halfway house in Kelowna was willing to accept him. 

But the panel said Bernardo’s understanding and insight remains limited, and that he hasn’t made the progress they needed to see.