Notorious female inmate is freed

Canada’s most notorious female inmate, Karla Homolka, was secretly spirited from prison today after serving 12 years for the rapes, torture and murders of three teenage girls, including that of her little sister, authorities confirmed.

Correctional Service Canada spokeswoman Michele Pilon-Santilli confirmed the release, but Homolka was nowhere to be seen by the hordes of media lining the road from the prison in rural Ste-Anne-des-Plaines, about 20 miles north-west of Montreal.

The 35-year-old former veterinarian’s assistant is the most reviled woman in Canada, after she sealed what was dubbed by the media in 1993 as the “deal with the devil.”

Prosecutors gave her 12 years in return for her testimony against her ex-husband Paul Bernardo.

When asked where Homolka, who has changed her name to Karla Teale, was headed, Pilon-Santilli said: “That’s not information that I can share with you.”

The CSC said in a simple statement that Homolka was no longer in their jurisdiction.

Lawyers for Homolka were asking the Quebec Superior Court to order a ban against the media on covering her release and subsequent whereabouts.

Her lawyers and father have said she intended to resettle in Montreal, after having learned French during her 12 years in a Quebec prison.

Some believe she will first stay at the Elizabeth Fry Society halfway house for female inmates in the Notre Dame de Grace neighbourhood of Montreal as she has received counselling and pledges of support for the private home for women.

Homolka became the symbol of evil in Canada in 1993, when she was convicted of manslaughter for her role in the kidnappings, rapes, sexual torture and murders of Ontario teenagers Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy.

The prison term also included the 1990 death of her 15-year-old sister, Tammy, who died choking on her own vomit on Christmas Eve after Homolka held a drug-soaked cloth over her mouth while both she and her husband raped her.

In return for her relatively light sentence, Homolka testified against Bernardo, a Toronto bookkeeper serving a life term in an Ontario prison for two counts of first-degree murder.

Homolka told the court and psychiatrists that she was a battered wife who took part in the rapes and murders to protect herself and family from threats by Bernardo.

Months after prosecutors made the deal, however, Bernardo’s attorneys handed over home-made videotapes by the couple that indicated Homolka was a willing participant.

When news of the tapes became public, Canadians were outraged that she would be released in 12 years.

As her release loomed, Ontario prosecutors went back to court and last month successfully obtained heavy restrictions on her movement and activities once released.

Judge Jean Beaulieu ruled Homolka was still a potential danger to society and ordered her to immediately report to police upon her release and banned her from contacting Bernardo or the families of their victims and from coming into contact with other violent offenders.

The judge ordered her to continue therapy and submit DNA samples to authorities.

Homolka intends to appeal those restrictions, calling them a violation of her original plea bargain.

Earlier today, one of her legal-aid attorneys, Christian Lachance, told Quebec Superior Court Judge Maurice Lagace Homolka was too afraid to testify at the hearing where the court was to consider a media blackout.

He said that since his client’s safety could not be assured by police, the media must be prevented from reporting on her whereabouts to protect her from numerous threats against her life, mostly by internet bloggers.

“She is terrorised by the idea of testifying,” Lachance said, adding she was in a state of “panic” regarding her release from prison, certain her life was in danger.

A Quebec Superior Court last week rejected a similar plea, saying it violated press freedoms.

Lawyers representing the Canadian media told Lagace they want the opportunity to cross-examine Homolka. “We want to test the veracity of her allegations,” said attorney Mark Bantey.

Christian Leblanc, another media lawyer, said Homolka is a public figure and the media has the right and an obligation to report on her whereabouts and activities. “They are trying to prevent the media from doing their work,” Leblanc said.

Tim Danson, a lawyer representing the families of Homolka’s teenage victims, said Homolka lost her rights to privacy when she murdered his clients’ daughters.

“She can’t be involved in what can only be described as participating in the sexual torture and murder of my clients’ children, and then expect simply to walk out and not be answerable to it in the court of public opinion,” Danson said.