A Monster Among Us

Try as we might to forget her, to move on, to literally get past the past – it has proven impossible as she has reared her ugly head once again. Though this time with a slightly older and more drawn visage, her name carries the same unmistakably horrific weight.

Karla Homolka: two of the ugliest words in the English language.

Alongside her then-husband Paul Bernardo, this pair and their unspeakable crimes changed the fabric of Canadian society in the 1990s. People the country over were caught off guard by the brutality lurking within small-town Canada. Parents changed the way they parented and became more protective and suspicious; children became mistrustful and more afraid; and a pall was cast over everyone who heard the names Bernardo and Homolka and understood what they meant.

And now she’s back in the spotlight once again – married, with three children, living in Montreal. This time because she apparently volunteered as a field trip supervisor for the private Christian school where her children attend and also brought her dog in to the classroom on a separate occasion.

It’s terrifying enough to know that our children live in a world where strangers will approach them, entice them, abduct them, rape them and murder them. It’s so much worse when these strangers are no longer strangers – now they are moms of your children’s fellow classmates. They are handing out pizza on pizza day and helping to supervise field trips and bringing their pet dog in for a classroom cuddle.

Maybe Homolka has been successful in doing what most other Canadians have not: namely finding a way to push her notoriety as Canada’s most vile woman from her mind and working very hard to reinvent herself (no longer the sadistic and nefarious predator but instead loving wife and mother to three). But the rest of the country has not followed suit – as proven by the ensuing brouhaha after the discovery of her school involvement. The public has since been assured by school officials that she was never left unattended with any children and is by no means a regular volunteer.

This is cold comfort for those of us who remember.

In the early 1990s, Homolka and ex-husband Bernardo were convicted of the horrific rape and murder of two teen girls. Not to mention, the pair was also involved in the death of Homolka’s younger sister – after they drugged and raped her for kicks. Backed into a corner, Homolka did what any stray cat would and fought snaggle-tooth and desperate nail for any window of freedom. Offering up evidence to legally bury Bernardo, she struck up a sweetheart deal with the prosecution in 1993 and her charges were downgraded to manslaughter. While Bernardo was sentenced to life in prison, his lethal bride was sentenced to just 12 years in prison.

You see, Homolka had skillfully portrayed herself as an unwilling accomplice to the killings – claiming she was forced to participate by her psychopath ex-husband. With the ink on her deal still wet, it was then discovered how deep her actual involvement ran. She actively lured their victims, ignored their pleas for help when alone with the girls and the clincher – videotaped evidence showing her a ready, willing and gleeful participant in the crimes that took place within her house of horrors.

In 2005, Homolka was released from prison and allowed to rejoin Quebec society. She married the brother of her lawyer and it is believed she moved to the Caribbean some time in 2007 to escape the media spotlight.

In 2012, her name was back in the news when journalist Paula Todd tracked her down after following a mysterious lead that resulted in Todd hopping a plane to the island of Guadalupe. There she easily located Homolka living a modest life as wife and mother of three – and convinced her to sit for an impromptu interview by promising to provide her with the lead that had uncovered Homolka’s new identity and whereabouts.

Two years passed before Homolka found herself within the limelight once again – this time when her sister Lori was called as witness in the Luka Magnotta murder trial. During the ordeal, Lori mentioned to the press that her sister was once again living in Montreal.

And this leads us to where we are now – caught inside a societal uproar after it came to our attention in May of this year that Homolka has volunteered at her children’s school – apparently floundering in her attempt to blend in with all the other nondescript parents.

Even politicians weighed in with their own thoughts and feelings on the matter. NDP leader Tom Mulcair suggested it may be time for “forgiveness and atonement” in relation to the general public and the hostility directed toward Homolka. It was also put forward that to follow Homolka and her family and report on their activities and whereabouts is akin to harassment. Mulcair mentioned that whatever the case, Homolka has paid her debt to society – making it high time to move on.

But has she really paid her debt?

After all, the punishment did not fit the crime. In fact, the punishment was an ill-conceived idea dreamed up in order to put Bernardo away – and while driving the nails into his coffin, it allowed his second fiddle to get off a tad easier. The deal between Homolka and prosecutors was made under questionably obtained misinformation and remains a blemish on the Canadian justice system.

And while the Canadian justice system has apparently forgiven both Homolka and her crimes with the paltry penance that was imparted – the same cannot necessarily be said about the rest of us. And what of the families and friends of her victims?! The thought of forgiveness is a laughable farce.

I can’t even pretend to understand the nature of her crimes. I have no idea about anything pertaining to the woman other than what I have read in the papers like everyone else. And of course, I can admit, it is easy to become swept up in a mob mentality when the lives of children are at stake.

Was she and is she still evil? The answer may be: yes, no, or maybe so. Perhaps she was once and has since changed – people are capable of enormous change – I truly believe this. However, can a level of such extreme deviance really undergo a complete pendulous shift from evil to good?

Perhaps she and Bernardo together created a violent reaction similar to the effects of Mentos and cola but on her own she is nothing more than an innocuous mint or a sugary beverage? Perhaps what she has claimed time and again really is true and she is just as much a victim as anyone else.

Or maybe she truly is evil and always will be.

The truth of the matter is that we will never know – and knowing would be fruitless anyway because nothing will change the fact that she is a free woman today.

For argument’s sake, I’m going to assume that Homolka is capable of love – both giving and receiving it. After all, she does now have a husband who seems to be a non-psychopath as well as three children. Based on my own personal experience, I know that motherhood does sometimes nudge a woman into becoming a better human being so that she may be a strong and shining role model for her children. If this is true in Homolka’s case as well, it boggles my mind as to why she would want to raise her children in a country where she is so utterly and completely despised.

Has she forgiven herself her horrendous past and made a conscious decision to start afresh? Maybe. But is Homolka really so obtuse to believe she has the right to enter her children’s school in the role of volunteer?! I mean, come on – even Homolka herself can understand why she is a pariah within Canadian society and will remain as such until long after her death. So why return to the country that considers her an abomination and expose her children to this level of discrimination? And in the process allow them to be forever branded as children of evil?

Does Karla Homolka deserve a second chance? Maybe; maybe not. But her children certainly deserve some level of normalcy and I just don’t think that is possible in a country where people shudder at their mother’s name and are haunted still by her cold and calculating face. Not in the country where the ugly nature of their mother’s crimes still sting fresh even after 30 plus years. Not in the country where its citizens continue to feel shock and disgust – first by Homolka’s crimes and then by her measly penance.

I feel for her children – they have done nothing wrong and due to circumstances beyond their control may never engage in a normal childhood characterized by friendships and playdates and sleepovers. The nature of their mother’s crimes will hang darkly over them for the rest of their lives – even if they one day truly believe in her innocence.

If my own children attended school with hers, I can without a doubt state that I would actively discourage any sort of friendship beyond polite indifference when on the playground. And not because I believe their mother capable of re-offending. Realistically speaking, my children would suffer the same chances of being raped and murdered by any playmate’s parent – I mean, how well do you really know anybody?

The truth is that Karla Homolka and everything she sees, hears, says and feels is tainted for me and always will be. As a protective mother, I would move mountains to ensure that her predatory eyes never take in my own children’s faces; to keep my children’s names from ever being uttered from her plagued lips.

I feel sorry for her children as they will have many challenges to overcome throughout their lives. But hopefully, they will thrive and grow to adulthood and lead productive lives – maybe have families of their own some day. Perhaps they will even emerge from the dark shadow hovering over their lives through no fault of their own. There is a future ahead for them and God willing, a death from natural causes awaiting them at the end.

So much more than any of Homolka’s victims were ever granted.