Karla Leanne Homolka, also known as Karla Leanne Teale, (born May 4, 1970 in Port Credit, Ontario, Canada), is a Canadian serial killer who attracted worldwide media attention when she was convicted of manslaughter in the rape-murders of two teenaged girls; her husband, Paul Bernardo, was convicted of their murders and admitted having raped numerous women. Homolka and Bernardo also were responsible for the rape and death of her sister Tammy. In return for her confession and testimony against her husband, she was given a plea bargain whereby she escaped the maximum penalty for her crimes. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served 12 years in prison. She now lives in an undisclosed location in the Antilles with her son.
Karla Homolka is the eldest of three daughters (the others being Lori, b. 1971, and Tammy, b. 1975, deceased) of Karel and Dorothy Homolka. The Homolka family soon moved to St. Catharines, Ontario. After an uneventful childhood Homolka attended Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School and began working part-time in a pet shop at a nearby mall. The job led to her attendance at a convention in Toronto in October 1987, where she met Paul Bernardo. After receiving her grade 12 diploma in 1989, she was hired as a veterinary assistant by Thorold Veterinary Clinic, which asked her to leave after she was suspected of stealing drugs. She then found a similar job at the Martindale Animal Clinic, rather than attend university, despite being accepted by both York University and the University of Toronto.
Bernardo was born into a wealthy but dysfunctional family. His mother Marilyn, who had been adopted by well-to-do Toronto lawyer Gerald Eastman and his wife Elizabeth, was raised in a genteel, happy household. His father, Kenneth, was the son of an English woman and an Italian immigrant who created a highly successful marble and tile business, but was abusive to his wife and children. Instead of entering the family business, Kenneth Bernardo became an...