10 Serial Killers Who Got Away With It
6. Karla Homolka
Murders: 3
Dates active:1990-1992
Serial killers are very good at hiding their true selves. They can mask the brutality with happy family photos, befriending people so that they would say ‘no, they’d never do that’, or even lying so well to the police that they convince them nothing happened... when it clearly did. Karla Homolka was engaged to her first husband Paul Bernardo within months of meeting him, and to the outside world they were an incredibly happy, loved-up couple.
Homolka’s family warmed to Bernardo very quickly and they spent a great deal of time together, but this was definitely not as innocent as it seems. Bernardo had a deep, creepy obsession with Karla’s sister, Tammy. He used to peep through her curtains and watch her, and even when she was sleeping, he would sneak into her room to masturbate. If that wasn’t weird enough, Karla actually knew about this, and she broke her sister's blinds in order for Bernado to get better access.
This obsession only worsened when, for an apparent ‘Christmas present’ in 1990, Homolka offered her 15-year old sister’s virginity to her partner. She slipped a strong anaesthetic stolen from her veterinary workplace into her sister's drink at their family Christmas party, proceeding to then cover her mouth with a halothane-soaked cloth to ensure she was unconscious. Together, they sexually assaulted her and videoed the entire thing. She then later died of an overdose, and because the drug Homolka used was undetectable from her autopsy, the murder was deemed accidental from too much alcohol consumption. This was unfortunately only the beginning of their acts as they continued to abduct, sexually assault and kill two other young women.
They were eventually caught due to their DNA being found on one of the young girls, Kristen French, who they had murdered and left in a ditch. The past was then uncovered, and in 1993 they were finally convicted. Bernardo was sentenced for life... but Homolka only got 12 years. She was released in 2005 and is said to be living alone.