Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka

Paul Bernardo was a serial rapist known as the "Scarborough Rapist" who had already attacked at least fourteen women in the Toronto suburbs before meeting Karla Homolka in 1987. Together, the couple escalated to murder. Their first victim was Homolka's own fifteen-year-old sister Tammy, who was drugged with veterinary anesthetics stolen from Karla's workplace, sexually assaulted by both, and died during the assault on Christmas Eve 1990. The death was ruled accidental. In 1991 and 1992, the couple abducted, imprisoned, sexually tortured, and murdered two more teenage girls — Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French. Bernardo filmed the crimes on videotape. Homolka later presented herself to prosecutors as a battered woman under Bernardo's control, and in 1993 — before the videotapes surfaced — she received a plea deal: manslaughter charges and a twelve-year sentence in exchange for testimony against her husband. When police searched the Bernardo home months later they found the videotapes hidden in a light fixture, which showed Homolka as a willing and enthusiastic participant in the crimes. The deal could not legally be undone. It became known across Canada as the "deal with the devil" and triggered sweeping public outrage and reviews of prosecutorial agreements. Bernardo was convicted of first-degree murder in 1995 and designated a dangerous offender with no possibility of release. Homolka served her full twelve years and was released in 2005, sparking protests across Canada. She relocated, changed her name, married, had children, and has lived quietly since. The case prompted major changes to Canadian evidence disclosure laws. It remains one of the most disturbing and legally controversial criminal cases in the country's history, combining extreme violence with an explosive miscarriage of prosecutorial judgment.