Notorious killer Paul Bernardo scheduled to have parole hearing this month

Paul Bernardo, one of Canada’s most notorious criminals, is scheduled to have a hearing before the Parole Board of Canada later this month.

Although his crimes were carried out in Ontario, Bernardo was transferred to a federal penitentiary in Quebec last year.

He is serving an indefinite sentence as a dangerous offender. He was convicted of the kidnapping, sexual assault and murders of 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s near St. Catharines, Ont. His trial for the murders shocked Canada because of the cold-blooded nature of the slayings.

He was also convicted of manslaughter in the December 1990 death of his then-wife Karla Homolka’s 15-year-old sister, Tammy. Homolka pleaded guilty to manslaughter for her role in the crimes against French and Mahaffy and received a 12-year sentence. She was released from prison in 2005.

Bernardo has also admitted to sexually assaulting 14 other women.

The parole hearing is scheduled to be held on Nov. 26.

It will be Bernardo’s third attempt at parole. When he was rejected in 2018, the parole board determined that he “showed minimal insight” into his crimes.

In 2021, the National Post reported that Bernardo was rejected again after he asked for full parole and anti-sex drive medication, also known as chemical castration.

His transfer last year to a penitentiary in Quebec touched off a controversy because he was moved from a maximum-security penitentiary in Ontario to a medium-security institution in Quebec.

This created a political firestorm, and the commissioner of Correctional Service Canada was called to appear before a parliamentary committee to explain the decision late last year.

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