Karla Homolka Case Study

Crime occurs every day, all over the world. Most crime is unreported or is unknown to the vast majority of the populations. Over time, crime has grown to become a normal part of society and typically people are not surprised to hear that a crime has been committed. Most crimes are dealt with and forgotten, however a few crimes grab the media’s attention and are highly publicized, ultimately giving the criminal their 15 minutes of infamy. Ted Bundy was one of these criminals. Bundy was a law student in Utah and during the 1970’s, he assaulted, raped and murdered at least 30 known women with some criminologists suspecting as high as nearly 100 victims. The tactics he used along with the extent of his killings is how Bundy acquired his long lasting infamy and notoriety as one of America’s top 10 most wanted during his time. Our true focus here is explaining why these murders occurred; truly understanding the motivation behind Bundy’s actions and finding the roots of causation which could lead a person to commit such serious crimes.

Serial murders are not just part of the United States they also happen globally. There are many investigative tools that are used when working a serial murder case and we will discuss some of those. We will also discuss the problems with the media when it comes to serial murders. We will also talk about how the criticism of the public and media can affect serial murder cases.

Serial killers represent a social problem in many ways. Many innocent lives are taken away by these serial killers. We as a society should care if serial killers or spree killers operate within our culture because we never know that we or a family member could be next on the list. People’s lives are taken away by these criminals; people who have a whole life ahead

Paul Kenneth Bernardo was born to parents Kenneth Bernardo and Marilyn Bernardo on August 27th. 1964. As a young child, Paul was essentially the perfect son - a very happy and well-behaved boy, even participating in his local Boy Scouts group. Nick Pron, a Canadian crime reporter describes him as “...always happy. A young boy who smiled a lot. And he was so cute, with his dimpled good looks and sweet smile, that many of the mothers just wanted to pinch him on the cheek whenever they saw him. He was the perfect child they all wanted; polite, well-mannered, doing well in school, so sweet in his Boy Scout uniform.” (Ryan, 46-50) Growing up in a middle-class neighborhood in Scarborough, Canada, Paul’s childhood could have seemed as ordinary as any other child’s from an outside perspective. So what turned that sweet, dimpled boy into a depraved rapist and killer? The answer could lie in his formative teenage years, which were anything but picture-perfect.

My research paper is on Anthony Sowell, a serial killer, identified in press reports as the Cleveland Strangler. My research will examine and explain Anthony Sowell’s life and history prior to his crimes, the crimes and personality theories that apply to his deviant behavior.

Out of all the Infamous killers in the U.S the two well-known killers that I will be researching are Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy. These two murderers share many similarities such as their backgrounds, Crimes, and Motives. Both Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy are serial killers who’ve killed over a dozen people each. They’ve committed crimes including rape, murder, and kidnapping. In this research paper I will be comparing and contrasting the two serial killers.

Murder, willingly taking another human's life, is considered a heinous crime in the United States, and from the sociological perspective, breaks an important more. Serial Murder, therefore, is a sociologically deviant phenomenon where a person kills two or more people in distinct events, and an FBI overview of serial killers states “No single cause, trait, or even a group of traits can differentiate or identify serial killers … from other types of violent offenders” (FBI). We can, however, use sociological perspectives to identify potential factors in these cases. As a boy, Jeffrey Dahmer was described as being a loner and a poor student- and had been sexually abused by a neighbor. He is homosexual, and all of his victims were males- which

The article written by Anne Swardson for the New York Times, looks back on Canadian Karla Homolka, the wife of Paul Bernardo, and her role in the rapings and killing of schoolgirls. All three appalling crimes, dubbed the “schoolgirl killer” murders, took place in the province of Ontario. Homolka was sentenced 12 years for two counts of manslaughter in 1992, for the deaths of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, the latter’s body was discovered on the couple’s wedding day. Karla and Paul met when she was 17, in 1987 and their relationship progressed rather quickly. Their sadistic crimes defied their attractive, professional persona of a couple living in a rich neighbourhood. Though it’s unclear when Karla was aware Paul’s true nature, there has been evidence stating that Karla helped Paul

A serial killer is traditional defined as the separate killings of three or more people by an individual over a certain period of time, usually with breaks between the murders. (Angela Pilson, p. 2, 2011) This definition has been accepted by both the police and academics and therefore provides a useful frame of reference (Kevin Haggerty, p.1, 2009). The paper will seek to provide the readers with an explanation of how serial killers came to be and how they are portrayed in the media.

 Karla was always concerned that she would loss Paul and was obsessed with his happiness.  He would tell her that it was her fault Tammy was no longer around to fulfil his sexual pleasures.  So Karla decided that for a wedding gift she would find him a young girl that he could take advantage of.  She chose a young girl named Jane who resembled Tammy.  Karla took Jane to

Paul D is left in shock and denial claiming, “That ain’t her mouth,” attempting to obscure the reality where Sethe did indeed kill her baby (154). The once idealistic woman who Paul D had known and loved for years has turned to do something so evil, leaving him in dismay. He did not understand Sethe’s motives; no one truly did. No one could draw the line of connection between the idea of saving one’s children by killing them. As Stamp Paid continues to read the news clipping, Paul D goes into a frenzy, shaking his head in disbelief. The look on Paul D’s face was so full of terror that even Stamp Paid thought that “the stranger the lips in the drawing became” as Paul D continued to shake in apprehension, questioning if the event really did occur

This case has a lot the information that we as students had learned in the class. First, learning from chapter one in the book the types of violent crimes and learning that Adam Walsh’s crime is in the category of murdered children. According to the schoolbook, in 1996 almost 2000 children were murdered. Secondly learning the chapter of child abduction and exploitation where almost 58,200 children were victims of child abduction by a non-family member, according to the NISMART-2 (Sedlak, Finklehor, Hammer, & Schultz, 2002, p. 5). Watching the film has given me the opportunity to be able to use the knowledge learned from the class and the book based on how each victim in Adam Walsh’s movie has a role in being a victim of crime. Victimology

Steven Avery, a family man, a victim of injustice and an accused murderer. One may have reasoned that his murder conviction was a crime of passion, due to the injustice Steven suffered from his 1985 false conviction of rape and assault, but that may have been before his story caught national attention. A documentary, “Making a Murderer”, directed by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, arose from his story’s infamy. With this documentary came numerous questions as to Avery’s possible innocence, but above all else answers that shed light on a possibly corrupt justice system that appears intent on framing Steven Avery for Teresa Halbach’s murder. “Making a Murderer” effectively portrays a message of the injustice of Steven Avery’s murder conviction and possible corruption within the Manitowoc’s justice system through the use of footage and accounts from people who were involved with his conviction.

On December 6th, 1941 the world welcomed Richard Benjamin Speck, who would become a well-known mass murderer. Speck, having a rather rough childhood, had an extensive criminal background before committing the unspeakable murders that made him famous. After being found guilty, Speck spent his remaining days in Chicago’s Stateville Penitentiary. One can look at Richard’s personal history, crime and criminal history to try and pin him to one criminological theory, when in reality, none will really fit him to a “T”. He was a psychopath who was in great need of psychological help, among other things.

A serial killer could be dining, sitting, or even living next to you at this very moment. Most killers offer little to no obvious clues that will lead anyone to detect their often secretive, undercover actions. I ask myself, “How can we be so naive to these types of people?” Serial killers amongst us are often well educated, portray an All-American image, yet have a psychotic side to them.