Paul Bernardo: a True Dangerous Offender?

Once Paul Bernardo found out that his mother lied to him for so many years about Kenneth Bernardo not being his biological father, his outlook on his mother had changed drastically. Since that day, Paul Bernardo’s outlook on women and how he treated them changed. With that being said, this is how he developed his modus operandi. Even though it didn’t seem right away that Paul Bernardo had a MO, after listening and seeing the tapes that Karla and Paul recorded, it was obvious what their MO was. In the tapes Paul would make the girls refer to themselves as “whores” and “sluts”, out of clear hatred for what his mother had told him in the past. When it came to killing his victims, Paul Bernardo didn’t really have a signature but there were

Ernesto Miranda was arrested for kidnapping and raping a woman. As a result, Miranda was interrogated and eventually confessed to committing the crime. This confession was then in turn used against him during trial, which lead to him being found guilty.

Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka are arguably the most famous and most hated serial killers of Canada. Dubbed the Barbie and Ken Killers for their good looks, they committed horrifying acts of murder and rape together. On August 27, 1964, Paul Bernardo was born as the youngest of 3 to Kenneth and Marilyn Bernardo. He was an illegitimate child, born from an affair his mother had with one of her exes. His father knew of the affair, yet he was still listed as Paul’s father on his birth certificate.

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.

On November 20, the same day that authorities released Lumumba from prison, police, in Germany, arrested Guede, near Mainz, for traveling by train without a ticket. With the evidence that Guede’s fingerprints were all over Margaret’s bedroom and apartment, authorities quickly sent Guede back to Perugia. Initially, Guede admitted being in the apartment when Margaret was killed, but he was in the bathroom playing games on his iPod while suffering with food poisoning. He says that Margaret’s screams finally filtered through the headphones that he was using and that he emerged to find Rafaela in the apartment. He insists that Rafaela told him that he must keep quiet because everyone would believe that the man of color had committed the crime. Guede insists that he heard Amanda in the apartment but did not see her. He then says that he saw Meredith’s dead body, panicked and fled the scene.

Cases of abuse towards women are not investigated enough and often result in improper outcomes. Imprisonment of minority women and disabled women adds to the cycle of poverty and crime. There is mass incarceration in Canada due to discriminatory sentencing based on new laws, income, race, and gender. Recent changes to the Criminal Code and changes under the conservative government during the past 8 years have contributed to the mass incarceration agenda.

As Crown counsel Howard Leibovich put it, “The fresh evidence points to only one conclusion,” that “Paul Bernardo committed this attack.” (Tyler, The

Richard Kuklinski was born in 1935 in New Jersey. His father was very abusive towards him and his brother until they were teens. Richard and some Psychiatrist believe this contributed to his antisocial personality disorder. Richard developed a cold hatred for anyone who humiliated him or angered him. He first murdered someone when he was 18 by burning them alive in their own car. This started Richards long deadly habit of destroying those who got in his way. In his 20’s he joined up with Gambino mafia family. He proved his worth by un-empathetically killing a random person in the streets of new york. From there he started his career as one of the deadliest and most successful contract killer. He ascended beyond many serial killers ruthlessness and violence against his victims with his many tactics including letting rats eat them. His career as a contract killer lasted over 30 years. Through all this he had a loving wife and 3 kids including 2 girls and a boy. His family was completely unaware of his job. He was very different from many other serial killers in the way he was killing for personal gain such as money. He has repeatedly said in interviews that he felt no thrill or enjoyment from killing people. Many psychiatrist credit this to his fearlessness. Which is fueled by his antisocial personality disorders and the beats he received as a kid. This fearlessness makes a lethally efficient

In chapter one, the difference between the three types of crimes in Canada were discussed: summary, indictable, and hybrid offences. Summary offences take place in provincial/territorial court, and and the maximum penalty fine is six months in prison, five thousand dollars, or both. An example of a summary offence is soliciting in a public place, or carrying a weapon while attending a public meeting. An indictable offence is one that is much more severe. The sentences given are much more serious. Crimes considered an indictable offence include manslaughter, robbery, and aggravated sexual assault. A hybrid/dual offence could include sexual assault, theft under five thousand dollars, or unlawful imprisonment.

In court, Castro was charged with multiple accounts of kidnapping and rape, Castro insisted that he was a good person, and that he was not a monster; insisting that the sex was consensual. But against all his pleading, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. And to Michelle, Amanda, and Gina: this was due punishment, with Amanda telling Castro that the torture he inflicting on her can be forgiven, but not

Bernardo received a life sentence without parole for 25 years. It is unlikely he will ever be released because he was classed as a ‘Dangerous Offender’.

Violent crime in Canada isn’t too big of a problem in comparison to other countries. In Canada citizens are generally happy to see the police. Rates of corruption are nowhere near what they are in other countries. It is reasonable to say violent crime isn’t as prevalent as it is in America because of the strict gun laws Canada imposes. Also, United States of America has a serious gang problem in comparison to Canada, part of the reason being the shipment of drugs from the southern border. Some examples of violent crimes are assault, aggravated assault, sexual based offences, murder (first and second degree), kidnapping, and robbery. In recent years violent offences has been on the rise in Canada. The types of individuals who commit violent crimes range from gang members to substance abusers. A lot

Violent crimes present in British Columbia seemed to be decreasing between 2012 and 2014 with a 96.04 index in 2012 leading to a 11.58% drop in 2013 however by 2015 there was an increase of 7.43% still only putting the index at 82.99 from 77.25 the previous year (Statistics Canada, 2016). Throughout Canada there has also been a decrease between the years 2012 and 2014 for violent crimes with an 85.72 index in 2012 then going down to 70.50 by 2014 (Statistics Canada, 2016). The biggest drop in those years was again in 2013 with a 9.76% drop though by 2015 it started to increase to a 74.48 index making it a 5.65% change (Statistics Canada, 2016).

The first victim Michelle Knight was supposed to have her mom drive her to a custody hearing involving her son, but her mom called that morning to say that something came up and that she couldn’t drive her. She was forced to walk there but got turned around. She then walk into a convince store and asked for directions. The clerk did not know the location of the address and she bumped into Castro. She recognized him because she knew his daughter Emily.

This research paper will argue that based on the evidence we have available for sexual offenders and sex registries, our recent changes in the legislation, which was to add Bill C-26 having tougher sex registries implemented, is not going to change the effect of sex offending due to significant errors that arise within the system and the general problems associated with sex registries causing it to be extremely ineffective and defeating. To begin, by having a sex registry in place would mean that police corrections as well as the public would have access to information on a sex offender who has been released from prison and is living in their own home. “According to Bill C-26, this database would include information such as; offender’s name, physical description, a photo, past offences as well as criminal records, release conditions, and the city where the offender lives and resides” (Press Release 2, Newly Announced Proposed Changes, Government of Canada). Although at first glance and impression, this may seem as a positive strategy to have within communities, but after much thought and knowledge on the issue, there are an abundance of flaws in the system which result in an ineffective way to prevent future sex offences. The reasons why sex registries are not forceful are due to the following; sex registries violate the right and freedom of offenders who have been released from prison as well as bringing collateral harm to sex offenders, the recidivism rate for sex