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Paul Kenneth Bernardo (he later assumed the name Paul Teale) (born 27 August 1964) is a Canadian criminal, known for the murders he committed with his wife Karla Homolka.
On June 15, 1991, Bernardo kidnapped fourteen-year-old Leslie Mahaffy, whom he then raped and murdered. Her dismembered body was found in Lake Gibson near St. Catharines, Ontario. On April 16, 1992, Bernardo, with the assistance of Homolka, kidnapped Kristen French from a church parking lot. Again, Bernardo abused and murdered her. Later that year Bernardo started physically abusing Homolka, and as a consequence she left him in January 1993. In return for a plea bargain (twelve years in prison) Homolka agreed to testify against Bernardo in his murder trial. (This plea bargain received much criticism.)
Bernardo's trial for the murders of French and Mahaffy took place in 1995, and included footage of the rapes that Bernardo and Homolka filmed themselves (these have since been destroyed). During the trial, Bernardo claimed the deaths were accidental, and later claimed that his wife was the actual killer. On September 1, 1995, Bernardo was convicted of the murders and sentenced to life in prison. Bernardo was also declared a "Dangerous Offender", virtually ensuring that he will never be released on parole.
Bernardo was a fan of stories about serial killers, including Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho. His assumed surname, "Teale", was apparently an homage to the fictional killer Martin Thiel featured in the movie Criminal Law.
Bernardo and Homolka were also responsible for the death of Homolka's younger sister Tammy. Homolka wanted to "give" Tammy to Bernardo as a Christmas present. To do so, she drugged her sister, Tammy, with Halcion-laced drinks and then used a halothane-saturated cloth to further sedate her. As a consequence of the drugs, Tammy choked to death on her own vomit.
Bernardo also committed a number of rapes in the Scarborough, Ontario area, causing him to become known as the "Scarborough Rapist". He is also suspected of other murders, including that of an acquaintance, Elizabeth Bain, for whose murder Robert Baltovich was convicted. The discovery of new evidence pointing to Bernardo as the murderer led to Baltovich's release from prison.
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