Bernardo confesses to more sex assaults: report
Updated Tue. Feb. 21 2006 8:58 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo recently confessed to sexually assaulting at least 10 other women, the Toronto Star reports.
Bernardo, who was jailed for life in 1995 for murdering two teenage girls and committing 14 rapes, wanted to clear up some "loose ends" in his case, a source reportedly told the Star.
Authorities, who had long suspected Bernardo of other offences, were reportedly told of the sex assaults in November 2005.
In 1993, Bernardo's ex-wife, Karla Homolka, told police he once bragged to her that he had raped as many as 30 women.
However, Bernardo refused to acknowledge his involvement in any other offences until four months ago, the Star said.
Bernardo, now 41, was convicted in 1995 for the slaying of Ontario teenagers Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy.
He was sentenced to life in prison with no hope of parole for at least 25 years.
After his trial, he confessed to sexually assaulting 14 women and was declared a dangerous offender. The designation means he can be jailed indefinitely, based on hearings held every few years.
Bernardo and Homolka also drugged and assaulted Homolka's sister, Tammy. She choked on her own vomit and died -- a death that at the time was ruled accidental.
CTV's legal analyst Steven Skurka warned that Bernardo's alleged recent confessions may just be "fantasy play."
"Notice we haven't heard anything at all from any police sources or that the police are taking this seriously," Skurka told Canada AM Tuesday.
"The question, of course, first has to be asked why now? We have to be very careful when we hear Paul Bernardo coming forward with an admission and simply taking it at face value."
Homolka
Homolka was released from prison last year after serving out her full 12-year sentence for her role in the slayings of French and Mahaffy, and is living in the Montreal area.
In sentencing Homolka, the court also took into consideration her role in the 1990 death of her 15-year-old sister Tammy, who died on Christmas Eve after Homolka held a drug-soaked cloth over her face so Bernardo could rape her.
The latest development in the case came when Bernardo asked his lawyer, Tony Bryant, to forward on to authorities his involvement in the other assaults, said the Star.
Bryant had little to say about the new developments.
"My client has instructed me to take some appropriate steps to clear some outstanding issues," he told the Star.
It wasn't immediately clear if any of the 10 women Bernardo is now saying he assaulted have been recently interviewed by police. A senior officer with Toronto police declined comment, the newspaper said.
At least one of the new cases involves an incident at the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus in late 1986, the Star reported.
In 1990, University of Toronto student Elizabeth Bain disappeared from the same campus. Defence lawyers for Robert Baltovich, who faces a second murder trial in Bain's death, argued at Ontario's Supreme Court that Baltovich's first conviction should be overturned in part because Bernardo should have been considered as suspect in her death.
Bain's body was never found and Baltovich was convicted in 1992 of second-degree murder. He was jailed for eight years before being released on bail in 2000 pending an appeal.
The verdict was overturned by the Ontario appeal court in 2004 and a new trial was ordered. During the appeal, Baltovich's lawyers raised Bernardo as a suspect in Bain's murder, suggesting the two had been introduced.
Pre-trial arguments in the new trial are tentatively slated for this summer. Baltovich's next court appearance is March 23.
"You can be sure that Robert Baltovich's lawyers are looking carefully at this new information," Skurka added on AM Tuesday.
Prison officials have refused all requests for interviews with Bernardo, who is serving his sentence at the Kingston Penitentiary.
