Lurid Murder Case Heard in Canada
TORONTO — Star witness Karla Homolka told a packed courtroom Tuesday that her ex-husband, Paul Bernardo, could not have sexually assaulted her drugged 15-year-old sister without her help.
For the second day in Canada’s so-called trial of the century, Homolka testified against Bernardo, a former accountant charged with murder, manslaughter and sexual assault in cases involving four teen-age girls, including Homolka’s sister, Tammy, who died after choking on her own vomit on Christmas Eve, 1990.
Karla Homolka, 25, testified she bought prescription sleeping pills and stole an anesthetic inhalant from the veterinary clinic where she worked so Bernardo could have sex with an unconscious Tammy.
Homolka pleaded guilty in 1993 to manslaughter in the deaths of Leslie Mahaffy, 14, and Kristen French, 15. In a plea bargain, she was sentenced to 12 years in prison in exchange for her testimony.
Homemade pornographic videos, including the sexual assaults on Tammy, were found in the couple’s home.
Homolka testified Tuesday that in mid-1990, Bernardo began pressuring her to help him have sex with Tammy. On Dec. 23, 1990, he decided to rape Tammy, Homolka said. They drugged Tammy, and Homolka held a facecloth with anesthetic to her sister’s face as Bernardo videotaped himself raping her.
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