Paul Bernardo — Prison interview with notorious serial killer and sexual sadist

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• published: 18 Feb 2014
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Continuing to cull through my crime files, here is a striking video of the jailhouse interview of Paul Bernardo, perpetrator of what his victims' lawyer called "the most sensational crime in Canadian history." Bernardo and his wife, Karla Homolka, became notorious for the abduction, rape and murder of two Ontario school girls, 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy and 15-year-old Kristen French. Bernardo also raped 20 other women, known as the "Scarborough rapist" attacks, after the area of Toronto where they took place. Extracts from the interview were filed in court in connection with an application by a London, Ont., man who was convicted of an attack on a 15-year-old girl in 1989 to which Bernardo has now confessed to committing. The wrongful conviction was a story I broke in the National Post on April 24, 2008, an investigation I am proud of; revealing injustice is one of a journalist's highest callings. After his convictions, Toronto Police interviewed Bernardo at Kingston penitentiary in 2007 as part of their investigations into other crimes that occurred at the time Bernardo was raping and killing. The government fought to suppress the video but Ontario Superior Court Justice David McCombs ruled the full 31-minute interview was of value to the public. "The Internet is now an established extension of responsible media outlets' reporting," the judge ruled. It is the first time most people get to see and hear from the notorious killer directly. Although his trial was dominated by horrific videos he and Homolka made of their victims, the audio and video of those was never made public. During the interview Bernardo says he has overcome his sexual insecurity that was his trigger for rape and he would be a good candidate for parole in a few years. Fat chance. "My thing was not to hurt these girls at all, I just wanted the sex. You know when you're a sex predator ... that's what you do, right, 'cause that's your life. I mean it's your vice and me I had a performance anxiety.... You know you have power, control, over younger victims ... "Are you a psychopath your entire life," he asked, "or are you a psychopath at that moment and time when you're egocentric about your sex?" He said rapists are depicted in movies as "the guy with the big thick Coke-bottle glasses," but said "It's not what you look like, it's ... what's in you." A warning, some of the material discussed is disconcerting. Please, share, comment -- and subscribe for more true crime videos. Thank you.