Paul Kenneth Bernardo, born on August 27, 1964, is also known as Paul Jason Teale. He is a Canadian man who repeatedly raped people and murdered others. He is called the Scarborough Rapist, the Schoolgirl Killer, and with his former fiancée and later wife, Karla Homolka, he is known as one of the Ken and Barbie Killers. Between 1986 and 1990, Bernardo raped people in Scarborough, Ontario, which is part of Toronto. Later, between 1990 and 1992, he committed three murders with Homolka. One of the victims was Karla’s younger sister, Tammy Homolka.

After being caught and found guilty, Bernardo was sentenced to life in prison. He was declared a dangerous offender, meaning it is unlikely he will ever be released. After his conviction, Bernardo admitted to committing ten additional rapes that happened a year before the crimes officially linked to the Scarborough Rapist. Homolka received a lighter sentence in exchange for testifying against Bernardo as part of a legal agreement. She was released from prison in 2005. Bernardo has been denied the chance to leave prison three times.

Early life

Paul Bernardo was born in Scarborough, Ontario, a town near Toronto, on August 27, 1964. He was the third and youngest child of Kenneth Walter Bernardo and Marilyn Elizabeth Bernardo (née Eastman). Bernardo’s father sexually abused his daughter, Paul’s older sister, Debra, in front of other family members. He was later charged with crimes related to voyeurism and pedophilia. Bernardo’s mother often avoided her family because of depression and agoraphobia, a fear of leaving home, and eventually moved into the basement.

Bernardo appeared to be a happy and well-adjusted child despite his family’s problems. He was an active member of Scouts Canada. However, he secretly developed a strong interest in starting fires and had disturbing sexual thoughts, including a fantasy about creating a "virgin farm" where he would harm young girls.

In 1981, after a fight between his parents, Bernardo, then 16 years old, learned from his mother that he was the result of an affair and that Kenneth was not his biological father. He became angry and insulted his mother, calling her names. She responded by calling him a "bastard from hell." Later, when his first girlfriend left him for a friend, Bernardo set fire to her belongings that he had access to.

Bernardo attended Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate Institute and, in 1982, the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC). At the same school, another Canadian criminal, Russell Williams, was two years behind him in classes. Bernardo and his friends practiced ways to flirt with women at bars and were somewhat successful. He enjoyed embarrassing his dates in public and engaging in aggressive behavior during intimate moments. These relationships became increasingly violent, and he threatened to harm his partners if they revealed his abuse. In 1986, two women obtained restraining orders against Bernardo after he made obscene phone calls.

In October 1987, Bernardo met Karla Homolka while she was visiting Scarborough to attend a pet convention. The two felt an immediate connection, and Karla encouraged Bernardo’s harmful sexual behavior.

Scarborough Rapist cases

Between 1986 and 1990, Bernardo committed a series of violent sexual attacks in and around Scarborough. He often followed victims as they left buses late at night before attacking them. Known incidents include:

• May 4, 1987: A 21-year-old woman in Scarborough was raped near her parents’ home after Bernardo followed her.
• May 14, 1987: A 19-year-old woman was raped in the backyard of her parents’ house.
• July 17, 1987: Bernardo tried to rape a young woman but stopped when she fought back.
• September 29, 1987: A 15-year-old girl was attacked in her bedroom. Bernardo threatened her with a knife, hurt her face, and bit her ear. He fled when her mother entered the room and screamed. Anthony Hanemaayer, then 19 years old, was wrongly accused of this attack in 1989. He spent 16 months in prison after pleading guilty to avoid a longer sentence. He was later found not guilty after Bernardo confessed to the crime in 2006.
• December 16, 1987: A 15-year-old girl was raped. The next day, police warned women in Scarborough to avoid traveling alone at night, especially on buses.
• December 23, 1987: A 17-year-old girl was raped. At this time, Bernardo became known as the Scarborough Rapist.
• April 18, 1988: A 17-year-old girl was attacked.
• May 25, 1988: Bernardo nearly escaped capture after a police officer saw him hiding near a bus shelter.
• May 30, 1988: A 18-year-old woman in Mississauga, Ontario, was raped.
• October 4, 1988: Bernardo tried to rape a woman in Scarborough but fled after she fought him. He injured her with two stab wounds that required medical treatment.
• November 16, 1988: A 18-year-old woman was raped in the backyard of her parents’ house. A special team was formed the next day to find the Scarborough Rapist.
• December 27, 1988: Bernardo tried to rape a woman but was chased away by a neighbor.
• June 20, 1989: Bernardo tried to rape a young woman but fled after she screamed and her neighbors arrived.
• August 15, 1989: A 22-year-old woman was raped.
• November 21, 1989: A 15-year-old girl was raped after Bernardo saw her at a bus shelter.
• December 22, 1989: A 19-year-old woman was raped.
• May 26, 1990: A 19-year-old woman was raped. Her detailed memory of the attacker helped police create a drawing based on her description, which was shared publicly.

In the summer of 1990, police received two tips about Bernardo. One came from a bank employee, and the other from Tina Smirnis, the wife of one of Bernardo’s close friends. She told detectives that Bernardo had been involved in a previous rape investigation in December 1987 but had never been questioned. Bernardo often talked about his sexual preferences with Tina, saying he liked rough interactions. In July 1990, detectives interviewed Bernardo after learning he resembled the drawing of the Scarborough Rapist. From May to September 1990, police tested DNA samples from over 130 suspects. Bernardo was interviewed again on November 20 and voluntarily provided DNA samples for testing. When asked why he thought he was being investigated, Bernardo said he looked like the drawing. Detectives believed Bernardo’s story more than Tina Smirnis’s.

Schoolgirl Killer murders

By 1990, Bernardo had lost his job as an accountant and was transporting illegal cigarettes across the Canada–United States border. He spent long periods of time with Karla's family, who enjoyed his company and did not know about his illegal activities. Although he was engaged to Karla, Bernardo soon became fixated on her 14-year-old younger sister, Tammy. He looked into her window and entered her room to engage in inappropriate behavior while she slept. Karla helped Bernardo by breaking the windows in Tammy's room, allowing him access. According to Bernardo's later testimony, Karla mixed crushed valium, a drug she had stolen from her employer at an animal clinic, into spaghetti sauce. She served it to Tammy, who then lost consciousness. Bernardo then raped Tammy while Karla watched. After one minute, Tammy regained consciousness.

Six months before their 1991 wedding, Karla stole a drug called halothane from the animal clinic. On December 23, 1990, Bernardo and Karla gave Tammy sleeping pills mixed into a rum-and-egg nog drink. When Tammy lost consciousness, the couple undressed her and used a cloth soaked in halothane to cover her nose and mouth. Karla wanted to "give Tammy's virginity to Bernardo for Christmas," and she claimed Bernardo was upset that he was not her first sexual partner. With Tammy's parents sleeping upstairs, the couple recorded themselves raping Tammy in the basement. Tammy began to choke on vomit; they tried to revive her and called 9-1-1 after hiding evidence, dressing Tammy, and moving her to her bedroom. A few hours later, Tammy was pronounced dead at St. Catharines General Hospital without regaining consciousness.

Despite being seen vacuuming and doing laundry in the middle of the night and despite a chemical burn on Tammy's face, the municipal coroner and Karla's family believed Bernardo and Karla's story. The official cause of Tammy's death was ruled accidental, caused by choking on vomit after drinking alcohol. After Tammy's death, Bernardo and Karla recorded themselves having sexual intercourse, with Karla wearing Tammy's clothing and pretending to be her. The couple moved out of the Homolka household to a rented bungalow in Port Dalhousie soon afterward. During Tammy's funeral, witnesses saw Bernardo touching her body in the open casket. Inside the casket, Bernardo and Karla secretly placed a copy of their wedding invitation, which showed a photo of the couple, along with a note. These items were discovered when Tammy's body was exhumed three years later and were removed at the request of Karla's family.

In 2001, the magazine Elm Street published an article suggesting that forensic evidence showed Tammy's death was not accidental and that her sister had intentionally given her an overdose of halothane. The article described Karla as a "malignant narcissist" who was angry that her fiancé was interested in her sister and wanted to remove Tammy from his life permanently.

Early on June 15, 1991, while taking a detour through Burlington to steal license plates, Bernardo encountered 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy, who had been locked out of her house for missing curfew. According to his later account, Bernardo approached Mahaffy, saying he was planning to break into a neighbor's house. Mahaffy asked if he had any cigarettes. He then led her to his car, blindfolded her, forced her into the car, drove her to Port Dalhousie, and told Karla they had a victim.

Bernardo and Karla recorded themselves torturing and sexually abusing Mahaffy while listening to pop music. On one part of the recording, Bernardo told her, "You're doing a good job, Leslie, a damned good job," adding, "The next two hours are going to determine what I do to you. Right now, you're scoring perfect." On another segment, Mahaffy cried out in pain and begged Bernardo to stop. According to the prosecution, Bernardo was sodomizing her while her hands were tied with twine.

Mahaffy later told Bernardo that her blindfold was slipping, which could have allowed her to identify her attackers if she survived. The next day, Bernardo claimed Karla gave her a lethal dose of Halcion, while Karla claimed Bernardo strangled her. The couple hid Mahaffy's body in their basement the day before Karla's family visited for a dinner party. Later, they decided to cut up Mahaffy's body and encase each part in cement. Bernardo bought cement at a hardware store and kept the receipts, which were later used as evidence. After cutting the body with his grandfather's circular saw, the couple dumped the cement blocks into Lake Gibson, 18 kilometers south of Port Dalhousie. At least one block weighed 90 kg and was too heavy to sink. It was found on June 29, 1991, the same day Bernardo and Karla were married. Mahaffy's orthodontic appliance helped identify her.

Several days before Karla's release from prison in July 2005, Bernardo was interviewed by police and his lawyer, Tony Bryant. Bryant said Bernardo claimed he always intended to free the girls he and Karla had kidnapped. However, when Mahaffy's blindfold fell off, Karla was worried Mahaffy might identify Bernardo and report them to the police. Bernardo said Karla had planned to kill Mahaffy by injecting an air bubble into her bloodstream, causing an air embolism.

On April 16, 1992, during after-school hours, Bernardo and Karla drove through St. Catharines to look for more victims. As they passed Holy Cross Secondary School, they saw 15-year-old Kristen French walking alone. After pulling into the parking lot of Grace Lutheran Church, Karla pretended to need help with a map. When French looked at the map, Bernardo attacked her from behind and forced her into the car at knifepoint. Karla subdued French by pulling her hair.

When French did not return home, her parents suspected foul play and contacted the police. Within 24 hours, the Niagara Regional Police Service assembled a search team, scoured the area around French's route, and found witnesses who had seen the abduction. French's shoe, found in the parking lot, confirmed the seriousness of the case.

Over the Easter weekend, Bernardo and Karla recorded themselves torturing, raping, and sodomizing French, forcing her to drink large amounts of alcohol. At his trial, Crown prosecutor Ray Houlahan said Bernardo intended to kill French because she was not blindfolded and could identify her captors. The next day, Bernardo and Karla murdered French before visiting Karla's family for Easter dinner. Karla testified that Bernardo strangled French for seven minutes while she watched. Bernardo claimed Karla beat French with a rubber mallet because she tried to escape, and French was strangled with a noose tied to a hope chest; Karla then fixed her hair.

French's nude body was found on April 30, 1992, in a ditch in Burlington, about 45 minutes from St. Catharines and near the cemetery where Mahaffy was buried. She had been washed, and her hair was cut off. It was thought the hair was removed as a trophy, but Karla testified it was cut to make identification harder.

Additional victims

In addition to the three confirmed murders linked to Bernardo and Karla, there are questions about other people who may have been harmed or targeted:

• In 1997, Derek Finkle’s book No Claim to Mercy provided information that connected Bernardo to the possible murder of 22-year-old Elizabeth Bain, who disappeared on June 19, 1990. Bain told her mother she was going to check a tennis schedule at a university. Three days later, her car was found with a large bloodstain on the backseat. Bernardo matched the description of a man seen near Bain’s last known location, and he later admitted to committing at least eight attacks in that area. Bain’s boyfriend, Robert Baltovich, was found guilty of second-degree murder in 1992. During his trial and time in prison, Baltovich and his lawyers claimed Bernardo was the real perpetrator. In 2004, a court overturned Baltovich’s conviction. At his retrial in 2008, the prosecution said no evidence would be used against him and asked the jury to find him not guilty. In 2007, Bernardo said, “The answer is no. But the 800-pound gorilla in the room is that it is a life-to-25 sentence.”

• After Tammy’s funeral, Karla’s parents left town, and her sister Lori went to visit family in Mississauga, leaving the Homolka home empty. According to author Stephen Williams, during the weekend of January 12, 1991, Bernardo took a girl from the area, brought her to the house, and raped her while Karla watched. He then left her on a deserted road near Lake Gibson. Bernardo and Karla referred to her as “January girl.”

• On April 6, 1991, at about 5:30 a.m., Bernardo took a 14-year-old girl who was training to be a coxswain for a rowing team. A woman in a car waved at the girl, distracting her, which allowed Bernardo to pull her into shrubs near the rowing club. He sexually assaulted her, made her remove her clothes, and left her waiting for five minutes before disappearing.

• On June 7, 1991, Karla invited a 15-year-old girl (called “Jane Doe” in court) to the Homolka home. Karla gave the girl medicine without her consent, and both she and Bernardo sexually assaulted the girl, which was recorded on video. In August, the girl returned to the home and was drugged again. Karla called 9-1-1 after the girl vomited and stopped breathing during the assault. An ambulance was sent, but it was recalled after Bernardo and Karla helped her breathe again.

• On July 28, 1991, Bernardo followed 21-year-old Sydney Kershen as she drove home from work. He followed her again on August 9. This time, Kershen went to her boyfriend’s house to avoid him. The boyfriend saw Bernardo’s gold Nissan and noted the license plate. Kershen and her boyfriend reported the incident to the police, who confirmed the car belonged to Bernardo. A police officer visited his home and saw the car in the driveway but did not investigate further or file a report.

• A newspaper article found in Bernardo’s home described a rape that occurred in Hawaii during the couple’s honeymoon in 1991. The article, the way the crime was carried out, and the timing of the event led police to suspect Bernardo was involved. Officials in Canada and the United States believed he was responsible, but the case was never taken to court due to legal issues related to moving him between countries.

• On November 30, 1991, 15-year-old Terri Anderson disappeared less than 2 kilometers from the parking lot where another victim, French, was later abducted. In 1992, police said they had no evidence linking Bernardo to her disappearance. Anderson’s body was found in water at Port Dalhousie in 1997. The coroner concluded her death was caused by drowning, likely from drinking alcohol and taking drugs. This ruling was controversial given the context of other murders.

• On March 29, 1992, Bernardo followed two sisters, Shanna and Kerry Patrich, from his car to their parents’ home. The sisters recorded the wrong license plate number. Shanna reported the incident to the police, who gave her an incident number. On April 18, while French was still being held captive, Kerry saw Bernardo outside a restaurant and got a better description of his car and license plate. She reported this to the police, but the information was not handled properly.

• In 2006, Bernardo admitted to committing at least ten more sexual assaults, including an attack on a 15-year-old girl in 1987. Another man, Anthony Hanemaayer, was convicted of that assault and served a full sentence. In 2008, a court overturned Hanemaayer’s conviction and cleared him of the crime.

Investigation and arrest

Bernardo and Karla were questioned by police multiple times during the investigation into the Scarborough Rapist, Tammy's death, and Bernardo's stalking of other women before French's abduction. On May 12, 1992, Bernardo was briefly interviewed by an NRP sergeant and constable, who decided he was unlikely to be a suspect, even though he admitted he had been questioned before about the Scarborough Rapist. Three days later, the Green Ribbon Task Force was formed to investigate the murders of Mahaffy and French. Bernardo and Karla had applied to legally change their last names to Teale, a name Bernardo chose from the serial killer in the movie Criminal Law (1988). At the end of May, John Motile, a friend of Smirnis and Bernardo, told police that Bernardo might be a suspect in the murders.

In December 1992, the Centre of Forensic Sciences began testing DNA samples that Bernardo had given two years earlier. On December 27, Bernardo hit Karla in the face with a flashlight, causing her to have multiple bruises. Karla claimed she had been in a car accident and returned to work on January 4, 1993. Her coworkers, who were skeptical, contacted her parents. They rescued her the next day by taking her from Bernardo's home, but Karla went back inside to search for something. Karla's parents took her to St. Catharines General Hospital, where she told the NRP she was a battered spouse and filed charges against Bernardo. Bernardo was arrested but later released. Karla moved in with her aunt and uncle in Brampton.

Twenty-six months after Bernardo submitted a DNA sample, the TPS learned it matched the Scarborough Rapist and began watching him 24 hours a day. Metro Toronto Sexual Assault Squad investigators spoke with Karla on February 9, 1993. Even though they suspected Bernardo, Karla focused on the abuse she endured. Later that night, she told her aunt and uncle that Bernardo was the Scarborough Rapist, that the couple was involved in the rapes and murders of Mahaffy and French, and that the attacks were recorded on video.

The NRP reopened its investigation into Tammy's death. Two days later, Karla met with Niagara Falls attorney George Walker, who sought legal protection from the Crown in exchange for Karla's help in the case against Bernardo. She was also placed under 24-hour surveillance. The couple's name change to Teale was approved on February 13, 1993. The next day, Walker met with Crown Criminal Law Office director Murray Segal. After Walker told Segal about the videotapes, Segal said full immunity was not possible because Homolka was involved in the crimes.

On February 17, detectives arrested Bernardo on several charges and obtained a search warrant for his home. Because the evidence linking him to the murders was weak, the warrant limited what police could do. They could not remove items not listed in the warrant or tear down walls to find the tapes. The search of the house, including updated warrants, lasted seventy-one days. The only tape found showed a brief clip of Karla performing oral sex on "Jane Doe."

From jail, Bernardo told his lawyer, Ken Murray, that the tapes were hidden in a ceiling light fixture in the upstairs bathroom. Murray found the tapes and hid them from investigators. After Murray stopped being Bernardo's lawyer, his new attorney, John Rosen, gave the tapes to police. On May 5, Walker was told the government offered Karla a deal of twelve years in prison if she accepted it within a week. If she refused, the government would charge her with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder, and other crimes. Walker accepted the deal, and Karla agreed. On May 14, Karla's plea deal was finalized, and she began giving statements to investigators. She told police that Bernardo claimed he had raped as many as thirty women, twice as many as police had suspected.

To protect Bernardo's right to a fair trial, a court order banned the media from publishing details about Karla's preliminary inquiry. The Crown asked for the ban, which was approved on July 5 by Francis Kovacs of the Ontario Court of Justice. Karla's lawyers supported the ban, but Bernardo's lawyers argued the ban would prejudice him because Karla was portrayed as his victim. Four media outlets and one author also opposed the ban. Some lawyers said rumors could harm the trial more than sharing evidence. In February 1994, Karla divorced Bernardo.

Public access to the Internet made the court's order difficult to enforce, as did the U.S.-Canada border. American journalists, who were not subject to the ban, shared details of Karla's testimony, which were spread by "electronic ban-breakers." Newspapers in Buffalo, Detroit, Washington, D.C., New York City, and the United Kingdom, as well as radio and TV stations near the border, also shared the details. Canadians brought copies of The Buffalo News across the border, leading the NRP to arrest people carrying more than one copy. Extra copies of other newspapers, including The New York Times, were turned back at the border or not accepted by distributors in Ontario. Gordon Domm, a retired police officer who shared details from foreign media, was convicted of two counts of contempt of court.

Trial, conviction, and incarceration

Paul Bernardo was tried for the murders of French and Mahaffy in 1995. His trial included testimony from Karla and videos showing the rapes and torture. Bernardo said the deaths were accidental but later claimed Karla was the real killer. On September 1, 1995, Paul Bernardo was found guilty of two first-degree murders and two serious sexual assaults. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole for at least 25 years. He was labeled a dangerous offender, meaning he is unlikely to ever be released.

Karla’s agreement to a plea deal was criticized by many Canadians. Bernardo’s first lawyer, Ken Murray, had kept videos that showed Karla’s involvement hidden for 17 months. These videos were important evidence, and prosecutors said they would not have agreed to the plea deal if they had seen them. Murray was later found not guilty of blocking the legal process and faced a meeting with the Law Society of Upper Canada to discuss his actions.

Although Bernardo was kept in a special area at Kingston Penitentiary for his safety, he was still attacked by other inmates. In 1996, he was punched in the face after returning from a shower. In June 1999, five prisoners tried to attack Bernardo’s area, and a riot squad used gas to stop them.

On February 21, 2006, the Toronto Star reported that Bernardo admitted to sexually assaulting at least ten other women in attacks not previously linked to him. Most of these attacks happened in 1986, a year before the crimes officially attributed to the Scarborough Rapist. Authorities suspected Bernardo in other crimes, including a series of rapes in Amherst, New York, and the drowning of Terri Anderson in St. Catharines, but he never admitted to being involved. His lawyer, Anthony G. Bryant, sent the information to legal authorities in November 2005.

In 2006, Bernardo spoke to reporters while in prison and said he had changed and could be a good candidate for early release. He became eligible to apply for early release in 2008 under a special rule (since he committed multiple murders before a 1997 law change) but did not apply. In 2015, Bernardo asked for day parole in Toronto. His victims’ lawyer, Tim Danson, said it is unlikely Bernardo will ever be released because of his dangerous offender status. In September 2013, Bernardo was moved to Millhaven Institution in Bath, where he was kept separate from other inmates.

In November 2015, Bernardo published a violent, fictional e-book titled A MAD World Order on Amazon. The book became a bestseller but was removed after public complaints. In October 2018, Bernardo was set to go to trial for possessing a weapon while in prison, but the charges were dropped because the prosecution believed there was not enough evidence.

Bernardo became eligible for parole in February 2018. On October 17, 2018, he was denied day and full parole by the Parole Board of Canada. His next hearing was on June 22, 2021, and the judge rejected his application after one hour of discussion.

In May 2023, Bernardo was moved to La Macaza Institution, a medium-security facility in Quebec, after spending 10 years at Millhaven. The transfer caused controversy, and the reason was not shared with the public at first. Bernardo had applied to move there. After public complaints, Correctional Service Canada said it would review the decision. In July 2023, Commissioner Anne Kelly explained that the transfer was approved under new laws.

On July 26, 2023, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino was removed from his position and replaced by Dominic LeBlanc. Media linked his removal to the controversy over Bernardo’s transfer. The next day, The Globe and Mail reported that LeBlanc said the law changes were not important, while Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the opposition, called the decision an example of "soft-on-crime" policies.

Bernardo’s next parole hearing was on November 26, 2024. His victims’ families were not allowed to attend in person at first because of safety concerns, but the parole board later changed this. Bernardo was denied parole for the third time by the Parole Board of Canada.

Law-enforcement review

After Bernardo was found guilty in 1995, the Ontario government asked Archie Campbell to examine the roles of police during the investigation. In his 1996 report, Campbell stated that poor coordination, communication, and teamwork among police and other parts of the legal system allowed a criminal who committed many crimes to avoid being caught. One of Campbell's main suggestions was to create a computer system for Ontario's police to use when investigating homicides and sexual assaults. Ontario is the only place in the world with this type of computer system. Since 2002, all city police departments and the Ontario Provincial Police have used this system, called PowerCase.

Psychology

Bernardo scored 35 out of 40 on the Psychopathy Checklist, a test used to check for psychopathy in people. His score of 35 is halfway between the lowest score needed for a psychopathy diagnosis (30) and the highest possible score (40). Karla scored 5 out of 40. At his October 17, 2018, parole meeting, expert psychiatric reports showed that Bernardo had "unusual sexual interests" and met the criteria for sexual sadism, voyeurism, and paraphilia not otherwise specified. The reports also stated that he met the criteria for narcissistic personality disorder and a diagnosis of psychopathy. This means he was more likely to commit violent sexual crimes again. The reports concluded that Bernardo showed little understanding of his criminal behavior, which matches records showing he often created his own unproven reasons for his actions over the years.

In popular culture

• Episodes of Law & Order ("Fools for Love," season 10), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit ("Damaged," season 4 and "Pure," season 6), Close to Home ("Truly, Madly, Deeply," season 2), and The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (2007's "Know Thine Enemy") were based on the real-life case.
• The second episode of The Mentalist featured a married couple who committed crimes.
• The Criminal Minds episode "Mr. and Mrs. Anderson" included a serial-killer couple inspired by Bernardo and Homolka. The Bernardo case was mentioned by the Behavioral Analysis Unit team when they shared their analysis with local police.
• In the second episode of the Canadian crime drama Da Vinci's Inquest, a homicide detective said the Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System (ViCLAS) could have helped catch Bernardo earlier. The two-part season finale followed the investigation of a married serial killer couple whose methods were similar to those of Bernardo and Homolka.
• Dark Heart, Iron Hand, an MSNBC documentary rebroadcast as "To Love and To Kill" on MSNBC Investigates, focused on the case.
• In 2004, producers from Quantum Entertainment (a Los Angeles-based production company) announced the release of a film titled Karla, with the working title Deadly. Misha Collins played Bernardo in the film, alongside Laura Prepon, who portrayed Karla Homolka.
• Another documentary titled The Ken & Barbie Killers: The Lost Tapes aired on Discovery+ through the Investigation Discovery sub-channel. It first aired on December 12, 2021, and included four episodes.
• The 1993 Rush song "Nobody's Hero" referenced the murder of a young girl in Port Dalhousie, drummer Neil Peart's hometown.