Hi everyone! Soon after we recorded our episode concerning the Ken and Barbie Killers - some very interesting updates came out. This update starts back in June of 2022 when Paul Bernardo applied to be moved from his maximum security prison to a different medium security prison, which were both in the province of Ontario in Canada. A security review was done, and it said that even though Paul met the criteria for a transfer - it was denied due to Paul not attempting to integrate with other inmates.
So in response to this; the maximum security prison developed an integration plan, and shortly afterwards they released a report to Correctional Services Canada that said Paul was now fully integrated in the prison population. It is here that Paul applied to be moved once more. After receiving this, Correctional Services emailed the Canadian Public Safety Minister’s office, to tell they that they were transferring Paul. They did not provide any date for this to occur, and the Minister’s office did not tell him about this transfer. He only learned of this when the office of the Prime Minister of Canada received word, and they asked him for more information about the Correctional Services plan.
On May 25, 2023; Correctional Services Canada provided the Public Safety Minister’s office with an update telling them that Paul was being moved in four days. The following day the Federal Corrections Commissioner, Anne Kelly, sent an email up her chain of command to tell them that the Canadian Press now knew about this after they got the information under the access to information laws. On the 29th; Paul was moved to a medium security prison in Quebec that gives treatment to sex offenders with the Canadian Public Safety Minister being informed by his staff after the fact.
On June 2nd; the news of Paul’s transfer was released to the public, and they were outraged. It was discovered that the families of the victims were informed on the day of the transfer, and now the Canadian government had a bit of a scandal on their hands. On June 5th, 2023; the Canadian Public Safety Minister made a public statement that the Canadian Correctional Services were going to review this transfer. On the same day, the Canadian Correctional Services made their own statement. They gave no reasons why this move was made, but gave general thoughts on what the criteria could be concerning transfers. On June 9th; a lawyer for the French and Mahaffy families expressed their desire for Paul to be returned to maximum security detailing the hardship that this transfer caused them. They also stated their concerns about the lack of communication they received, as well as how it was inappropriate that Corrections prioritized Paul’s rights to privacy over the rights of victims and their families.
This is when a whole bunch of politics happened…a parliamentary opposition leader announced they were going to introduce a private member’s bill in Parliament to ensure murders with multiple victims must serve their full sentences in maximum security…there were calls for the Public Safety Minister to resign (spoiler alert…he didn’t resign…he blamed everything on his staff)…processes were changed to ensure that the Public Safety Minister gets informed before high profile transfers occur…and then came the review. On July 20th, 2023; the Correctional Services announced that their review showed the decision to move Paul was sound, and that he was going to stay in medium security. With that said, Paul’s psychological assessments remain unchanged since his arrest. He is has been diagnosed as a narcissistic psychopath, and for that there is no cure. He still shows no remorse for what he has done, and claims that he did everything due to a poor self esteem.
On April 11, 2024; the families of Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French was dealt another blow. They have long sought the release of all governmental records concerning Paul Bernardo. The reason was they wanted to expose the confidential information that was used to decide Paul’s transfer as well as his prospects for parole. This went to the Supreme Court in Canada who decided not to hear these arguments. They said that their reason was that the families were asking for…and I quote…”everything from the trivial to the intensely personal” and that this was an total invasion of Paul’s privacy. This case is still causing outrage, and is resulting in demands to change how dangerous offenders in Canada are treated. This decision by the Supreme Court has only added gasoline to this fire.
I am sure I will have more updates for you all concerning this case, since it is clear that it is not over yet.
…until next time!