A Wonderful Day for a Neighbor

My other cousin moved to Montreal this past spring & just found out this week that Karla Homolka is living in her neighborhood. My cousin joked that she'll probably bump into her at the nearest Tim Horton's, since Karla expressed a desire to have an iced cap upon her release (in her CBC interview).

There has been a firestorm over Karla's release & the media has been reduced to a pack of animals stalking its prey. Now I'm not a fan of Karla's but I wonder what benefit there is in hounding her. I think the ubiquity of reality tv & the audience's seeming need for voyeurism is at least part of the media's reason for the relentless coverage of Karla.

I think this will be the last post in which Karla is discussed, as I don't want to devote any more space to her. I am concerned that because her plea bargain was struck without the Crown's full knowledge ofKarla's role in the crimes she & Bernardo committed, that she may not have had the time necessary in prison. Bernardo's lawyer was later charged with withholding evidence after it was revealed that he has several videotapes in his possession of the crimes. Without the tapes, the Crown was led to believe hat Karla was a battered wife who had merely acted under the threat of an abusive husband.

I ordinarily would never dispute a BW defense, but in this case I have my suspicions, despite seeing the photos of an apparently beaten Homolka. I'm not going to go into my whole theory on this because it would be a LONG post that way. Anyway, I also wonder about Homolka's choice to pursue an undergrad Psychology degree (from Queen's no less). I know from my own undergrad psych education that there are several classe available regarding psychological measurement, including how to build your own measures, but also ones in which you learn about the ins/out of current testing methods. Included in theses types ofcourses are detailed analyses of what each question is intended to elicit from a respondent. I don't think I need to draw out the conclusion I've reached from this.

Regardless of my opinion, I don't think vigilante, eye for an eye - type justice is the answer. I think several factors were at play in this case. I'd take a look at the Crown who seemingly didn't do a very thorough investigation of Homolka in ther blind desperation to persecute Bernardo. I wonder about plea bargaining's place in cases like these.

Enough.