TORONTO, Nov. 3 -- Convicted sex-killer Paul Bernardo admitted to raping 14 women and complicity in the death of his fiancee's younger sister in a court appearance Friday that reduced virtually everyone in the courtroom to tears. During the three-hour hearing, Bernardo also declined to challenge a Crown motion to declare him a dangerous offender, which means he could remain imprisoned after completion of his mandatory 25-year sentence for the murders of two teenaged girls. The 31-year-old former bookkeeper admitted to raping 14 other young women in the Toronto area between 1987 and 1992, and admitted to the manslaughter of 15-year-old Tammy Homolka, the youngest sister of his ex-wife and accomplice, Karla Homolka. 'Mr. Bernardo, your life will now be controlled,' said Justice Patrick LeSage. 'You have no right ever to be released. Everyone in this courtroom, in this courthouse, in this city, in this province, in this country knows you are a dangerous offender and you know that yourself.' Earlier this year, Bernardo was classified by a psychiatrist as a sexual sadist and a psychopath with little hope of rehabilitation. Friday's hearing concluded the legal wrangling that began with Bernardo's arrest in February 1993. The dangerous offender hearing was expected to last as long as his three-month murder trial, but Bernardo decided to plead guilty to the outstanding rape and manslaughter charges, ending the need for a hearing. During the summer-long trial Bernardo admitted he abducted 14-year- old Leslie Mahaffy in June, 1991 from outside her Burlington home.
He took her to his home where he and ex-wife Karla Homolka raped the teen and videotaped the assaults. Mahaffy was then strangled and her body sawed into 10 pieces, encased in slabs of concrete and dumped in a Niagara-area lake where it was discovered two weeks later by fishermen. Bernardo also admitted he and Homolka kidnapped Kristen French in April, 1992 from a St. Catharines church parking lot, took her to their matrimonial home where the couple raped her and videotaped the assaults. After French was strangled, her body was dumped beside a rural road in Burlington where it was found two weeks later. Homolka, now 25, is serving 12 years for manslaughter for her role in the two deaths after striking a plea bargain for a more lenient sentence in exchange for her testimony against Bernardo. The boyish-looking killer maintains his innocence in the Mahaffy and French murders, but told the court Friday he agreed to plead guilty 'because I felt it was my responsibility to take responsibility for what I have done. So hopefully with my apology to the victims I have harmed, they can put this tragedy behind them. 'To the Mahaffy and French families, I want to say how sorry I am about everything that happened to your daughters,' Bernardo said amid jeers from several of the rape victims in the courtroom. 'I know this apology must be one of the hardest things for you to accept.' The emotional day in court began with victim impact statements by the French and Mahaffy families. Donna French spoke through tears of the sadness and upheaval the loss of her daughter Kristen caused her family. 'Paul Bernardo took Kristen away from us. Thankfully he could not take her spirit or her courage,' she said. 'When someone is so evil, when evil has consumed his very heart and soul, that person is not human. It's as if the hand of evil ripped away part of (our) heart and left this huge, gaping hole.' The Mahaffy family prepared a video in tribute to Leslie filled with family photos and home video footage of a smiling and happy girl. Sounds of Leslie's laughing voice were heard over sobs of many in the packed courtroom. But the most heart-wrenching testimony came with 11-year-old Ryan Mahaffy's statement of how his sister's murder has affected him. 'Because you murdered my sister,' Ryan said looking directly at Bernardo, 'I am an only child and sometimes that is very lonely.' 'Some people say you are evil, a monster. I agree,' he said before breaking into tears. He was unable to continue until his mother came to the witness box to hold his hand. 'Leslie protected me wherever we went. I wish someone could have protected her from you.'
