True Crime Analysis: Leslie Mahaffy
Hi everyone,
Welcome back to another post!
I don't mean to make my posts so spaced out. Life takes a lot out of me and I have a YouTube channel I try to focus on since I am montized. But I will discuss that in another post.
So! since COVID 19, I have been interested in true crime (mostly the psychological side of things) but there is one case that has spoke to me for a multitude of reasons. I was very young when Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka went on trial for the murders of two (really three) young teengers back in the early 90's. Understanding everything has an adult and what went on behind the scenes, has made me look at Canadian law enforcement differently. While all three deaths are significant, Leslie Mahaffy's will be the focal point of this post as I know the most about it.
Just my opinion, being a teenger in the 90's would have been the epitome of cool for me. No cellphones, all the payphones, being outside past the street lights coming on, communicating face to face, and above all else; no social media. Truly a time to be alive and yourself without repercussions of becoming an obnoxious (although funny) meme. I would have loved to be a teenager during this time. Seems like it would be easier to have decent long lasting friendships, and just an overall outlook on life.
For me, I think the reason Leslie's story stuck with me so much is because of how preventable it was. (I'm also Canadian) Mistakes were made on many sides and as much as I don't want to focus on them, they are important details to her story.
The night of June 14th, 1991 was an evening of mourning for the 14 year old as one of her close friends passed away in a car accident. A group of friends gathered together in a wooded area and consoled each other into the early morning. As 2:00 AM came and went, so did Leslie's curfew. When she reached home, she found herself locked out of her house. Her parents made it clear breaking the rules came with these type of consequences. Little did they know, their daughter would be found dismembered and encased in cement exactly two weeks later.
Leslie would have turned 50 in July of 2026.
Please see some memories of Leslie below:
One of the most sinister facts about this case, is that Leslie's body was found on the exact same date her killers became Husband & Wife. So much that a news report about the find, came on in the bar/lounge area at the venue of the reception.
The night that Leslie was kidnapped, Paul Bernardo was looking for license plates to steal as smuggling cigarettes into the country was a means of employment after a failed attempt at becoming an Accountant. He spotted Leslie at sitting at her backyard picnic table, and enticed her with a cigarette back at this vehicle. Unbeknownst, he was dubbed as the Scarborough Rapist for a series of vicious attacks and sexual assaults upon multiple woman. As Leslie followed him back to his vehicle, she expressed she would sit herself in his car with the door open and her legs hanging outside the door. Her attempt to be safe, smart and discretionary were unfortunately fruitless as Bernardo wrapped a sweatshirt around her head, and forced her to get into his vehicle at knifepoint.
Leslie experienced utter and unspeakable brutality, cruelty and dehumanization at the hands of Bernardo and Homolka to please their fantasies of sadistic torture. All while the 14th year old was an innocent virgin. That is one of many facts that haunts me to this day when it comes to their victims.
Here is a bullet point of crucial mistakes made during the police investigations due to misinformation, negligence and just point blank laziness.
The cream colored Camaro was the incorrect vehicle police were searching for during Kristen French's abduction. What they should have been looking for was a Gold Nissan 240SX. I will say this is due to an incorrect witness statement being given, still incredibly unfortunate.
Tammy Holmolka's death was ruled an accident due to improper medical examination and law enforcement being extremely gullible.
There was no case about the Murders of Leslie and Kristen until Karla Holmolka, the only star witness to their crimes was offered a plea deal which provided her a LIGHT 12 year prison sentence (dubbed "Deal With The Devil") for testifying against her ex-husband after they divorced.
Bernardo's first lawyer Ken Murray, found the tapes that highlighted the abuse of the teens, and never turned them into evidence (which he never faced repercussions for) and withdrew from the case in 1994. Which then, everything was handed over to his new legal representative John Rosen. This is crucial as the viewing of the tapes before Karla's confession, would have discredited her claims of Stockholm Syndrome, she was a willing participant in the acts.
Police had interviewed Paul Bernardo after a sketch of the Scarborough Rapist came to light, striking a similar resemblance. He was let go without charges.
The Mahaffy's and police had thought Leslie had run away during her disappearance because of previous scenarios.
Kristen's body was discarded not far from Leslie's resting place.
Tammy, Leslie and Kristen were all murdered close to their birthdays.
Green Ribbon Task Force had good intentions, but ultimately was a let down.
There are still many facts. To think about how many reasons why these girls could still be here today, is to live in the past; which is the exact opposite of living. But I do believe the past is a good precedent of how we can do better in the future. I would hope law enforcement would do better to protect the public and be less negligent, parents would temper their need to respond with discipline and more compassion with proper solutions, and just overall caring in general towards the human experience.
Paul Bernardo has been denied parole three times. This coming fall 2026 will be his fourth attempt at freedom. With Karla being free, I pray he will never see the light of day outside a prison wall. With him already being moved to a medium security prison back in May of 2023, the Mahaffy and French families deserve more respect from the Canadian government then what they have been given the past 30 plus years.
i would love to one day visit the bench pictured below. It is located in Leslie's hometown of Burlington, Ontario via Spencer Smith Park. It describes how she learned to walk, laughed and played there often.
Please excuse the incorrect date of Leslie's passing as it should read June 16th, 1991. This picture is so clear, I wanted to post in anyhow.