Notorious serial killer Paul Bernardo moved to medium-security prison in Quebec
Notorious serial rapist and killer Paul Bernardo was moved to a medium-security prison in Quebec this week.
For a decade, Bernardo has been at Millhaven Institution near Kingston, and before that, he was located at Kingston Penitentiary – both maximum security prisons in Ontario.
His new placement is at La Macaza Institution in Quebec, in the Laurentians region northwest of Montreal.
The reasoning for Bernardo’s transfer has not been released.
Timothy Danson, a Toronto lawyer who represented the families of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, who were raped and murdered by Bernardo, said Corrections Canada informed him of the move earlier this week.
However, he said none of his questions about what provoked the move were answered. Corrections Canada cited Bernardo’s privacy rights in response, Danson said.
When he informed the French and Mahaffy families, he said it was “very difficult and very upsetting,” bringing back all of the horrific memories again.
The Correctional Service of Canada couldn’t say why the convicted killer was moved, but it said “public safety” is the “paramount consideration” in every decision.
“While we cannot comment on the specifics of an offender’s case, we assure the public that this offender continues to be incarcerated in a secure institution, with appropriate security perimeters and controls in place,” a spokesperson said on Friday.
“It is important to note that this offender is serving an indeterminate sentence, which means that there is no end date to their sentence.”
Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino called the transfer “shocking and incomprehensible,” saying he stands with the victims’ families and Canadians appalled by the decision.
“Having devoted my career as a federal prosecutor to protecting our communities, I have reiterated my firm expectation that CSC take a victim-centred and trauma-informed approach in these cases. I will be addressing the transfer decision process directly with CSC Commissioner Kelly,” Mendicino said in a statement posted on Twitter.
“Canadians expect the most serious crimes to have the most serious consequences, that the Victims Bill of Rights be followed and that the safety of our communities is placed above all.”
Bernardo was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping, raping, torturing and murdering two teenagers, 15-year-old French and 14-year-old Mahaffy, in the early 1990s near St. Catharines, Ont.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.