(no subject)

[theweaselking]

Karla Homolka loses legal bid to change name (again).

JULIET: 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

ROMEO: Damn skippy.

Comments

[psyco-path.livejournal.com]

I don't get it. What's the background here?

[pope-guilty.livejournal.com]

What background do you need? She's a known killer who wants a different name so she'll be less recognisable.

[psyco-path.livejournal.com]

So.

Does she have the same rights as everyone else or not?

If she does then it shouldn't matter.

[pope-guilty.livejournal.com]

I'm not for her or against her- I don't particularly care and can't really comment, since I'm ignorant of Canadian law. I'm just providing the background you wanted.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

The courts have deemed it a matter of public safety that she not be able to disappear by changing her name and fitting seamlessly into a community.

The "background" is that she cut a plea bargain on the grounds that she was an unwilling accomplice, in order to ensure that her husband would get convicted of the big charges, since the cops were sure they had the right people but weren't sure it would guarantee a conviction.

AFTER they signed the deal with her, they foudn the video tapes her lawyer had been hiding from the cops, which proved that not only was she *not* unwilling, she was enthusiastically participating in the rape and murder.

So she got a "sweetheart" plea-bargain deal for 12 years in jail when the evidence showed she deserved life-with-no-parole, because her lawyer tampered with the evidence and wasn't caught until too late. He went to jail, too, as I recall.

And when she was released, she legally challenged the terms of her parole which prohibited her from setting up the circumstances to repeat her crimes, and, once she stopped being legally prevented from setting them up again, started trying to change her name so she could disappear from the public eye entirely.

Let's repeat that.

She got restrictions that would prevent repeat offense lifted, and she's trying to disappear so that any non-government background check won't find her real name or past record.

She's unrepentant (and always has been), she casually and coldly betrayed her ex-husband and accomplice to the cops to save herself, and she literally got away with murder the first time.

She's a *traffic violation* away from a Dangerous Offender stamp, and she's still trying to set things up so she can rape and kill again without being stopped until it's too late.

And that's why it's news (and a good thing) that she failed in the latest attempt.

[psyco-path.livejournal.com]

K. That makes a bit more sense.

[culfinriel.livejournal.com]

"...the public was not significantly familiar with the name she now uses, Karla Leanne Teale."
They are now.
And while I find none of this funny, I got a good laugh out of your "Damn Skippy" response from Romeo.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the papers are doing their best to make it clear who and where Homolka is, at all times. I kinda like that.

[torrain.livejournal.com]

Additional details in the Galligan report, an analysis of why the plea-bargain was offered (PDF here, 342 pages, 12 megs zipped).

I had to stop reading about ten pages in, which is (non-coincidentally) the point where it starts detailing Bernardo's history.

[zenten.livejournal.com]

This case is widely publisized here (to the point where if you were to ask someone my age the name of a serial killer, they would likely name one of these too), so us Canadians must be excused for not giving the background.