Paul Bernardo - Part 1| 51
History of the 90s
Kathy Kenzora
4.7 • 610 Ratings
🗓️ 7 July 2021
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If you Google most notorious killer in Canadian history, Paul Bernardo’s name will appear at the top of nearly every list.
There have been other killers who have taken more lives and eluded police over a longer period of time but the case of Paul Bernardo, at first as the Scarborough rapist and then later as the killer of Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French, has left a deep and painful scar on Canadian society.
His case captured media and public attention in the mid-1990s at a time when the United States was focused on the O.J. Simpson case in a similar way.
But Bernardo’s trial wasn’t televised, so hundreds of people lined up to get inside the downtown Toronto courtroom to witness Canada’s version of the O.J. trial. Others poured over the media coverage that blanketed newspapers or paid close attention to TV and radio stations which provided hourly updates of the proceedings.
Over the next two episodes of History of the 90s, host Kathy Kenzora will recount the case, drawing from her experience covering the trial as a reporter for a Toronto radio station. A warning that this episode may not be suitable for young or sensitive listeners.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey there, it's Kathy. I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to History of the 90s |
| 0:04.7 | early and ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. |
| 0:10.0 | The following episode contains descriptions of sexual violence and may not be suitable for everyone. |
| 0:16.2 | It also contains coarse language, adult themes, and content of a violent and disturbing nature. |
| 0:22.3 | Listener discretion is advised. |
| 0:26.4 | It was just before 1 a.m. when the 17-year-old girl stepped off a Toronto transit bus. |
| 0:32.6 | With two days left before Christmas, she had spent the evening doing some last-minute |
| 0:37.2 | gift shopping |
| 0:37.9 | and visiting with friends. After the bus pulled away, the teenager turned down a sleepy side street, |
| 0:44.4 | lined with houses built in the 1950s as part of a residential development called the Avenue |
| 0:49.7 | of Homes. The street was mostly dark, except for a few Christmas lights that twinkled as she |
| 0:55.6 | headed home, unaware of the stranger who watched from his hiding spot. Without warning, |
| 1:02.4 | a hand grabbed the girl from behind and dragged her from the safety of the sidewalk into a dark |
| 1:07.8 | backyard where she was brutally beaten and sexually assaulted. |
| 1:12.1 | A shining knife held in the hand of the attacker stopped the teen from screaming for help. |
| 1:18.1 | The vicious attack was the fourth of 30 such incidents that terrorized the greater Toronto area between 1987 and 1990, |
| 1:27.3 | damaging the psyche of an entire generation of young women who feared |
| 1:31.8 | the shadowy figure known at first as the Scarborough rapist, and later as half of a husband and wife |
| 1:38.1 | team who kidnapped and killed two teenage girls. I'm Kathy Kinsora, and this is History of the 90s, a podcast about a decade that changed the world. |
| 1:49.8 | Over the next two episodes, we're looking back at the infamous crimes and trial of Paul Bernardo. |
| 1:58.1 | If you Google the most notorious killer in Canadian history, |
| 2:02.7 | Paul Bernardo's name will appear at the top of nearly every list. |
... |
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