| Paul
changed after killing Kristen. He became morose, and his
abuse of Karla became more frequent. She was raped, threatened,
and beaten to the point that a co-worker of Karla’s
made an anymomous phone call to Dorothy Homolka. “You’d
better get to your daughter if you want to save her life,” the
caller said before hanging up. After the last beating, her
face was a swollen mass of lumps, two black eyes and thick,
hand shaped bruises around her neck. Dorothy went to the
animal clinic to see Karla for herself. She almost passed
out seeing Karla’s grossly swollen face. Karla had
lied to her boss, saying that she had been in a car accident
with a friend of Paul’s. Karla finally admitted to
her mother that Paul had been beating her throughout their
marriage. She told her also that she and Paul had been making
a living from smuggling liquor and cigarettes across the
border of New York. Her mother was horrified. There was no
way she would have believed it if she hadn’t seen Karla
with her own eyes.
That
night, Karel, Dorothy, and Lori Homolka drove over to Paul
and Karla’s house. Karla cautiously opened the door
and let them in. “I can’t leave,” she
began to say but at Lori’s disgusted expression,
she began to cry. Lori stared at her sister in disbelief. “I
can’t tell you, you don’t understand!” she
cried as she was washing the dishes, folding towels and
rushing through her housework. The Homolka family was confused
as she ran from room to room, all over the house. When
she started poking around in the insulation in the attic,
Karel Homolka had enough. Something more than just Karla
leaving her husband was happening. Karla trembled as she
sat down with her parents and told them she suspected that
Paul had been having sex with Tammy. Karel became enraged
as he carried out armful after armful of his dead daughters
photos. Karla practically had to be dragged from the house
as she sobbed hysterically. It was not Paul she feared,
it was the police, coming to charge her in the deaths of
Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French. |
