After Tammy’s death, the Homolka home was thrown into chaos. Paul and Karla seemed to be one person. Paul never left Karla alone with her parents, or Lori, her remaining sister. Lori knew that Paul was being deceitful toward her parents, and wanted time to grieve her baby sister in the privacy of her own home. She asked her parents if they would ask him to leave.

Karla was stunned to hear her parents tell her Paul was being asked to leave the house so they could grieve in private. She knew she would be the one he would take it out on her, and she tried to do damage control. Paul became livid at Dorothy and Karel. If he suspected Lori was involved, he didn’t show it. He had a surprise for them: if he was leaving, Karla was leaving with him. He couldn’t risk Karla telling anyone what really happened with Tammy. If she moved out with him, she would be under his control. In reality, Karla was thrilled to be leaving her parent’s modest home. She later claimed to be in fear of her life, but at the time, she described Dorothy and Karel as’ “…assholes,” and “stupid…” They were the financial backers of Karla’s big production wedding, and Tammy’s funeral was an unexpected expense. She and Paul checked into a motel and went house hunting in the nearby town of Port Dalhousie. A charming community built around a natural harbor, the homes are lovely, and Paul fast-talked himself into a Cape Cod style, corner lot home. The owners cashed Paul’s check, and when it cleared the bank, Paul and Karla had a new home.

Living together in their first home, Paul had complete and total control over Karla. She would spend every minute of her life in that house, as a slave to him. And she loved it. They decorated it with Karla’s credit cards, and Paul knew he had everything he needed to hide his deviant behavior. He had always been the aggressor in their sex life. He told Karla what he wanted, when and how he wanted it, and woe be unto her if she didn’t comply. The abuse varied. He punched her in places it wouldn’t show. He pulled her hair, and chased her with a stun gun. He pushed her out on the redwood deck, in the snow, where she stepped on a nail. He made her sleep on the floor, stabbed her in the leg with a screwdriver which became quickly infected. She thought if she tried harder to please him and anticipate his unreasonable needs, he would stop the abuse. She was wrong.

Paul and Karla made money by smuggling cigarettes and liquor from over the American/Canadian border. Paul and his best friend moved the goods at a good rate and did very well for themselves. Karla loved the money but didn’t want to get caught. The police were the last people she wanted around.

Paul was a nocturnal creature, driving around, looking for girls, and staying out all night. He raped a young athlete, an older woman, and a young career woman. He spied on a waitress and videotaped her undressing and grooming herself. He raped a young student on campus. One day Paul was out driving around when Karla called him on his cell phone. She whispered for him to hurry home, she had a wedding gift for him. When he arrived, he saw that Karla had used the same drugs that killed her sister on a young girl that had been Tammy’s friend. Coincidentally, this young girl named Jane, happened to look an awfully lot like Karla's dead sister Tammy.