More on Homolka...

Why Karla is still a threat...

Whatever the revulsion engendered by their crimes, there were clearly some who were simultaneously appalled and enthralled by this sexually corrosive pair. They had about them — and, I would submit, Homolka more influentially than Bernardo — a sticky, effluent allure that piqued the baser instincts in others.

Even those teenage girls who ventured willingly into the couple's Port Dalhousie home, and were purportedly disgusted by Bernardo's initial overtures, returned of their own volition, putting themselves in tragic proximity to sexual ambush, spellbound to some extent by Homolka's ability to render the icky ever so slightly tantalizing.

She spun a libidinous web. She teased out feelings that might otherwise be suppressed, whether out of common sense or shame. And she continues to send out signals that are picked up by a kind of carnal radar, a dog-whistle heard by those predisposed to sexual misadventure.

This is why it's so likely that a liberated Homolka will continue to become involved with men (and women) who can provide the yin to her noxious yang. The girl can't help it. Even when not overtly intending to do so, she attracts the likes of Richer Lapointe, the Montreal-area hardware store proprietor who posed as an angel of mercy and then cashiered Homolka to the Toronto Sun, a term that fits even if no money ever exchanged hands.