Tammy Lyn Homolka (January 1, 1975 – December 24, 1990) was a Canadian murder victim who was killed by her older sister

Karla Homolka Karla Leanne Homolka (born May 4, 1970), also known as Karla Leanne Teale, Leanne Teale, and Leanne Bordelais, is a Canadian serial killer who acted as an accomplice to her husband, Paul Bernardo, taking active part in the actual rapes and murde ...

and Karla's partner

Paul Bernardo Paul Kenneth Bernardo (born August 27, 1964), also known as The Scarborough Rapist and The Schoolgirl Killer, is a Canadian serial killer and serial rapist. He is known for initially committing a series of rapes in Scarborough, Ontario, a subu ...

. On December 24 1990, a week and one day before Tammy's 16th birthday, Karla and Bernardo plied Tammy with alcoholic drinks laced with the sedative

Halcion Triazolam, sold under the brand name Halcion among others, is a central nervous system (CNS) depressant tranquilizer of the triazolobenzodiazepine (TBZD) class, which are benzodiazepine (BZD) derivatives. It possesses pharmacological properties ...

. When she became unconscious, the two

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

d her. Tammy became sick while sedated and died. After failed attempts to revive her, Karla covered up evidence of the assault and called an ambulance. Her official cause of death was listed as choking to death on her own

vomit Vomiting (also known as emesis and throwing up) is the involuntary, forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteriti ...

, and was believed at the time to have been an accident. After the killers were arrested for the murders of Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French, Tammy Homolka's body was exhumed. She is interred at Victoria Lawn Cemetery in St. Catharines,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Biography

Tammy Homolka grew up in the neighbourhood of

Port Credit Port Credit is a neighbourhood in the south-central part of the City of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, located at the mouth of the Credit River on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Its main intersection is Hurontario Street and Lakeshore Road ...

. She was known for her athletic abilities and she avidly participated in a variety of sports, including

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

, and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, with soccer being her favourite. She was a grade 10 student at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School in St. Catharines at the time of her death.

Bernardo's involvement

From the beginning of their relationship, Karla noticed that Bernardo had taken a particular liking to Tammy. He would often pay special attention to her, and even went so far as to have his girlfriend pretend to be her sister during sex. In September 1990, Karla agreed to allow Paul to have sex with Tammy. She obtained a bottle of

Halothane Halothane, sold under the brand name Fluothane among others, is a general anaesthetic. It can be used to induce or maintain anaesthesia. One of its benefits is that it does not increase the production of saliva, which can be particularly useful i ...

(a liquid

general anesthetic General anaesthetics (or anesthetics, see spelling differences) are often defined as compounds that induce a loss of consciousness in humans or loss of righting reflex in animals. Clinical definitions are also extended to include an induced coma ...

) from the

veterinary Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...

where she worked, which would later be used to sedate Tammy while the two raped her. On December 24, 1990, Tammy was drugged with a combination of

and

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

, passing out in the family room in the basement of the Homolka house. Tammy's parents and sister Lori were upstairs asleep at the time. They filmed the entire rape, taking turns holding the camera while using the Halothane to keep Tammy unconscious. Three weeks after Tammy Homolka's death, Karla and Bernardo filmed a video called "The Fireside Chat" within the Homolka residence. The video was eventually viewed as court evidence. It started in the basement recreation room and at some point the filming moved into Tammy's bedroom. While they were in the recreation room, Karla admitted to Bernardo that she enjoyed Bernardo's rape of Tammy. She also said in the video that she would like to leave a rose at Tammy's grave site. When they were in Tammy's bedroom, Karla dressed up in Tammy's clothing as well as acting like her sister. They had sex on Tammy's bed. In 2001, the magazine ''Elm Street'' published an article in which it implied that

forensic evidence Forensic identification is the application of forensic science, or "forensics", and technology to identify specific objects from the trace evidence they leave, often at a crime scene or the scene of an accident. Forensic means "for the courts". H ...

proved that Tammy's death was not an accident and that her sister had deliberately administered an overdose of Halothane. The magazine described Karla as a "

malignant narcissist Malignant narcissism is a psychological syndrome comprising an extreme mix of narcissism, antisocial behavior, aggression, and sadism. Grandiose, and always ready to raise hostility levels, the malignant narcissist undermines families and organiz ...

" who was so incensed by her fiancé's attraction to her sister that she took steps to remove Tammy from his affections permanently.

Implications of Karla Homolka's plea bargain

On February 26, 1993, the defence lawyer and the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

began

negotiations Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties to reach the desired outcome regarding one or more issues of conflict. It is an interaction between entities who aspire to agree on matters of mutual interest. The agreement ...

on a 10-year sentence for Karla in exchange for her testimony and full disclosure of all crimes. At the time of the negotiations, the role she and Bernardo had played in Tammy's death was not known. When she was admitted for

psychiatric assessment A psychiatric assessment, or psychological screening, is the process of gathering information about a person within a psychiatric service, with the purpose of making a diagnosis. The assessment is usually the first stage of a treatment process, but ...

in March 1993, Karla confessed in a letter to her parents about her involvement in Tammy's death. When the plea agreement was finalized, the initial 10-year sentence was still intact, with two years added for Tammy's death. Karla was officially sentenced to 12 years on July 6, 1993. On July 20, 1993, Tammy's body was exhumed. Inside her casket was a wedding invitation for Karla and Bernardo's wedding, as well as some notes. Other members of the Homolka family asked that the items be removed before Tammy's re-interment.

Books

* ''Invisible Darkness'' by Stephen Williams * ''Deadly Innocence'' by Scott Burnside

Movie

In 2006, the American film '' Karla'' premiered. It was told from Karla Homolka's point of view. In the film, Tammy Homolka's death is featured in one of the scenes.

Laura Prepon Laura Helene Prepon (born March 7, 1980) is an American actress. She rose to fame with her role as Donna Pinciotti in the Fox sitcom ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006). She is also known for portraying Alex Vause in the Netflix comedy-drama series ...

portrayed Karla,

Misha Collins Dmitri "Misha" Collins "My mom went to Russia when she was in college, and ��she had a boyfriend whose name was Mitya, which she thought was the same as Misha, which it's not. And his real name was Dmitri, so my real name, actually—my birth c ...

portrayed Paul Bernardo, and Cherilyn Hayres portrayed Tammy Homolka.

References

Other sources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Homolka, Tammy Child abduction in Canada Murder in Canada 1990 in Ontario 1990 murders in Canada Incidents of violence against girls Sororicides