young leane teale karla homolka
Screenshot from Born To Kill | YouTube
young leane teale karla homolka
Screenshot from Born To Kill | YouTube

Convicted Killer Leanne Teale Karla Homolka is now Living a New Life

Leanne Teale Karla Homolka was half of the serial killer duo known as “The Ken and Barbie Killers,” and she’s currently walking the streets. Courts released Homolka from prison in 2005. She now lives in Canada under the name Leanne Teale.

Teale-Homolka had luck on her side when she twisted the courts in her favor. The tapes that would’ve put her behind bars for good didn’t surface until after her sentencing. Thanks to double jeopardy laws, the legal system didn’t charge Leanne Teale Karla Homolka for all of her crimes.

Now, Teale is free to live a fairly normal life under the watchful eye of Canadian authorities. Her release includes a handful of permanent conditions courts demand she follows. However, that doesn’t mean she follows them.

This is everything we know about where Leanne Teale Karla Homolka is today…

canadian flag flowing in the wind

Where is Leanne Teale living now?

Following Leanne Teale isn’t an easy task. She’s moved around a bit since the courts released her in 2005. She initially left the prison in secret to prevent waiting reporters from bombarding her. From there, Karla Homolka would live in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, under the name Karla Leanne Teale. The name change didn’t help her escape the eye of the media, and reporters constantly hassled her at her hardware store job. She needed out.

By 2007, Leanne Teale Karla Homolka ran away with her lawyer’s brother to the Caribbean. She lived in Guadeloupe as Leanne Bordelais until 2012, as The Globe and Mail explains. She then moved back to Quebec.

In the Caribbean, she raised a family and seemed generally less bothered than in her home country. Many, however, don’t believe she deserves peace. In fact, even Teale said she “doesn’t deserve happiness” at the time of her release.

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Conditions of Leanne Teale - Karla Homolka’s release

Leanne Teale’s life will never be normal, not completely. To begin with, she will constantly face public outrage at her undeserved freedom. The media will force her to face the articles. The news reports will keep coming. Even the looks from knowing members of the community will haunt her. And, of course, legal conditions designed to keep her in check will constrain her every move.

The conditions for Teale’s reintegration could make getting a job or enjoying public spaces difficult. They’re similar to restrictions the legal system places on registered sex offenders in the United States.

To begin with, Leanne Teale Karla Homolka must keep details of her whereabouts on file with the police at all times. She can’t move or develop travel plans without the authorities knowing. Society will forever consider Teale to be a danger, so courts designed these rules to protect the public. Not to protect Teale.

The final restriction prevents Teale-Homolka from spending time with people under 16 years old. The Ken and Barbie Killer victims were young teenagers, so this condition is probably the most important.

These restrictions look like they’d make it difficult to start a family or raise children. They look that way, but they didn’t stop Leanne Teale from doing so.

Infographic - north american serial killers released since 2000
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Leanne Teale Karla Homolka isn’t held to her conditions as well as she should be

Leanne Teale has three children, despite her involvement in the sexual assault and murder of minors. This includes Teale’s own 15-year-old sister, Tammy Homolka, whom Teale-Homolka drugged before feeding to her husband as a Christmas gift. No wonder there’s public outrage about authorities allowing Teale to volunteer at her children’s school. It’s scary enough that they let her have children when she helped her former husband kill so many.

We understand that no legal restrictions prevent Karla “Leanne Teale” Homolka from bearing young. Though, logically, wouldn’t her restrictions prevent her from raising her children? After all, these restrictions should disallow Teale from being near her children until they’re over the age of 16. In theory.

Authorities didn’t bend this rule only for Teale to be around her own children. They seem to have thrown the rule out the window. In 2017, as Global News points out, reporters caught Leanne Teale Karla Homolka volunteering at her children’s elementary school. Though this is common for normal parents, Teale’s restrictions should’ve prevented it.

Many members of the community were about as happy as you’d expect. It’s concerning to have someone like Karla Homolka around their children, but the school assured them that they never allowed Teale to be alone with their kids. As much as that’s worth.

tammy homolka, leanne teale's sister
Screenshot from Born To Kill | YouTube

Crimes Leanne Teale Karla Homolka was involved with

Leanne Teale Karla Homolka was more than her husband, Paul Bernardo’s, accomplice. She was an active participant in the Ken and Barbie Killer crimes. Homolka scouted victims for Bernardo, luring them in to pump them with stolen sedatives. Then, Teale would assist Bernardo in sexually assaulting the victims and, on a few occasions, murdering them.

On December 23, 1990, Karla Leanne Teale Homolka drugged her 15-year-old little sister, Tammy Homolka, with veterinary sedatives. This took place out of sight during a family Christmas party. Once she had Tammy out cold, Teale covered her face with a drug-soaked rag to ensure she wouldn’t wake up. Then, Teale and Bernardo sexually assaulted her. In the process, Tammy died from choking on her vomit.

The future Leanne Teale would go on to assist Bernardo in the murders of Kristen French (15) and Leslie Mahaffy (14). According to Bernardo, he had no intention of killing Mahaffy, but Teale forced the issue after attempting to murder the young girl on her own.

gavel and scales

Leanne Teale Karla Homolka was convicted of manslaughter, not murder

The judge in Leanne Teale Karla Homolka’s trial only convicted her of manslaughter in the cases of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy. If it wasn’t for withheld evidence, the courts would’ve likely convicted her on proper murder charges. She played the prosecution, making herself out to be another one of Bernardo’s victims. She claimed her husband had forced her into helping him commit murder under threat of violence. For this, the prosecution gave Teale a plea deal to serve a minuscule twelve years in prison.

Paul Bernardo faced a much longer sentence than Teale-Homolka and currently sits behind bars. Time and time again, courts have denied his parole, leaving him to face his life sentence. The Ken and Barbie killings were demented, and a life in prison is the best Bernardo could hope for. Leanne Teale probably would’ve faced a similar sentence if the evidence had been complete during her trial.

There’s a Facebook page for keeping tabs on Leanne Teale Karla Homolka

A Facebook page with the sole purpose of keeping tabs on a killer is uncommon, but then again, courts releasing a serial killer after a twelve-year sentence is too. The Facebook page Watching Karla Homolka (Leanne Teale) has taken it upon itself to keep the world up to date with news pertaining to the Ken and Barbie Killers, Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo. They post about Bernardo’s parole hearing, when they move him to a new prison, new evidence in the Ken and Barbie case, and Leanne Teale Karla Homolka’s whereabouts.

We know that serial killer fan pages exist, but Watching Karla Homolka isn’t one of them. They firmly stand on the side of justice for Bernardo and Homolka’s victims, and they’re an excellent way to stay privy to news surrounding the Ken and Barbie Killers case. That being said, there hasn’t been much new information about Leanne Teale that we didn’t present in this article, but giving this page a follow will put you at the forefront when news arrives.

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