If you Google most notorious killer in Canadian history, Paul Bernardo’s name will appear at the top of nearly every list. 

There have been other killers who have taken more lives and eluded police over a longer period of time but the case of Paul Bernardo, at first as the Scarborough rapist and then later as the killer of Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French, has left a deep and painful scar on Canadian society.

His case captured media and public attention in the mid-1990s at a time when the United States was focused on the O.J. Simpson case in a similar way. 

But Bernardo’s trial wasn’t televised, so hundreds of people lined up to get inside the downtown Toronto courtroom to witness Canada’s version of the O.J. trial. Others poured over the media coverage that blanketed newspapers or paid close attention to TV and radio stations which provided hourly updates of the proceedings.

Over the next two episodes of History of the 90s, host Kathy Kenzora will recount the case, drawing from her experience covering the trial as a reporter for a Toronto radio station. A warning that this episode may not be suitable for young or sensitive listeners.

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