Leslie Erin Mahaffy was a 14-year-old girl from Burlington, Ontario, whose life was tragically cut short in June 1991. A Grade 9 student at M.M. Robinson High School, Leslie was described as a loyal friend who dreamed of becoming a marine biologist. She was very close to her younger brother, Ryan, and despite typical teenage rebellion, she always stayed in touch with him when she was away from home.
In the weeks leading up to her death, Leslie was grieving the recent loss of a friend who had died in a car accident. Her family consisted of her parents, Debbie and Dan Mahaffy, and her brother.
On the evening of June 14, 1991, Leslie attended a wake for her deceased friend. Afterward, she joined a group of friends for an informal memorial. A couple of friends walked her home after 2:00 a.m. on June 15, but she found the doors locked. After her friends left, she walked to a nearby payphone to call another friend to ask if she could stay over, but was refused. On her way back home, she was abducted from her front yard by Paul Bernardo, a man who would become known as one of Canada's most notorious serial killers. Her parents reported her missing later that day when she failed to show up for her friend's funeral.
For approximately 24 hours, Leslie was held captive in the Port Dalhousie home Bernardo shared with his fiancée, Karla Homolka. There, she was subjected to horrific abuse and repeated sexual assaults, which the pair documented on videotape. The decision to murder her was made after Leslie mentioned her blindfold was slipping, making her captors fear she could identify them. Leslie was killed on June 16, 1991, just weeks before her fifteenth birthday. Afterward, her body was dismembered with a circular saw in the basement of the house.
On June 29, 1991, boaters on Lake Gibson, near St. Catharines, made a gruesome discovery: human remains encased in blocks of concrete. Dental records and Leslie's braces confirmed the remains belonged to the missing teenager. The same day Leslie's body was found, Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka were married. The investigation into her murder would eventually be linked to the case of another missing teenager, Kristen French, and a series of sexual assaults in Scarborough, where the attacker was dubbed "The Scarborough Rapist."
The investigation ultimately led to Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. Bernardo was arrested on February 17, 1993. Homolka initially cooperated with police, striking a plea bargain for a 12-year sentence for manslaughter in exchange for her testimony against Bernardo. This deal, later widely condemned as a "deal with the devil," was made before investigators discovered the videotapes hidden in the couple's home, which revealed Homolka's active participation in the crimes.
In September 1995, Paul Bernardo was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French, along with numerous other charges including kidnapping, forcible confinement, aggravated sexual assault, and committing an indignity to a human body. He was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years and was declared a dangerous offender.
The profound loss of Leslie has left an indelible mark on her family and community. Her mother, Debbie, has spoken of the unending pain and the feeling of violation each time Bernardo is considered for parole. In a statement read at a parole hearing, she said, "Thirty years have passed since Leslie was taken from us, but the memories of that horrendous time are just as vivid today as they were then. There is no escape for us from this horror." Leslie Mahaffy is remembered through a heart-shaped garden and plaque at her former high school and a memorial bench near her final resting place at Burlington Memorial Gardens.
