PORNOGRAPHIC FILTH: Lethal Marriage by Nick Pron
Michael Wass
GLOBAL WEB NEWS
North American Edition
(C)opyright 1995, M. D. Panopoulos and G. M. Wass
Tuesday, 24 October 1995 Premier Issue #2
=================================================================
Lethal Marriage:
Pron Ploughed Through Truth To Rewrite Bernardo Case
Promising "The Uncensored Truth Behind The Headlines,"
'Lethal Marriage' is a lie. Vile and inaccurate accounts of
several young girls being raped have angered those -police and
Bernardo jurors- who had the ghastly job of viewing the infamous
Bernardo videocassette tapes.
"I kept stopping [reading] and asking myself, how could he
[Pron] know that," commented a young lady -who filled my coffee
cup- as I reviewed 'Lethal Marriage'. I answered with a simple
truth: he could not and does not. Pron's 'Lethal Marriage' is a
vipers' nest of inaccuracies, fabrications, the un-credited work
of other writers and, perhaps, outright plagiarism. When Nick
Pron didn't have an answer, he fabricated or filched one; he
twisted and re-wrote court testimony to suit his own needs.
'Lethal Marriage' is -literarily and morally- an atrocity:
the scourge of the true-crime genre.
Pron's "virtually verbatim" reproductions of dialogue from
the videotapes are accompanied by the author's own fictionalized
accounts of events occurring simultaneous to the dialogue.
What drove Nick Pron, described as "One of Canada's Finest
Crime Reporters," to create fictionalized pornography? The use
of the videocassette tape dialogue is certainly a legitimate
literary tool, used to advance narrative, however, pornographic
fictionalization of those tapes is unconscionable.
Why has no book review, article or news report, appearing in
the mainstream media, challenged the accuracy and morality of
'Lethal Marriage'? Most reviews were written by those who
attended court and should recognize -at least- the factual errors
that appear throughout Pron's writing. Do other writers fear
Pron or have they even bothered to read what they purportedly
reviewed?
'Toronto Sun' writer, Heather Mallick, wrote, of both
'Deadly Innocence' by Scott Burnside and Alan Cairns, and 'Lethal
Marriage,' that after reading the two books she felt a sense of
normality. "For there is an unmistakable air of kindness in the
way they read, as though they were written by normal, decent
people." 'Hamilton Spectator' columnist, Wade Hemsworth,
commented that both books "strive for authority by way of detail
more than style," and that "both are competent".
Perhaps Mallick and Hemsworth attended a different Bernardo
trial than did we. Perhaps Mallick and Hemsworth read a version
of 'Lethal Marriage' different from the book I read.
Although I have no committed publisher, I am writing, -with
reporting and research associates- and do plan to publish a book
on the subject. I know the subject well and do, with authority,
find the most disgraceful, repulsive and unethical part of Nick
Pron's 'Lethal Marriage' in a section dealing with the brutal
rapes upon Kristen French. On page 351, Pron writes:
"You know what?" Kristen said.
"What?" [Karla answered]
"When I go home," she said, but didn't finish, possibly
because, in spite of herself, she was aroused by the deft
tongue movements of her more experienced captor.
Homolka paused to look up at Bernardo, who had the camera
lens just a few inches away. "She's getting hooked on
this," she proclaimed, sounding somewhat proud of her
efforts.
In truth, the camera was 5-6 feet away. In truth, Kristen
Dawn French, a 15-year old girl subjected to abduction, sadistic
rape, and eventual murder, said: "When I look at the fan, it
reminds me of an old movie." A moment later: "When I go home
..." (the rest of Kristen's words were inaudible.) Karla said:
"She's getting hooked on the fan."
To suggest that Kristen was aroused by lesbian rape is
repugnant, contemptible and outrageous!
There are many other instances of fabricated videotaped
events as described by Pron, but I have no intention of
reproducing what is, arguably, child pornography. Virtually all
descriptions of events on those tapes are confirmed as distorted
or false.
As for Hemsworth's contention that "facts from the murder
trial" are the foundation of 'Lethal Marriage,' pages 359-362
prove otherwise. Pron offers a sequence of events, involving a
St. Catharines woman, Lori Lazaruk, that are grossly inaccurate
and he allows the unjustified impression of impropriety by
Niagara police.
Late on the night of 29 March 1992, Lori Lazaruk, and her
sister, Tania, had, allegedly, been videotaped and stalked by
Paul Bernardo. They filed a police complaint, but neither sister
could properly identify the car or its licence plate. Three
weeks later, Lori Lazaruk, while driving, recognized Bernardo's
car.
Doug and Donna French, parents of Kristen, recently spoke as
guests on a radio -AM 900 CHML- talk show. One caller questioned
why Mr. and Mrs. French were not outraged, given that Kristen may
have been alive at a time when police knew Bernardo's name and
address, but failed to properly investigate Lori Lazaruk's second
complaint.
Pron writes that several weeks after the stalking incident,
Lori Lazaruk spotted and followed Bernardo, losing him, but
obtaining an accurate licence plate number. Pron states that
police took the complaint, matched Bernardo's name to it, then
left the tip to die. In truth, on Saturday 18 April 1992,
Lazaruk did spot and pursue Bernardo a short distance before
losing sight of his car. The licence plate number, as she
recorded it, did not match Bernardo's plates.
There was no suspect for police to investigate.
A former Green Ribbon Task Force member, Sergeant Ciupa, of
the Niagara Regional Police, said: "My understanding of the
investigations with regard to the Lori Lazaruk occurrence do not
coincide with those reported by Nick Pron." Sgt. Ciupa, who
considers himself a friendly acquaintance of Nick Pron, was
hesitant to criticize 'Lethal Marriage'. Of the 'Deadly
Innocence' book, Sgt. Ciupa said: "I think that it is more
detailed, definitely more detailed, than what the Nick Pron book
is." Ciupa also said that 'Deadly Innocence' is more precise
than 'Lethal Marriage'.
That Pron could be so inaccurate on such an important aspect
of the Mahaffy and French investigations makes every single page
of 'Lethal Marriage' suspect to scrutiny for other inaccuracies.
While I can't point out all factual errors in a short article,
I'll mention a few of the most glaring ones:
Pron, on page 116 of 'Lethal Marriage,' describes Paul's
first alleged assault upon Karla.
"They were driving back from Lake Gibson one fall evening in
1988 when Bernardo told Homolka he wanted her to wear a dog
collar when they were having sex. She thought the idea
stupid and told him so. That made him angry and he slapped
her across the face."
Karla's testimony told a different story.
"We were driving up to Lake Gibson, um, we were on highway
406 at the Saint David's road cut-off going to Lake Gibson,
and we were arguing about something. He [Paul] turned
around and slapped me, [in the face] and I was totally
shocked."
Previous to that incident, Karla testified that she did wear
a dog chain choke collar. Homolka said: "He told me it was
important to him, and you know, it wouldn't hurt anybody and I
agreed." Homolka purchased the collar herself.
Pron, on page 146 of 'Lethal Marriage,' describes an
incident during which Karla hit Bernardo.
"They began to argue more, and one night fought about which
movie they were going to see that weekend. Bernardo punched
Homolka on the shoulder, and for the first time she hit him
back, on his arm. Bernardo left in a fury, vowing never to
return. She chased after him, catching up to him just as he
was stepping into his car."
Karla's testimony offered this account of the same incident.
"We had some kind of argument and he hit me; I tapped him
back. So he got really mad; left. I was really upset because I
didn't want him to leave. I called him on the cellular phone,
you know. Asked him if he could come back and told him I was
sorry and everything. He was really angry, and came back. I
went in the car with him."
Pron, on pages 417-418 of 'Lethal Marriage,' describes the
events occurring when Karla's family forcefully removed her from
her Port Dalhousie home.
"Dorothy [Homolka] was mad at herself for not insisting that
her daughter leave Bernardo. Later that day, she drove over
to Port Dalhousie with her other daughter, Lori. Homolka
was home alone. She had difficulty walking to the front
door."
"'You're coming with me she said,' but Homolka refused to
leave."
"'I can't,' she screamed. 'I can't! You don't
understand.'"
"But Dorothy was not going to leave without her. She and
Lori grabbed her arms and bodily dragged her from the house.
Soon the three were on their way to the hospital."
In truth, it was Karel Homolka, Karla's father, who carried
Karla from her matrimonial home. Karla was brought to her
parents home, arrangements to move her were made, and Dorothy,
Lori and Karla drove to a friend of Lori's.
Pron, on page 420 of 'Lethal Marriage,' continues to
describe the events occurring once Karla was removed her from her
matrimonial home.
"The doctor who called the police on the night of January 5,
1993, from the emergency room of St. Catharines General
Hospital was reporting a case of wife assault. The victim
was named Karla Homolka." "It was obviously a police
matter, and a cruiser was dispatched to the hospital."
Dorothy Homolka's court testimony contradicts Pron's version
of those events.
"We called the police." "Um, the police officer [Const.
Yvette Fleming of the Niagara Regional Police Department] and
Lori [Homolka] and Karla proceeded to the St. Catharines General
Hospital."
In short, 'Lethal Marriage' has no credibility.
In late 1994 and early 1995, I spent time assisting Brian
O'Neill with his writing of 'A Marriage Made For Murder'.
Shortly after the New Year, Pron visited the home in which
O'Neill was boarding. They shared the agenda of gaining new
information from each other, and as they knocked back glasses of
'Crown Royal' whisky, they shared bits of information. In the
end, Pron left with a copy of O'Neill's working manuscript tucked
into his coat. I broke from O'Neill's project shortly
thereafter. O'Neill has accused Pron of plagiarizing his
material, and though I despise O'Neill as a person, I believe he
has a valid claim.
O'Neill himself, though, need only look to the section of
his own self-published book, that describes the funeral of
Kristen French, to find his own crime of plagiarism. I wrote
that section and O'Neill was to have destroyed it.
Supporting a charge of plagiarism against Pron is simple.
'Lethal Marriage' contains certain errors that have otherwise
appeared only in O'Neill's work. I contacted Debbie Mahaffy to
substantiate my assertions and she confirmed that "there is
plagiarism. I'll agree with that, she said." Mrs. Mahaffy also
said: "Dan [Mr. Mahaffy] and I have never spoken to Nick Pron
about Leslie."
Among the more obvious errors that Pron and O'Neill share,
are that, upon Bernardo's arrest, Debbie answered a telephone
call from the Green Ribbon Task Force and declared, Pron: "They
got the bastard who killed Leslie!" O'Neill: "They caught the
bastard who killed Leslie -they caught the bastard!" Mrs.
Mahaffy told me: "I wouldn't take that call; Dan answered."
The books also share the tale of Dan Mahaffy, searching
Burlington's Spencer Park for his missing daughter. Dan, both
wrote, was wild with thrill at having spotted a young girl he
thought was Leslie, then disappointed when he realized that the
girl he pursued wasn't his daughter. Mrs. Mahaffy called that
account false and offered a simpler account: "Dan and myself, on
the advice of detectives, attended the Spencer Park Music
Festival." Debbie Mahaffy told no tales of pursuits.
Mrs. Mahaffy further offered: "Everything Brian [O'Neill]
wrote about me and Leslie is false." When asked if she planned
to make a public comment on the pornographic content of Pron's
book, she said: "That will be handled legally."
The most obvious -though not the last- occurrence of
plagiarism and inaccuracy occurs with the introduction of Det.
Sgt. Bob Gillies into the original 1993 police interview with
Karla.
Pron, on page 436 of 'Lethal Marriage,' wrote of the Homolka
interview, including Gillies. Until this description, the only
other place I saw Gillies mentioned in connection to that first
interview was in O'Neill's manuscript.
"She was expecting two detectives and when four officers
showed up on the evening of the interview, Homolka was
apprehensive. Her fears that she would be arrested grew
stronger when they identified themselves. Det. Ron
Whitefield and two other officers were from the Metro Sexual
Assault Squad. Then the fourth man stepped forward and gave
his name."
"Det. Sgt. Robert Gillies," he said, "with the Niagara
Region Police and Project Green Ribbon."
O'Neill wrote of that meeting or interview, beginning with a
short description of police preparing to meet Karla.
"On February 9, 1993, four individuals prepared for the
meeting with Karla Homolka -Sergeant Bob Gillies of the
Niagara Regional Police Force who was attached to the Green
Ribbon Task Force."
The truth is, Karla Homolka and Bob Gillies did not meet
until 14 May 1993.
I wondered where Pron was getting his information from; he
never interviewed Paul's closest friend, Van Smirnis, yet he
quotes Smirnis as if he had done so, even putting thoughts into
Smirnis' head. Perhaps Mary Garofalo, who interviewed Smirnis
for the American television tabloid A Current Affair, and had
contact with Pron, had shared her information?
Garofalo, who said she had not read Pron's book, denied
sharing her interview with Pron. "I didn't provide him with
anything; he never broke the ban, he was very respectful of it,
but he was really much more help to me than I was to him in
providing information."
The only sources Pron used, it seems, were a Toronto police
officer who worked in the same district as did the Metro task
force searching for the Scarborough Rapist, and a childhood
friend of Karla's. A good part of 'Lethal Marriage,' aside from
O'Neill's manuscript and Pron's two sources, is written based on
regurgitated news accounts of the case: the usage goes un-
credited.
The sections of 'Lethal Marriage' dealing with the
Scarborough Rapist case are troubling, particularly because Pron
attributes the crimes to Bernardo. Bernardo is alleged to have
committed a series of brutal rapes in the Scarborough, Ontario
area, but those charges are still before the courts. An official
from the Metro force said that nobody with the Sexual Assault
Squad has read 'Lethal Marriage'. Off-the-record comments,
however, say Pron's accounts of the rapes are totally
fictionalized. Pron also describes a Port Dalhousie rape, again
attributing the attack to Bernardo and again, the charge is still
before the courts. A source close to that case has also decried
Pron's account of the assault as fabrication.
'Lethal Marriage' is the work of a lethargic hack writer who
failed to confirm informational sources, was sloppy in his
research and who, when information didn't exist, fabricated his
own.
-By G. Michael Wass, with Michael D. Panopoulos
g...@freenet.hamilton.on.ca
=================================================================
--