Lawyer for Bernardo victims says families told of transfer as it happened

The family of one of Paul Bernardo’s victims didn’t learn that he was being transferred to a different prison until the day it happened, according to their lawyer.

Tim Danson, who represents the families of two of Bernardo’s victims, said in an open letter Friday that the family of Kristen French was notified of the convicted killer and serial rapist’s transfer out of his maximum-security institution the morning of May 29.

“By early to mid-afternoon, they were told that the transfer had been completed,” he wrote in a letter addressed to Anne Kelly, the commissioner of Correctional Service Canada.

Bernardo is serving a life sentence for the murders, kidnapping and torture of 15-year-old French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s.

He has admitted to sexually assaulting 14 other women and was convicted of manslaughter in the death of Tammy Homolka, who died after being drugged and sexually assaulted.

Tammy’s sister Karla Homolka, who was married to Bernardo at the time, was released in 2005 after completing a 12-year sentence for her role in the crimes committed against French and Mahaffy.

Danson’s letter came as federal officials faced continued fallout over the decision to move Bernardo to a medium-security prison, across police associations, the Ontario legislature and Parliament Hill.

This week, Premier Doug Ford called on Kelly to resign — or be fired — over the decision.

Danson wrote that the victims’ families want Bernardo’s transfer reversed. He also raised concerns about how the federal correctional service notified them of the controversial move.

The correctional service has said it informed victims of what was going on before his transfer, as well as after it happened.

Earlier Friday, Correctional Service Canada provided a statement defending its decision to uphold Bernardo’s privacy rights, despite the federal public safety minister saying that Canadians are owed an explanation for why he was moved.