'I remember the fear': Canadians recounted horror of Bernardo case following transfer

The haunting effect of Paul Bernardo's crimes lingered for Canadians nearly 30 years later, detailed in the hundreds of messages that poured into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office after the serial killer was transferred to a medium-security prison.

The haunting effect of Paul Bernardo's crimes lingered for Canadians nearly 30 years later, detailed in the hundreds of messages that poured into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office after the serial killer was transferred to a medium-security prison.

"I have a personal friend who was on that jury and she remains traumatized nearly 30 years later," one person wrote in correspondence obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom-of-information request.

"She tells me that several of the jury members meet regularly for psychological support even to this day."

Bernardo was transferred in late May from the Millhaven Institution, a maximum-security penitentiary in southern Ontario, to La Macaza Institution, a medium-security prison about 190 kilometres northwest of Montreal that offers treatment for sex offenders. News of the move led to a swift and emotional backlash from Canadians.

Critics including Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre urged people to implore Trudeau and then-public safety minister Marco Mendicino to reverse the decision -- something the government said it could not do because the Correctional Service of Canada is an independent agency.

The outrage nevertheless prompted the head of the prison system to strike a review to see whether its decision was sound. The results of that probe were publicized last month, saying that the decision was correct and noting that the families of murder victims Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy could have been better notified.

Bernardo is serving an indeterminate life sentence for kidnapping, torturing and killing the girls, then 15 and 14 years old, near St. Catharines, Ont., in the mid-1990s. He has been declared a dangerous offender.