II.

Wettlaufer was born and raised on the outskirts of Woodstock in a small farming community called South Zorra Township. Everyone there knew her by her maiden name, Beth Parker.

Glen Hart lived across the street from the Parker home and said that if you were looking for a way to describe the household, “if you think 1950s, Leave It to Beaver sort of image in your head, that’s the kind of image that would be portrayed.”

Glen Hart has known Wettlaufer since they were children. (The Fifth Estate/CBC) Glen Hart has known Wettlaufer since they were children. (The Fifth Estate/CBC)

Hart recalled that Wettlaufer’s parents “were very controlling.” The Parker household adhered to Christian fundamentalist beliefs. Wettlaufer’s father, Doug, was an elder in the local church. Hart, who came out as gay in the 1980s, said that Doug Parker and other church elders disapproved of his homosexuality. Hart said that soon after coming out, he was asked to leave the church.

“Beth’s mum was very compliant to her dad,” Hart said, and “Beth was expected to be the good girl.”

As a child, Hart said, Wettlaufer was shy and awkward and frequently the target of verbal abuse from other kids, who would tease her, “Here comes little Bethie Parker.” He said that when she was seven years old, Wettlaufer hatched a plan she thought would alter how other kids treated her: a name change.

“She said, ‘I hate being called Bethie. I’m going with Beth with an “e.”’ And she decided she was going to add an ‘e’ onto her name from then on,” said Hart.

So it was no longer “Beth.” It was “Bethe.”

“That’s how she had to be special,” Hart noted.

This odd resolution was an early example of Wettlaufer trying to impose her will on something — although ultimately to little effect. The kids may have started calling her Bethe, but pronounced it the same way as before: “Bethie.”

In high school, Wettlaufer seemed to fare a little better. She was the goalie on the field hockey team and was in a few school bands. But she exhibited a devious, vindictive side: She once pulled a fire alarm hoping it would get a boy she didn’t like in trouble.

Wettlaufer, middle of the front row, was on her school's field hockey team in 1982. (Huron Park Secondary School) Wettlaufer, middle of the front row, was on her school's field hockey team in 1982. (Huron Park Secondary School)

She was also struggling with her sexuality. She made advances to a teenage girl in her neighbourhood but was rebuffed.

Wettlaufer was a deeply conflicted person, one day wanting to repent for her perceived wrongdoings, the next trying to validate her true feelings and identity. By Grade 13, a sense of futility seemed to be setting in, as evidenced in poems she wrote for the yearbook.

A poem Wettlaufer wrote for her 1986 yearbook. (Huron Park Secondary School) A poem Wettlaufer wrote for her 1986 yearbook. (Huron Park Secondary School)

Wettlaufer had originally wanted to study journalism and spent a year in college doing just that. But when it failed to sustain her interest, she came up with another career choice: mediation and guidance.

She enrolled at London Baptist Bible College (now called Heritage Baptist College) in nearby London, Ont., to get a bachelor’s degree in counseling. Hart said that while she was there, Wettlaufer's father was also taking courses and trying to keep close tabs on his daughter. At one point, she was sent home after someone spotted her with a girlfriend at a gay-friendly church.

As Hart recalled, “She had to leave the school and came back ... She was all like, ‘I’m sorry, I sinned. I’m never going to do this again. Just pray for me, OK?’” At this point, Wettlaufer also agreed to undergo a controversial process known as conversion or reparative therapy — an attempt to set her straight, literally. Hart said some people in her family wanted to “un-gay” her.

Wettlaufer would later lament to friends that she had little say in the decision. She talked about “how she lived with a lot of depression, a lot of self-loathing and self-doubt,” Hart said.

While she eventually graduated from the Baptist college with her counseling degree, Wettlaufer questioned whether it was the right vocation. She soon returned to college — this time for the three-year nursing program at Conestoga College in Stratford, Ont.

After becoming a licensed Ontario nurse in 1995, Wettlaufer bounced around a number of placements in Woodstock, including a social services agency helping people with disabilities and the Victoria Rest Home. She took a full-time job at a hospital in the town of Geraldton — 16 hours northwest of Woodstock — but soon returned home, complaining that the location was too isolated.

She remained sexually confused and struggled to live the life she felt she was supposed to. In 1997, she married Donnie Wettlaufer, a local truck driver she met at a Baptist church. The pair moved into a modest white bungalow just off Woodstock’s main street.

In this period, Wettlaufer was beset by a host of problems. According to her family, she sought treatment for a borderline personality disorder. She also realized she had a drug addiction. She later revealed that her nursing licence was restricted early in her career after she stole hydromorphone — an opioid prescribed to reduce severe pain — from one of her jobs.

Her doubts about her sexuality frequently surfaced, and she began reaching out to women online.

Wettlaufer overdosed on the narcotic but survived. Temporarily unable to work, she picked up the odd shift as a personal support worker in various care homes.

Her doubts about her sexuality frequently surfaced, and she began reaching out to women online. In 2007, her husband discovered one of those relationships had developed into something deeper. Confused and angry about his wife’s betrayal, he left her.

Her marriage was over, but Wettlaufer’s new romance — with a woman — flourished. They had met online and eventually moved into a two-bedroom apartment Wettlaufer rented across town, even becoming engaged. (The woman refused to speak to CBC.)

To this day, Doug and Hazel Parker don’t acknowledge the true nature of that or any of the other relationships their daughter had with women. Wettlaufer’s mother described them as “roommates” who were down on their luck. She said her daughter “was kind and often offered to help people in need” by renting out a spare bedroom.

When asked about Donnie Wettlaufer’s true reason for leaving their daughter, Hazel Parker said “he didn’t want a sick wife,” a reference to Wettlaufer’s psychological problems. Her parents also downplay her drug problems, dismissing them as “medication mix-ups” or “stress-related” episodes.

Wettlaufer continued to live with her girlfriend not far from her parents’ home. But at a certain point, she needed more money to support both her and her partner, which is why she took the job at Caressant Care.

It’s there that she developed a dangerous new addiction.