The adoptive parents of a self-described potential killer say they hope their 22-year-old daughter will receive the treatment she needs to deal with her homicidal tendencies.

"I'm worried that if she doesn't get enough help — the right help — it will escalate," Bourque’s mother said in an exclusive interview with CBC News in Prince George, B.C.

The CBC has agreed not to reveal the parents’ identities at their request. The parents’ last names are not the same as Bourque’s.

Bourque has been described as a psychopath, planning to move from killing pets to people.

On Wednesday, the former Romanian orphan was sentenced to eight months for torturing animals to death. Bourque has already served six months in jail awaiting trial, so she will be freed on three years probation in late January — with 25 conditions on her release.

"We can't fathom why she did what she did," her mother said.

Bourque’s father agreed, but said he's not worried about his own safety around the woman.

“From a personal point of view, no, I'm not afraid of her, but we'd still have to worry about the rest of the family,” he said.

Studied criminology

The family admitted to police they were willing to give Bourque money to enable her to leave their home in Prince George.

She moved to Burnaby to take criminology classes at Simon Fraser University. Police alleged her intention was not to fight crime, but to learn how to commit crime and not get caught.

She took courses in forensics, violence and aggression, and criminal profiling, but then confided her allegedly homicidal ambitions to a classmate, who turned her in to police.

Bourque was initially arrested under the Mental Health Act . A search of her residence turned up a blue nylon bag with a kitchen knife, a razor blade, three large garbage bags and a hypodermic needle; a mask was found nearby.

Police also found video clips depicting her killing and hanging the family dog.

"She narrated part of the video as she eviscerated the dog," B.C. provincial court Judge Malcolm MacLean said Wednesday in sentencing Bourque. Another video depicted Kayla Bourque torturing the family's cat.

'Not welcome back home'

In a search warrant for her premises obtained by CBC News, investigators alleged:

  • Bourque had thoughts of killing a drunk SFU roommate, but decided there'd be too much evidence.
  • Bourque wanted to get a gun and shoot homeless people.
  • Bourque persuaded a suicidal boy, online, to kill himself.
  • Bourque fantasized about killing someone during a home invasion.

Bourque's family believes she was ready to take the next step and start killing humans. However, forensic psychologist Joti Samra told CBC News Bourque might have wanted to be caught.

"There is the possibility that the claims this young woman is making is a cry for help," Samra said.

That does not calm Bourque’s mother’s concerns.

"At this point, no, she's not welcome back home. We need to have some kind of guarantees or something that she's actually really been helped this time."

With files from the CBC's Marissa Harvey and Eric Rankin