The victim, who was a teenaged rape victim of Homolka and her ex-husband, Paul Bernardo, has never been compensated for what happened to her, said Wendy Lutczyn, a former friend of Homolka's who knows the victim.

``I just feel something is owed to her for what this has done to her life,'' Lutczyn, who once worked with Homolka at a veterinary clinic in St. Catharines, Ont., told The Canadian Press. ``Maybe just send her on a nice vacation.''

The victim, now 30, is ``very much struggling'' with the fallout from the crimes and feels she has been forgotten, Lutczyn said.

Lutczyn offered the 33 letters and cards on EBay, which suddenly pulled them Wednesday four days after they went on sale. They had already attracted a high bid of $1,625, with a week to go.

``Those letters clearly violated what is known as our offensive materials policy,'' said Alex Brown, a spokeswoman for EBay Canada who said she didn't know who had complained.

Homolka wrote the letters from Kingston's Prison for Women, where she was jailed between 1993 and 1995 while waiting to testify against Bernado at his trial for the sex slayings of Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French.

Bernardo was jailed for life, while Homolka pleaded guilty to manslaughter in a notorious plea bargain.

Lutczyn, who is now considering burning the letters, says Homolka never mentioned her crimes, the victims or their families in her correspondence.

In one of the handwritten notes on stationery adorned with stickers and cartoon images, Homolka writes: ``Wow! I am shocked. What a great day. I got five letters and I also got to go outside for the first time since the beginning of August. One of the guards took pity on me.''

In another, she writes: ``I'm listening to a song I love called Dreams. It's my song.''

A verse she includes goes: ``Dreams can come true. You know you got to have them. You know you got to be strong.''

Lutczyn, who calls the letters ``so bizarre,'' says they prove Homolka is a ``psychopath.''

``What person in their right mind would talk about talking to police officers about murdering two young girls and then want to know what their hair is going to look like when they get it cut?''

Homolka was released from prison in Quebec last summer after serving her full 12-year manslaughter sentence in the deaths of French and Mahaffy.

One of the dozen bids for the letters came from American Ray Randolph, who offered $1,000. But he was adamant he wasn't interested in flipping them for profit.

``I was considering destroying them just because it's kind of yucky in a lot of ways,'' Randolph said from near Denver. ``I was also considering posting them (online for free).''

Word of the sale sparked sharply differing views.

``They obviously have more morals than Wendy,'' one Internet poster said of EBay's decision. ``Profiting off the crimes of this beast (Karla) is just wrong.''

Jen Foster of Hamilton, who runs a Homolka discussion forum, said the letters had historical interest.

``They were sent to her, and if (Lutczyn) doesn't want them anymore, I would just rather she not destroy them,'' Foster said in an interview.

``It does seem like something that would be good to keep as far as a reference as to who she was at that time because she was really kind of detached from everything.''

Lutczyn agreed the material has historical value.

``Unfortunately, it's horrible history.''

Lawyer Tim Danson, who speaks for the victims' families, said he found the EBay sale distasteful and exploitative.

``If she really wanted to do something altruistic, she could donate them to some library,'' Danson said.

``But going on EBay is something that doesn't sit right with me.''

Lutczyn said she now regrets having put them up on EBay.

``I got mad one day and decided I was going to do this just to try to help (the victim) out a little bit,'' Lutczyn said.

``I guess I should have realized after all these years what a kerfuffle it would cause.''

Homolka, who lives in Montreal, could not be reached for comment, and her lawyer did not immediately return calls.

Other Homolka-related material _ a book with a high bid of $60 and a newspaper article with an offer of $11.62 remained for sale on EBay on Wednesday.

The letters auction was to have ended early next week, just days before the Canadian release of the Hollywood film Karla.