"The Jessops and the Morins were neighbours in the small town of Queensville, about 35 miles north of Toronto. On the afternoon of October 3, 1984, the school bus returned Christine to her home at about 3:50 p.m. No one was there. Her mother, Janet, had taken Christine’s older brother, Ken, to the dentist in Newmarket. The precise time of their return to the Jessop home was a major issue at the second trial. Guy Paul Morin left work at 3.32 that afternoon and could have arrived home no sooner than 4:14 p.m.. Accordingly, the Jessops’ time of return had an impact on any ‘window of opportunity’ for Mr. Morin to have committed this crime. Mr. Morin gave evidence to demonstrate that he arrived home well after the Jessops and therefore had no opportunity to abduct Christine Jessop. The prosecution vigorously disputed his alibi and suggested that he changed his time of arrival in various statements to avoid responsibility for the murder. Christine was not in the house when the Jessops returned, but there was no immediate cause for alarm. But when she failed to show up by early evening, Ms. Jessop called the police. A search of the area was organized and it continued for several days. No trace of Christine was found. As time passed, concerns heightened that she had been the subject of foul play. York Regional Police conducted the investigation into her disappearance. Her body was found on December 31, 1984, near the town of Sunderland in Durham Region, about 56 kilometers east of Queensville. Her body was on its back with her knees spread apart in an unnatural position. An autopsy determined that she had been stabbed in the chest several times and this had been the cause of death. The presence of semen on her underpants irresistibly suggested that she had been sexually assaulted. Her body was badly decomposed, and death could have occurred three months before its discovery. Because her body was found in Durham Region, the Durham Regional Police Service took charge of the case. John Scott prosecuted Mr. Morin at his first trial. Susan MacLean assisted Mr. Scott. Clayton Ruby and Mary Bartley defended Mr. Morin. Leo McGuigan was the lead prosecutor at the second trial, assisted by Alex Smith and Susan MacLean. Jack Pinkofsky, Elizabeth Widner and Joanne McLean defended Mr. Morin. Brian Gover was leading prosecutor during a lengthy motion by the defence to stay the proceedings at the second trial."
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Justice Kaufman had been required by order in council to inquire into the conduct of the investigation into the death of Christine Jessop, the conduct of the Centre for Forensic Sciences in relation to the maintenance, security and preservation of forensic evidence, and into the criminal proceedings involving the charge that Guy Paul Morin murdered Christine Jessop. In short, as Justice Kaufman summed it up, his mandate required him to determine, to the extent possible, why the investigation into the death of Christine Jessop and the proceedings which followed resulted in the arrest and conviction of an innocent person. As you will see from this post and others to be published over the next few days, Justice Kaufman got to the heart of his mandate in spades.
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The Commissioner found certain failings in the investigation by York Regional Police. These included:
- The failure to preserve evidence at the Jessop residence.
- The failure to ‘dust’ the residence (and particularly Christine Jessop’s room) for fingerprints either to preserve her fingerprints or determine if foreign fingerprints were present. The house was not fingerprinted even in the ensuing weeks following Christine’s disappearance.
- The failure to conduct an in-depth canvassing of the Queensville homes to meticulously document and clarify the memories of prospective witnesses at the earliest opportunity.
- An inadequate system for keeping track of which officers were assigned to do what and whether they had completed those tasks.
- An inadequate system to ensure that all reports were read and processed in a timely way. The potential for leads and follow-ups to slip through the cracks was present and, unfortunately, this did occur. There was a failure to systematically prioritize and follow up on ‘hot leads.’ In one case (the sighting of a man who appeared to keep a child forcibly in a car) the follow-up came 12 days after the information was passed on to the police.
- The indexing system for reports was archaic. It did not permit an officer to search for all apparent sightings of Christine Jessop or vehicle sightings, without having the actual name of the author of each report or the name of the claimant for the sighting.
The Commissioner considered at what point a missing person investigation should be converted into a serious crime investigation. He concluded that this depends on the circumstances of each case, but he pointed to events which should have alerted the police to the possibility that a major crime was involved sooner than they were. The Report states: “The problem here was not that the police characterized their initial involvement as a missing person investigation. The problem was that the officers did not conduct themselves mindful of the possibility that they were dealing with a serious crime.” The Commissioner did note, however, that “the searches were wideranging and civilians and police were well mobilized in the circumstances.” He also reflected that “whatever the deficiencies in the search, police and civilian participants spared no effort and showed great dedication to this task.”
The Commissioner concluded that the investigation by York Regional Police was “flawed,” resulting in “missed opportunities, an inadequate investigation, at times, of potentially significant leads, and a failure to document important information.” He could not determine whether the true perpetrator of the crime would have been apprehended if the investigation had been differently conducted.
The Report recognizes that “there have been significant changes in the organization and conduct of an investigation since then,” but further improvement is possible. Recommendations 70 to 72 address these issues.
The York Regional Police Association expressed serious concern that the commitment, backed by financial resources, shown in Durham to enhanced training and quality assurance for Durham officers has not been shown in York Region. The Commissioner’s recommendations address this concern as well."
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The entire section can be read at:
https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/about/pubs/morin/morin_esumm.html
