QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Police went to Guy Paul Morin's home Thursday personally to deliver the news to him. " "They said, 'we'll brief but we just want to apologize to you about what happened to you over the years. We have found the person responsible for Chrstine Jessop's murder," said Morin from his home. Police would not tell him if it was a person he knew. "I can say that I'm happy that there's closure for the Jessops' peace of mind," he said, adding he felt relief that his name can now be definitively cleared. "It's something I was always expecting…. The justice system failed me but science saved me."
-----------------------------------------------------------
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Speaking to reporters, interim chief James Ramer said that on Oct. 9, 2020, police identified through DNA analysis the person responsible for semen found in Jessop's underwear. Hoover, who was 28 years old at the time, was known to the Jessop family. He died in 2015, Ramer said. "There are no winners in this announcement," said Ramer. He called it a "step forward" to bringing justice to Jessop's family. Ramer said Hoover and his wife had a "neighbour acquaintance" relationship to the family at the time, and that Hoover may have worked with Jessop's father. Hoover did have a "dated criminal record" but Ramer it had no significance for the Jessop investigation, and he had not previously been identified as a suspect. Ramer said police are appealing for the public's help in filling in the timeline of Hoover's life from 1984 to 2015."
-------------------------------------------------------------
STORY: "Toronto police identify killer in cold case of 9-year-old Christine Jessop," by Reporters Ronna Syed and Shanifa Nasser, published by CBC News on October 15, 2020.
SUB-HEADING: "Sources say killer of 9-year-old Ontario girl in 1984 is dead and died by suicide.
PHOTO CAPTION: "Nine-year-old Christine Jessop went missing on Oct. 3, 1984. Her body was found nearly three months later. Toronto police now believe a man named Calvin Hoover is responsible for her death."
Sources say Calvin Hoover, the Torontonian they now believe committed the crime, died by suicide. Police did not confirm that at a news conference Thursday, saying only that there was no foul play associated with his death.
Speaking to reporters, interim chief James Ramer said that on Oct. 9, 2020, police identified through DNA analysis the person responsible for semen found in Jessop's underwear.
Hoover, who was 28 years old at the time, was known to the Jessop family. He died in 2015, Ramer said.
"There are no winners in this announcement," said Ramer. He called it a "step forward" to bringing justice to Jessop's family.
Ramer said Hoover and his wife had a "neighbour acquaintance" relationship to the family at the time, and that Hoover may have worked with Jessop's father.
Hoover did have a "dated criminal record" but Ramer it had no significance for the Jessop investigation, and he had not previously been identified as a suspect. Ramer said police are appealing for the public's help in filling in the timeline of Hoover's life from 1984 to 2015.
Jessop's body was found in a wooded area of Sunderland, Ont., about 56 kilometres from her home in rural Queensville, Ont., on Dec. 31, 1984. She had been missing since Oct. 3, when she was last seen getting off a school bus.
Investigators say Jessop was stabbed to death.
"Christine was described as a girl who loved life, her family, school and sports," Ramer said Thursday. During the frantic search for the young girl, he said: "Her face was on every television set and in every newspaper."
As for how her killer was identified, Ramer explained DNA sample taken from evidence, sent to a lab in the U.S. with a cutting-edge technology not widely available, and eventually produced Hoover's name through a process involving genetic genealogy.
Ontario's Centre for Forensic Sciences has a number of samples, some known and unknown, Ramer said.
The sample obtained from Jessop's underwear was an unknown sample. When Hoover's name was produced through the work of the U.S. lab, the centre, which happened to have a sample corresponding to Hoover, police compared the two samples and found them to be a match.
Guy Paul Morin, the family's neighbour, was wrongfully convicted of the girl's killing before being cleared due to advancements in DNA technology. Ontario's attorney general published a detailed report on the failings of Morin's conviction.
Toronto police have been investigating the case ever since.
Reached at his home, Christine's father, Bob Jessop, said he felt "sickened" by the news.
Police went to Guy Paul Morin's home Thursday personally to deliver the news to him.
"They said, 'we'll brief but we just want to apologize to you about what happened to you over the years. We have found the person responsible for Chrstine Jessop's murder," said Morin from his home.
Police would not tell him if it was a person he knew.
"I can say that I'm happy that there's closure for the Jessops' peace of mind," he said, adding he felt relief that his name can now be definitively cleared.
"It's something I was always expecting…. The justice system failed me but science saved me."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/christine-jessop-news-conference-1.5763673?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar
