{"id":938286,"date":"2026-10-19T02:07:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T02:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/938286\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T02:07:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T02:07:12","slug":"mississaugas-pitch-pine-crescent-three-mysterious-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/938286\/","title":{"rendered":"Mississauga\u2019s Pitch Pine Crescent: Three mysterious deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n


\n \"Listen:
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Host Amy Dempsey Raven, an investigative reporter for the Toronto Star, spent more than a decade asking what really happened inside that house?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n \"Listen:
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Host Amy Dempsey Raven, an investigative reporter for the Toronto Star, spent more than a decade asking what really happened inside that house?<\/p>\n

The housekeeper had been cleaning for two hours without knowing there was a crime scene upstairs. Her work was interrupted by a man at the door looking for Caleb Harrison, the homeowner, who hadn\u2019t shown up to his office that morning. The housekeeper said she hadn\u2019t seen Caleb, but his bedroom door was closed. They went upstairs together and found him lying in bed with a blanket pulled up to his chin, tucked in as though asleep.<\/p>\n

Sirens blared as the ambulance arrived a few minutes past noon on Aug. 23, 2013, pulling up to the finest home on a tree-lined street in suburban Mississauga: 3635 Pitch Pine Crescent.<\/p>\n

Paramedic Patrick Morin looked at the house with its sloped roof and cathedral windows, and was struck by a powerful memory. He turned to his partner.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been here before,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The paramedics rushed to the second-floor master bedroom, but there was nothing to be done. Caleb Harrison was dead.<\/p>\n

\"Caleb<\/p>\n

Caleb Harrison was found dead in his Mississauga home on Aug. 23, 2013.<\/p>\n

Freelance<\/p>\n

Caleb was a 40-year-old father of two with an easy smile, a dark past and the names of his children tattooed over his heart. The night before, as the late-August sun sank into the horizon, Caleb had helped coach his daughter\u2019s softball game in nearby Etobicoke and driven home alone. His children, 10 and 12, were spending the week with their mother, his ex-wife. They had all been together at the baseball diamond \u2014 Caleb, his kids, his ex and her husband. At home after the game, Caleb poured a drink and turned on the television. Around 11 p.m., he called his girlfriend, then switched his phone to silent and went to bed. A light sleeper, he wore an eye mask and kept a loud fan running in his bedroom.<\/p>\n

Now paramedics and police stood over Caleb\u2019s body and noted troubling injuries: bruising and abrasions on his neck, swollen knuckles, deep scratches on his chest.<\/p>\n

At the scene, a forensic ID officer has d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu<\/p>\n

Called in to photograph the scene, Const. Sonya Mackin, a forensic identification services officer, entered through the front door and, seeing the carpeted staircase leading to the second floor, had the same flash of memory as the paramedic. Years earlier, Mackin had photographed another body right here at the bottom of the stairs. She\u2019d been there before, too.<\/p>\n

Outside, the commotion of cruisers and police tape set off a chain reaction of telephone calls. A neighbour phoned a family friend, who phoned another friend, who phoned Elizabeth Gallant, Caleb\u2019s aunt, who lived nearby. The friend said she\u2019d heard a terrible rumour. Gallant gasped at the news. Finding it impossible to believe, she got in her car and drove to the Harrison residence.<\/p>\n

Caleb Harrison was not the first person in his family to die at 3635 Pitch Pine Cres. He was not even the second. In April 2010, his 63-year-old mother, Bridget Harrison, was found dead at the bottom of the stairs leading to the second floor. Her body lay steps away from the powder room where one year earlier she had discovered her husband, Bill Harrison, cold and lifeless. His death at 64 was classified as natural until Bridget died under suspicious circumstances and a coroner updated his file, placing the deaths of husband and wife in the same category. \u201cUndetermined.\u201d<\/p>\n

And now a third mysterious death. An entire family wiped out. How could this happen?<\/p>\n

Peel Regional Police would come to believe that the same perpetrators were responsible for all three deaths \u2014 a theory that, if proven, meant that someone had gotten away with murder twice before, and that authorities had missed two homicides.<\/p>\n

\"Caleb<\/p>\n

Caleb Harrison, centre, with his mother, Bridget Harrison, and his father, Bill Harrison. In 2010, three years before Caleb was killed, Bridget was found dead at the bottom of the stairs of the family home, steps away from the powder room where, in 2009, she had discovered Bill\u2019s body.<\/p>\n

Freelance<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A criminal trial led to murder convictions in two of the three deaths, but it did not expose the series of missteps that led to this extraordinary investigative failure. Pieced together, records disclosed over four years of criminal proceedings tell a story of mistakes made at every juncture \u2014 by police, coroners and pathologists.<\/p>\n

The Harrisons\u2019 surviving family members believe the murders of Bridget and Caleb could have been prevented if the first death had been properly investigated. Doug Blackwell, Bridget\u2019s only sibling, sat through much of the trial last fall, incredulous at how clear the evidence of his sister\u2019s murder turned out to be. \u201cMy faith in justice has been destroyed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Bridget<\/p>\n

Bridget Harrison with her brother, Doug Blackwell. Blackwell says his \u201cfaith in justice has been destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freelance<\/p>\n

Peel police Chief Jennifer Evans launched an internal review of the Harrison family death investigations in February, then suspended it in March \u201cpending the appeal process,\u201d a spokesperson said. A week later, police said the review was back on. Police have not committed to sharing the report with the family or making it public, but said findings may be released \u201cwhere appropriate.\u201d Evans refused multiple interview requests from the Star and did not respond to questions about whether an independent review was considered.<\/p>\n

Together, the Office of the Chief Coroner and the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service have launched their own internal review as a \u201cfirst step,\u201d said Dr. Dirk Huyer, the chief coroner. \u201cWe believe this is the best approach to take to get the best learning opportunities, to understand what has occurred and where we can enhance or improve our death investigation system,\u201d he said. An independent review will likely follow the internal investigation, Huyer said, but the institutions have not yet made a firm commitment.<\/p>\n

The family has asked Attorney General Yasir Naqvi for a public inquiry. They are not satisfied that separate internal reviews will have the scope, authority and independence necessary to fully uncover the facts and prevent mistakes from being repeated. They also have conflict-of-interest concerns. Evans was deputy police chief when Bridget and Bill died, and at least four of the province\u2019s top coroners and forensic pathologists were involved in the Harrison death investigations.<\/p>\n

\"Dirk<\/p>\n

Chief Coroner for Ontario, Dr. Dirk Huyer, says an internal review is the \u201cfirst step\u201d to understanding what happened in the Harrisons\u2019 death investigations.<\/p>\n

Richard Lautens Toronto Star<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the ministry did not rule out an inquiry, but said it would be \u201cinappropriate\u201d to comment on the specifics of the Harrison case because appeals have been filed. The ministry said that when considering a public inquiry it is important that criminal proceedings \u201cbe allowed to continue without interference or influence, so as not to jeopardize the integrity and independence of those proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicole Gallant, Caleb\u2019s cousin, said the tragedy has left surviving family members with a lack of faith in the public systems meant to protect them. For years, their concerns about who might be killing the Harrisons were brushed off. \u201cWe kept saying, You have to look at these two. Nobody else has motive,\u201d Gallant said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t understand how none of them believed us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bridget<\/p>\n

The engagement photo of Bill and Bridget Harrison. The couple married in 1969.<\/p>\n

Freelance<\/p>\n

Bridget and Bill, an impressive couple<\/p>\n

Home to the Harrisons for nearly four decades, 3635 Pitch Pine Cres. was a family hub \u2014 the default gathering place and second home to a large community of siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. Bill and Bridget bought the house in 1975, more than a decade after they fell in love backstage at the Stratford Festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey made it magic,\u201d said Doug Blackwell, who drove down to his sister\u2019s house from Kirkland Lake with his wife and daughters every Christmas and summer.<\/p>\n

Raised in London, Ont., west of Toronto, Bridget Blackwell excelled in school and starred in local theatre productions. At 16, she landed an apprenticeship at Stratford\u2019s internationally renowned performing arts theatre, where she met William Harrison.<\/p>\n

Tall, handsome and two years older than the tiny blond apprentice he began courting, Bill worked in the costume department. He had grown up in Stratford, in a household of musicians and jazz enthusiasts. His father ran Harrison\u2019s Beauty Parlour, a business launched by Bill\u2019s great-grandparents after they escaped slavery in Virginia and made their way to Canada on the Underground Railroad in 1837.<\/p>\n

\"Bridget<\/p>\n

Bill and Bridget Harrison were married for 40 years, often dispensing advice to friends and family on everything from careers to relationships.<\/p>\n

Freelance<\/p>\n

As a Black man and a white woman dating in the 1960s, Bill and Bridget faced racism, subtle and blatant, but remained deeply committed to each other. Married in 1969, they settled in Mississauga. Bill worked in sales and management. Bridget launched a celebrated career in education, working as a teacher, principal, superintendent and special assistant to the education minister. She would become a visionary in her field, a mentor to generations of students and teachers. More than 1,000 people would attend her funeral, and when a speaker asked how many careers she had influenced, half the people in the room raised their hands.<\/p>\n

Bridget and Bill were an inseparable unit, her fiery passion balanced by his cool, steady presence. People were drawn to their warmth and generosity. Relatives joked that they could have charged consulting fees for their guidance on education, careers and relationships.<\/p>\n

Unable to have children naturally, Bridget and Bill pursued adoption. Caleb came to them in 1973 as a sweet 6-month-old babe with pudgy cheeks. As a child, he had insatiable energy and a tendency to find trouble. \u201cHe was a little rascal,\u201d said Elizabeth Gallant, his aunt. \u201cDangerously curious,\u201d said Nicole Gallant, his cousin. \u201cThere was no shortage of near-heart attacks for any adult who was watching him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bridget<\/p>\n

Caleb and Bridget Harrison, with Fluffles the family dog, in Niagara Falls in the early 1980s.<\/p>\n

Freelance<\/p>\n

Caleb struggled in school. He was teased for having Tourette\u2019s syndrome. He acted out and challenged teachers, which was tough for Bridget. She was patient, but had the high standards one would expect of an educator. \u201cShe expected her son to attend school and do well,\u201d her brother said. Bridget and Caleb loved each other, but their personalities sometimes clashed. Bill was the peacekeeper, a calm guy who rarely lost his temper. He was the bridge between them.<\/p>\n

A marriage built on lies<\/p>\n

Nine years before the first suspicious death on Pitch Pine, Caleb Harrison met his future wife at a doll warehouse.<\/p>\n

Caleb was 27. A witty guy, fun to be around. He had entered the workforce straight out of high school. Methodical, pedantic and driven by routine, he found his calling in the shipping and receiving business just as e-commerce was picking up steam.<\/p>\n

My Favourite Doll was a specialty store that sold collector Barbies, with a warehouse and showroom in a sprawling Mississauga industrial park. In 2000, while working in the shipping department, Caleb\u2019s attention caught on a young woman behind the front desk.<\/p>\n

Nineteen years old, Melissa Merritt was an animal lover with blushing skin, highlighted hair and girl-next-door appeal. She\u2019d grown up in a law-enforcement family, with a father who was a Toronto police officer and a brother who would follow in their dad\u2019s path. Merritt turned her attention to Caleb as she broke an engagement with her high school boyfriend, who wasn\u2019t ready to settle down. She wanted a home and a husband. Most of all, she wanted children.<\/p>\n

\"Caleb<\/p>\n

Caleb Harrison met his future wife, Melissa Merritt, in 2000 at a doll warehouse where they were both employed. He was 27, she was 19.<\/p>\n

Freelance<\/p>\n

Within months, Caleb told his parents they were planning to start a family. Merritt had lost an ovary due to a medical condition, he said, and might one day need to have the other removed. They wanted to have children while they could. As an adopted child who struggled with unanswered questions about his birth parents, Caleb was eager to start a family.<\/p>\n

Within three and a half years, they were married with two kids and a house in Georgetown, a 30-minute drive from their families in Mississauga. The relationship soon became strained over money, the responsibilities of family life, Caleb\u2019s drinking and, according to an affidavit Caleb filed in family court, Merritt\u2019s record of \u201cmaking up stories.\u201d In the spring of 2004, Merritt told their family and friends she had ovarian cancer, Caleb said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI admit to embellishing a health problem and causing concern for my and (Caleb\u2019s) family,\u201d Merritt responded in an affidavit. \u201cI was being treated for a cyst and I embellished the situation which resulted in my and (Caleb\u2019s) family fearing that I had cancer.\u201d She denied claiming she had lost an ovary.<\/p>\n

In June 2005, Merritt called police to report that Caleb had attacked her in their home. He was arrested, charged and eventually convicted of domestic assault. Merritt said in a family court affidavit that he \u201cput me in a headlock and hit me repeatedly in the head.\u201d Caleb said, \u201cI protected myself after the respondent attacked me, gouging and scratching.\u201d<\/p>\n

The relationship was over. Caleb moved back with his parents. Merritt remained in Georgetown and would not let him see the children. One month later, Caleb drove home drunk from a party in Milton and slammed head-on into a taxi, killing the driver and injuring four young passengers. Bridget and Bill were devastated. Charged with drunk driving causing death, and recovering from serious injuries himself, Caleb was released on bail with the condition that he live with his parents.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Reporter Amy Dempsey Raven talks about tension in court on the day of the verdict and the strength of the Harrison family and friends.<\/p>\n

Officer \u2018convinced\u2019 Melissa was lying<\/p>\n

Weeks later, Merritt reported a home invasion to Halton police, saying she\u2019d been attacked in her backyard. Halton cops came looking for Caleb at his parents\u2019 house. In an affidavit, Caleb said Merritt was \u201cobviously unaware\u201d that he had been seriously injured, and that he \u201ccould not walk without crutches and could not possibly have been involved in the home invasion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merritt reported several more home invasions around the same time. No charges were laid. \u201cI am 100 per cent convinced she was making up the whole story,\u201d a Halton cop told Peel homicide detectives years later. Caleb alleged in family court that Merritt \u201cdeliberately misled\u201d police officers \u201cin her continued attempts to implicate me in acts of abuse\u201d and \u201ccreate suspicion about me.\u201d Merritt was never charged.<\/p>\n

In October 2005, a judge granted Caleb access to his children on Tuesdays, Thursdays and every other weekend, with a requirement that he abide by his bail terms, which included living with his parents.<\/p>\n

That winter, Merritt met 28-year-old Christopher Fattore online. Fattore was six-foot-four and built like a linebacker. Raised in an Italian neighbourhood in north Toronto, he had graduated high school and worked as a Hooters kitchen manager, nightclub bouncer and handyman. He tried beauty school, but dropped out.<\/p>\n

Fattore proposed on his birthday in October 2006. Nearing their spring wedding, a problem arose. Merritt was still married to Caleb. \u201cI made a mistake when I thought that after two years of separation that you were automatically divorced,\u201d Merritt later told police. They went ahead with the ceremony at Fantasy Farms banquet hall in Toronto, \u201cbut it wasn\u2019t a real wedding,\u201d Merritt said. They would have four children over the next five years, making Merritt a mother of six. Sporadically employed and \u201chorrible at managing money,\u201d Merritt said later, they often relied on social assistance and loans from family.<\/p>\n

\"Fattore.JPG\"<\/p>\n

Melissa Merritt met Christopher Fattore in 2005. He proposed less than a year later.<\/p>\n

As Merritt began her second marriage, a judge granted Caleb 50\/50 custody. His children would now spend half their time living on Pitch Pine, and the rest with their mom and her new husband, who had moved into a house in Mississauga.<\/p>\n

Bill and Bridget relished their roles as Nanna and Poppa and became active in the children\u2019s lives, driving them to school, taking them to activities, helping with homework. Merritt resented their involvement. \u201cIf Caleb is not caring for the children no one other than myself should be,\u201d she wrote in an email to the Harrisons that became an exhibit at trial.<\/p>\n

Over the next two years, Merritt made five \u201cunsubstantiated\u201d claims that Caleb or his parents had assaulted the children, a Superior Court judge wrote years later in a bail decision. After one claim, investigators \u201cconcluded that the children had been coached by Ms. Merritt.\u201d<\/p>\n

By December 2008, Merritt wasn\u2019t allowing the Harrisons to see the children. Three days before Christmas, a judge ordered her to stop interfering with Caleb\u2019s access.<\/p>\n

In March, Caleb began serving an 18-month jail sentence for the drunk-driving death. Bridget and Bill were granted their son\u2019s share of custody while he was in jail. The judge who made the decision said \u201cit is important and in the best interests of the children to maintain the environment they are used to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Facing money troubles and unhappy with the custody arrangement, Merritt and Fattore decided to pack up the kids and get out of Mississauga. Without telling the Harrisons or their own parents, they planned a hasty move.<\/p>\n

A man found behind a locked bathroom door<\/p>\n

The house was dark when Bridget Harrison pulled into her driveway just before 9 p.m. on April 16, 2009. Returning from a school board meeting, Bridget expected to find her husband at home, but when she stepped into the foyer she heard only the low hum of the television in the living room. A half-eaten takeout meal sat on the coffee table.<\/p>\n

No answer. Bridget checked the second floor, but Bill was not in bed. Back downstairs, she noticed the powder-room door was closed. \u201cBill?\u201d she called out again. The door was locked. Bridget picked the lock with a pin and found her husband on the bathroom floor, slumped against the far wall. She called 911.<\/p>\n

The operator asked Bridget to check his vital signs. Bill was cold and stiff, and she struggled to move his body.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not breathing,\u201d Bridget told the operator. \u201cI can tell.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not breathing?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not breathing,\u201d she said. \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paramedics arrived and confirmed what Bridget already knew. Her husband was dead.<\/p>\n

Speaking to police at the scene, Bridget said she found it unusual that the bathroom door, which could be secured from either side, was locked. Why would a man home alone bother to do that? She also found it strange that the house lights were off.<\/p>\n

Police are meant to treat all sudden deaths as homicide scenes until otherwise determined. According to a Peel police directive, officers must \u201cvigorously investigate all sudden deaths with a view to establishing the cause and circumstances, and where culpability can be established, to apprehend and charge those responsible.\u201d Among their first tasks is to call a coroner.<\/p>\n

Arriving at the Harrison residence at 10:50 p.m., coroner Dr. Reuven Jhirad examined the body and noted abrasions on Bill\u2019s neck \u2014 thin red marks across his throat that he believed \u201cmay have been due to the victim\u2019s necklace,\u201d a police officer later testified. Jhirad wanted them documented, so officers from Peel\u2019s forensic identification services unit took photographs.<\/p>\n

Despite the locked door and neck abrasions, investigators did not consider the death suspicious. It was sudden and unexplained, yes, but such deaths are not unusual. In their final moments, people often feel an urge to go to the bathroom, which makes it a common place to die.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe death appears to be natural,\u201d the police report said. \u201cThe coroner had no further concerns regarding further police investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coroner\u2019s statement attributed the same conclusion to police. \u201cThe scene was reviewed with the police who felt there were no concerns,\u201d Jhirad, who has since become one of the province\u2019s deputy chief coroners, wrote in his report. But with no clear cause of death, Jhirad ordered an autopsy.<\/p>\n

In Ontario, autopsies are performed by pathologists and forensic pathologists, not coroners. Pathologists are experts in the study of disease. Forensic pathologists are experts in disease and injury. Their opinions help coroners determine the cause of death and the manner, which can be natural, accident, suicide, homicide or undetermined.<\/p>\n

Pathologist Dr. Timothy Feltis was assigned to perform Bill\u2019s autopsy at Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga. Having heard from the coroner that there were no concerns about foul play, and that police would not attend the autopsy to take photographs, Feltis approached his job with the same understanding. That this was not a suspicious death.<\/p>\n

A Missed Warning Sign<\/p>\n

Bill Harrison died at a pivotal time for death investigations in Ontario, a few months after Justice Stephen Goudge released his damning report on pediatric forensic pathology. The Ontario government commissioned the Goudge Inquiry in the wake of revelations about flawed child death investigations by Dr. Charles Smith, once considered a leading expert in his field. Smith gave false and misleading testimony that led to innocent people being wrongly convicted or suspected in the deaths of children.<\/p>\n

The inquiry found Smith had little forensic expertise and, in his own words, \u201cwoefully inadequate\u201d training. He had reached his status primarily because no one else was willing or able to perform the work. At the time, Canada did not have its own forensic pathology training program and there was a severe shortage of experts in Ontario. The inquiry coincided with the launch of Canada\u2019s first training program at the University of Toronto, and it led to the establishment of the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service.<\/p>\n

The Goudge Inquiry made 169 recommendations, key among them a guiding principle that \u201cthe forensic pathologist should \u2018think truth\u2019 rather than \u2018think dirty.\u2019 \u201d Goudge cautioned against overstating findings, and stressed that evidence must be observed accurately and followed wherever it leads, \u201ceven if that is to an undetermined outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the pre-Goudge era, nonforensic pathologists routinely performed forensic autopsies. Dr. Timothy Feltis was one. His lack of training and certification was not unusual given that it wasn\u2019t available in Canada. Forensic pathology is a relatively new field that has been evolving with the advancement of science. Goudge underscored the need for an organized evolution.<\/p>\n

After Goudge, Dr. Michael Pollanen, Ontario\u2019s chief forensic pathologist, created a registry that matched pathologists to cases appropriate to their level of experience. He also issued an order that all suspicious deaths in the area should be sent to headquarters in downtown Toronto, where he could ensure a top-quality autopsy was performed by a forensic pathologist. If pathologists working in community hospitals received a suspicious case, the body was to be re-streamed and sent downtown.<\/p>\n

The problem was, no one flagged Bill\u2019s death as suspicious.<\/p>\n

Examining Bill\u2019s body, Feltis found no evidence of natural death. There were no heart abnormalities, no signs of disease. \u201cNo definitive anatomical or toxicological cause of death,\u201d he wrote. What he did find were several injuries, including the neck abrasions, a large scalp bruise and, most concerning, a fractured sternum. Years later, in a preliminary inquiry, Ontario\u2019s chief pathologist would say this was \u201can astonishing finding\u201d that should have raised red flags.<\/p>\n

Speaking with the coroner, Feltis learned Bill had been wearing a thin gold chain, which, he noted in his report, may have caused the abrasions. Seeking an explanation for the broken sternum, Feltis asked if there was a sharp corner Bill might have fallen on, and the coroner said yes, the bathroom vanity. The pathologist was never shown the police photos taken at the scene.<\/p>\n

Feltis concluded that the injuries could have been caused by \u201ca sudden collapse as the result of an acute cardiac arrhythmia, with a fall striking the head and chest.\u201d It could have happened the other way around, he added, with a blow to the chest from a fall causing the heart to stop. His final report opined that the cause of death was \u201cacute cardiac arrhythmia.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was the kind of conclusion the Goudge Inquiry had cautioned against. There was no evidence to support a heart problem and, as Pollanen would say at trial, acute cardiac arrhythmia is not a cause of death. It means that a person\u2019s heart has stopped, but does not explain why. It was \u201ca bit misleading,\u201c a prosecutor would say at trial.<\/p>\n

Bridget\u2019s suspicions were ignored<\/p>\n

Bridget did not see the post-mortem report until months later. When she finally read it, she was floored. \u201cThe autopsy basically said, here\u2019s a healthy human being,\u201d Blackwell, her brother, said in a police interview. \u201cThere was no reason for him to die.\u201d<\/p>\n

The day after Bridget discovered her husband\u2019s body, more misfortune awaited the Harrison family. Caleb\u2019s children were missing. It took a few days to confirm what Bridget feared: Merritt had taken off with them.<\/p>\n

Bridget went to police, but officers would not take action without an updated family court order. Days passed before she could appear before a judge. On April 23, she gained temporary sole custody of the children, which led police to issue an arrest warrant for Merritt.<\/p>\n

Peel Const. Michael Young led the abduction investigation. Sitting in a police interview room on May 6, 2009, Bridget outlined the family history. She told Young that her son was in jail, that she and her husband had been granted his share of custody, that Merritt was unhappy, that her husband had died \u2014 \u201ccompletely unexpected, and so suddenly\u201d \u2014 and the children had not been in school the next day. She said the coroner had not yet given a cause of death.<\/p>\n

Young pursued the abduction, but never looked into the circumstances of Bill\u2019s death, he later testified. It didn\u2019t occur to him the two events might be related. He worked in the same department as the officers who\u2019d investigated Bill\u2019s death, but none of them ever made the connection, and neither did the coroner\u2019s office. Had police investigated further, they would have learned that Merritt and Fattore left Mississauga on April 16 \u2014 the same day Bill died.<\/p>\n

Feltis, the pathologist, did not find out about the abduction until years later. Had he known at the time, he said in an interview, he would have considered it a suspicious circumstance and sent the body downtown. \u201cIf I\u2019d had all the information,\u201d he said, \u201cI would have done things differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

An ambulance raced to the Harrisons\u2019 home \u2014 again<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people believe in coincidences, some do not,\u201d Bridget Harrison wrote on April 19, 2010, two days before she was murdered.<\/p>\n

She was referring to the timing of her husband\u2019s death and the disappearance of her grandchildren, writing a victim impact statement for a hearing in which Merritt was expected to plead guilty to child abduction. Bridget took her suspicions no further than the allusion to coincidence. Instead, she wrote of the pain she had endured, dealing with her husband\u2019s death and the disappearance of her grandchildren, fearing for their safety and worrying she\u2019d never see them again. \u201cThe most desperate seven and a half months of my life,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

During those months, Merritt and Fattore had taken the children across the country. They\u2019d driven to Calgary, then travelled east in search of cheaper rent. They settled in Nova Scotia, where Merritt gave birth to her fourth child. Soon after, police were tipped off about their location after Fattore, who\u2019d been using an alias, gave a rent cheque with his real name. In November, Merritt was arrested, charged with child abduction and returned to Ontario in the custody of Peel police.<\/p>\n

Bridget flew to Halifax and took her grandchildren home to Pitch Pine. With Caleb released early from jail on good behaviour and the kids back in school, something resembling a normal life resumed for a while, though mother and son continued to suffer Bill\u2019s loss, and without him around to act as a buffer between them, their relationship grew strained.<\/p>\n

Merritt was released on bail with the conditions that she not have unsupervised contact with the children or leave her house without authorization. On April 10, Merritt and Fattore drove to Pitch Pine, violating the court order. Merritt stayed in the vehicle, parked down the street, while Fattore went to the door. When Bridget answered, he handed her a letter and photos he said he\u2019d come to deliver to the kids. At the same time, Caleb arrived home with the children and saw Merritt in the van. Spooked, Bridget called police. Merritt was arrested and charged with breaching bail. She spent three days in jail.<\/p>\n

On April 21, the day before the abduction hearing, Caleb\u2019s 8-year-old son rode his bicycle home from school, pulled open the front door and saw his Nanna lying at the bottom of the stairs. He ran to a neighbour\u2019s house. For the second time in a year, an ambulance raced to the Harrison residence and police tape stretched around the house, fluttering in the spring breeze.<\/p>\n

A fall down the stairs became an early theory in Bridget\u2019s death investigation, but the family didn\u2019t buy it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no way anyone falls down the stairs and ends up in that position,\u201d Caleb told his cousin, Nicole Gallant. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t look right. It doesn\u2019t make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bridget was lying face up, arms at her side, head resting on the bottom stair, her green eyes open and vacant. Years later, her family and friends would see photographs of the scene on a courtroom projector and grip their seats or the hands of their companions, holding back tears because emotion in the public gallery is prohibited.<\/p>\n

Pathologist detects a pattern<\/p>\n

Arriving at the scene, coroner Dr. Robert Boyko was concerned about abrasions and bruising on Bridget\u2019s chin and neck. Her body was sent downtown for the full forensic autopsy that her husband never received. This was a suspicious death.<\/p>\n

In a case conference two days later, forensic pathologists explained to police that the injuries to the front of her neck, combined with petechial hemorrhaging \u2014 a smattering of red dots on the skin and eyes, caused when blood vessels break during a pressure buildup \u2014 suggested neck compression, meaning she may have been strangled. But she also had broken bones in the back of her neck, not typically seen in neck compression cases, which supported the fall theory. \u201cAt this time it is unknown how (she) suffered this combination of injuries,\u201d police wrote after the meeting.<\/p>\n

That afternoon, in a second conference at the coroner\u2019s building downtown, the earlier crew was joined by Dr. Michael Pollanen, the chief forensic pathologist. Pollanen had learned this was the second death in the house and was concerned about the similarities. He told police that Bill had died with several unexplained injuries, including the fractured sternum and throat abrasions. Pollanen would say at trial that Feltis, the pathologist, had not performed a layered neck dissection to further investigate the marks on Bill\u2019s throat. Pollanen wanted to exhume the body for a thorough autopsy, but that wasn\u2019t possible. Bill had been cremated.<\/p>\n

\"Pollanen.JPG\"<\/p>\n

Dr. Michael Pollanen, the chief forensic pathologist for Ontario, was concerned about the similarities between Bill and Bridget Harrison\u2019s deaths.<\/p>\n

Andrew Francis Wallace Toronto Star<\/p>\n

According to a Peel police policy directive, all cases of homicide or suspected homicide are to be investigated by the homicide bureau. When it\u2019s a suspicious death, the bureau decides whether to take the case or not.<\/p>\n

If the fatal flaw in Bill\u2019s case was the failure to send his body downtown for a full forensic autopsy, here was the key mistake in the second investigation: the homicide bureau did not take Bridget\u2019s case. Detectives from the bureau attended the case conferences, but left the investigation to the local division\u2019s criminal investigations bureau. Police would not say who made that decision and why.<\/p>\n

From the day Bridget died, the family raised concerns about Merritt and those close to her. Caleb spoke to Const. Robert Boyer on camera hours after her body was discovered. He explained his history with Merritt and said the timing of his mother\u2019s death seemed weird.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would ask where Melissa and Chris were, personally,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Boyer, a strapping young cop with dark hair, was a junior officer, six years into his policing career, who had recently joined 11 Division\u2019s criminal investigations bureau. Acting Det. Gregory Amoroso, a 17-year veteran, was the officer in charge.<\/p>\n

Early on, police homed in on Caleb, who was known to have a difficult relationship with his mother. His uncle, Doug Blackwell, said that when it turned out Caleb had a solid alibi \u2014 he\u2019d been working \u2014 the investigation appeared to stall.<\/p>\n

Police interviewed Merritt, who said she\u2019d been at home the day Bridget died, caring for a child whose parents had signed up for the home daycare she and Fattore were trying to get started.<\/p>\n

Police interviewed Fattore, who said he\u2019d been running errands and working in his backyard. Boyer retrieved surveillance footage from Sobeys, confirming Fattore had been there, but police failed to corroborate a key element of his story. Fattore said he\u2019d gone to Merritt\u2019s grandmother\u2019s house to pick up a drum kit. Police never spoke to the grandmother.<\/p>\n

Family\u2019s suspicions not enough<\/p>\n

All told, police spent about two weeks investigating Bridget\u2019s death. In early May, Amoroso was reassigned to a special command team for the G20 summit in Toronto that summer. After that, \u201cI really didn\u2019t have too much more involvement,\u201d he testified. Amoroso could not say who, if anyone, became the new officer in charge. Boyer, the junior guy, testified that he had no involvement in the investigation after the end of April, but he would be the one to close the case months later.<\/p>\n

After a final case conference on June 10, pathologists presented their findings to police and explained \u201cpossible mechanisms of injury,\u201d the coroner wrote in a report.<\/p>\n

Police then presented findings from their own investigation. \u201cNo evidence of \u2018foul play\u2019 was discovered,\u201d the coroner wrote. \u201cThe injuries, however, cannot be explained by a single mechanism.\u201d The coroner classified the death as \u201cundetermined.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who concluded there was no evidence of foul play? Years later, Pollanen, the chief pathologist, offered his take in court: \u201cPolice are the ones who make investigations regarding foul play, not coroners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Michael Pickup, the forensic pathologist who performed Bridget\u2019s autopsy, wrote \u201cneck injuries\u201d as the cause of death. His final report explained the findings supporting each theory \u2014 strangulation vs. a fall down the stairs \u2014 but did not explicitly favour one. \u201cThis is one of those cases that cannot hinge on the pathology,\u201d he wrote to a colleague.<\/p>\n

Experienced detectives have a saying that when your pathologist won\u2019t commit, you\u2019ve got more work to do. That didn\u2019t happen here.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Gallant remembers that Boyer was sympathetic, but told her the family\u2019s suspicions were not enough. Police encouraged them to offer proof. \u201cIt made no sense to us to have to provide the police with proof,\u201d Gallant said. \u201cThat\u2019s the whole point of an investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Sept. 2, 2010, Boyer wrote a final case note. \u201cAfter an extensive investigation into this matter there has been no evidence to suggest (Bridget) Harrison was the victim of foul play or any other criminal act. The coroner has concluded that the cause of death in this matter is \u2018asphyxia\u2019 and the mechanism of death is unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n

The case was closed, \u201cpending the receipt of further information.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Hohmann.JPG\"<\/p>\n

Bill Harrison with his sisters, Sharon Hohmann, centre, and Elizabeth Gallant, right. Gallant recalls an investigator telling her the family should offer proof of their suspicions in connection with the Harrisons\u2019 deaths.<\/p>\n

Freelance<\/p>\n

With a post-mortem report describing Bridget\u2019s neck injuries, it \u201cshould have been clear to the police \u2014 but obviously was not \u2014 that could have been evidence of foul play,\u201d Crown attorney Eric Taylor said in an objection at trial years later, when a defence lawyer wanted Boyer to read the case-closure statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuggesting that there was an \u2018extensive\u2019 investigation here, I think, is inappropriate,\u201d Taylor continued. \u201cExtensive,\u201d he said, was Boyer\u2019s opinion. \u201cAnd I think a lot of people would disagree with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were no search warrants sought, Taylor said. No surveillance. No wiretaps. No production orders for cellphone records. No attempts to collect DNA discard. \u201cAll of the things,\u201d Taylor said, \u201cthat we ultimately know happened after Caleb Harrison.\u201d<\/p>\n

A clamour on Pitch Pine<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Gallant arrived at Pitch Pine Cres. on the afternoon of her nephew\u2019s death and saw the house wrapped in police tape, looking the same as it had when her brother died, and the same as it had when her sister-in-law died. Three death scenes, and she\u2019d been to all of them. She\u2019d comforted Bridget when they lost Bill. She\u2019d comforted Caleb when they lost Bridget. Now there was no one left. Hands shaking, Gallant dialed a number she\u2019d kept with her for three years. Const. Robert Boyer answered.<\/p>\n

\u201cCaleb is dead,\u201d Gallant said. She was sobbing.<\/p>\n

As word spread, horrified relatives and friends descended upon Pitch Pine. One shouted at a police officer, \u201cHow could you let this happen?\u201d Cruisers lined the streets and detectives began a feverish door-to-door canvass, searching for witnesses and video.<\/p>\n

When an autopsy revealed that Caleb appeared to have been strangled, it changed the way police viewed his mother\u2019s death. Finally, the homicide squad took over. Det. Sgt. Randy Cowan, not involved in the earlier investigations, told reporters police were looking into all three deaths to determine if they were connected. \u201cTo put things back together when records have been deleted, when video has been rolled over,\u201d Cowan said later, \u201cthose kind of things make an investigation like this basically like a cold case.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Caleb<\/p>\n

The master bedroom where Caleb Harrison\u2019s body was found.<\/p>\n

Peel Regional Police photo\/Court exhibit<\/p>\n

Despite the mistakes of Caleb\u2019s past, family and friends described him as a devoted father. \u201cHe was all in, completely focused on the kids,\u201d said his cousin, Nicole Gallant. He\u2019d had sole custody since Merritt pleaded guilty to child abduction after his mother\u2019s death. Merritt had access every second weekend. Approaching the summer of 2013, Caleb had agreed to a temporary schedule, where the kids spent every other week with their mother.<\/p>\n

Merritt wanted the arrangement to continue. On July 10, she filed an application for shared custody. \u201cI have communicated with Caleb on numerous occasions over the past 12-18 months, in an attempt to reach an agreement with him on the children spending more time with me,\u201d Merritt wrote. \u201cCaleb has been unwilling to entertain any increase in time, contrary to the children\u2019s best interest, unless I agree to his child support demands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caleb did not file a response. He was killed the night before the custody schedule was to change back to limited access for Merritt.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Two weeks after his murder, Merritt filed an application seeking sole custody of the children, explaining that her ex-husband had died. \u201cThis news was (and is) tragic and very shocking,\u201d she wrote. The application was granted.<\/p>\n

Within weeks, she and Fattore were headed for the East Coast again with all six children. This time, police were watching their every move.<\/p>\n

After years of suspicion, a confession<\/p>\n

On a grey morning in January 2014, half a dozen police vehicles drove down a country road in Nova Scotia and pulled up to a house in the sparse community of Italy Cross, where Merritt and Fattore had been living since November. They were handcuffed and charged with the first-degree murders of Caleb and Bridget. That night, after a 13-hour interview with a Peel detective, Fattore confessed.<\/p>\n

\"fattore<\/p>\n

Christopher Fattore is seen in a Halifax court in January 2014 following his arrest on first-degree murder charges in the deaths of Caleb and Bridget Harrison.<\/p>\n

Andrew Vaughan THE CANADIAN PRESS<\/p>\n

Head in hands, Fattore said that in April 2010 he went to the Harrison residence with a note, pretending it was for the children. When Bridget answered, he forced his way in and attacked her. \u201cI hit her a couple of times,\u201d he said. \u201cI then proceeded to squeeze her neck.\u201d Here, he began to cry. \u201cUntil she stopped breathing and laid on the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he believed killing Bridget would level the playing field between Merritt and Caleb and give his wife a better chance at custody. He said Merritt had nothing to do with it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Three years later, Fattore said, he drove to Pitch Pine again under cover of darkness, wearing black gloves, shoes purchased from Walmart and a hoodie with a baseball bat tucked up the sleeve. He let himself in with a key stolen from Caleb\u2019s son, followed the sound of the bedroom fan, stood over his wife\u2019s ex with the bat raised high and struck him in the chest. When Caleb sprang up, surprising him, Fattore threw him into a shelving unit and strangled him. Again, he insisted Merritt knew nothing until later.<\/p>\n

Days after the confession, police put Merritt and Fattore in a room together at the Halifax airport. Believing they were alone, they began to talk. A recording of their three-hour conversation would be played at trial, along with months of intercepted communications from their home in Italy Cross, where police had installed wiretaps.<\/p>\n

A whispered conversation began after police shut the door. \u201cI\u2019m taking the rap for it \u2026 to give you accessory after the fact,\u201d Fattore said.<\/p>\n

Merritt told Fattore that his parents had spoken to police. \u201cThey called me Karla Homolka,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In their rush to leave Mississauga after Caleb\u2019s murder, Merritt and Fattore left many of their possessions behind in a trailer too rickety for the road trip. Inside, police found a laptop containing an extensive internet search history \u2014 evidence that might have been available to investigators years earlier if they\u2019d sought search warrants after Bridget\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\"Merritt<\/p>\n

Melissa Merritt, escorted by Peel Regional Police, following her arrest in January 2014.<\/p>\n

Chris So Toronto Star<\/p>\n

Two months before Bridget was murdered, there was a search for \u201cwhat if a grandparent has legal custody and they die.\u201d Three weeks before she was murdered: \u201chow long does it take to die from choking\u201d and \u201chow long does it take for a person being strangled to pass out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The month before Caleb\u2019s death: \u201ceasy ways to kill and get away with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The laptop was a gold mine for police, but there was a problem. Because Merritt and Fattore shared the computer, the searches could not be attributed to one or the other. Police attempted to match the queries with activity in the suspects\u2019 email accounts, to see if they could prove Merritt was using the computer. In doing so, officers made numerous unauthorized searches and seizures of evidence.<\/p>\n

\"pine<\/p>\n

Peel Police detectives carry bags of evidence from 3635 Pitch Pine Cres. days after Caleb Harrison\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

Vince Talotta Toronto Star<\/p>\n

Police made illegal searches \u2014 then covered it up<\/p>\n

In a pretrial application to exclude the evidence, defence lawyers argued police searched first and sought authorization later, then engaged in \u201cdeliberate coverups\u201d to hide the activity. Prosecutors argued the Charter violations were \u201cthe product of honest errors made by officers grappling with a large scale and complicated investigation\u201d as laws concerning the seizure of electronic data were evolving.<\/p>\n

Superior Court Justice Fletcher Dawson sided with the defence, finding evidence of \u201cdisreputable, misleading and negligent police conduct\u201d that in his view magnified the Charter breaches. \u201cI conclude there have been attempts by senior officers to cover up and minimize the nature and extent of the problematic conduct of rank and file investigators,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

The internet searches were \u201creliable data,\u201d Dawson ruled, and the evidence was important to the case against Merritt. \u201cThe search queries include, \u2018If a grandparent has legal custody and they die, which of the parents gets the kids.\u2019 It might be inferred from this content and the other circumstances of the case that Ms. Merritt is more likely than Mr. Fattore to have authored this query.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dawson concluded that ruling the evidence admissible would bring the administration of justice into disrepute. Weeks before trial, the computer searches were thrown out.<\/p>\n

Did the accused believe they were going to inherit millions?<\/p>\n

On the opening day of her murder trial, Melissa Merritt was almost unrecognizable. Her hair had grown long and dark after four years in jail. A pantsuit hung loose on her small frame. At 37, she appeared to be withering away, half the size she\u2019d been when arrested. Dwarfed by the high Plexiglas walls of the witness box and the hulking figure of Fattore beside her, she held a tissue and cried as she stood to plead not guilty to the charges.<\/p>\n

The prosecution\u2019s opening statement on Sept. 27, 2017, connected the dots between the child custody battle and the demise of all three Harrisons in a narrative that made it difficult to imagine how the earlier investigations went nowhere.<\/p>\n

Eric Taylor and Brian McGuire, a team of seasoned prosecutors, argued that Merritt and Fattore conspired to murder her ex and his mother, while Fattore alone committed the acts, which made them both guilty of first-degree murder.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was not just an accessory after the fact,\u201d Taylor said in an opening statement to the 14-member jury, anticipating the defence argument.<\/p>\n

In Bill\u2019s death, Fattore alone faced a third count of second-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty to the murder charges, but attempted to plead guilty to manslaughter in Caleb\u2019s death. The Crown rejected that plea.<\/p>\n

Fattore, 40, had shaved his thinning hair and dropped some of the heft he once carried. He wore a tie and thick-rimmed eyeglasses and sat hunched forward, rubbing his goatee, at times taking notes. He had a new tattoo of a wedding band on his ring finger.<\/p>\n

The custody battle formed the basis of the Crown theory, but prosecutors also argued the couple believed they stood to inherit millions from the Harrison estate.<\/p>\n

Police had amassed abundant evidence against Fattore. His DNA was under Caleb\u2019s fingernails. He\u2019d left a pair of gloves containing his and Caleb\u2019s DNA in the garbage at his own home, along with shoes he\u2019d purchased at Walmart hours before the murder.<\/p>\n

\"fattore<\/p>\n

Shoes worn by Christopher Fattore the night he killed Caleb Harrison were found in the trash at the home he shared with Melissa Merritt.<\/p>\n

Peel Regional Police photo\/Court exhibit<\/p>\n

On the witness stand, Fattore said he falsely confessed out of concern for his family, believing he was making a deal that would see his wife released to be with their children. He denied having anything to do with Bridget\u2019s death and admitted killing Caleb, but said that he only meant to \u201crough him up,\u201d to buy a few extra days with the children. He said he had nothing to do with Bill\u2019s death, and that of all the Harrisons he liked him best.<\/p>\n

Bill\u2019s murder was a tougher case to make, with nothing putting Fattore at the scene. Dr. Michael Pollanen, a key witness for the Crown, testified that he believed Bill was assaulted before he died, taking heavy blows to his head and chest. Pollanen could not reach a conclusion on the cause of death because of the limitations of the autopsy, but said he could not exclude neck compression.<\/p>\n

The Crown presented evidence that shortly before Bill died, he learned from a friend that Merritt and Fattore were planning to take off with the kids. Prosecutors argued Bill must have been killed in a confrontation with Fattore about that plan.<\/p>\n

Fattore\u2019s defence lawyers called as an expert witness their own forensic pathologist, who testified that the original theory of a natural death best fit the evidence. But the expert\u2019s opinion relied heavily on the assumption that CPR explained the broken sternum, even though the ambulance call report said there\u2019d been no CPR.<\/p>\n

The case against Merritt was circumstantial, with nothing directly tying her to the crimes. Her lawyers said the Crown\u2019s case proved that at worst she was an accessory after the fact.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors argued that Fattore would not have killed the children\u2019s grandmother and father without Merritt\u2019s support. He needed an alibi in advance and had too much to lose if she found out and didn\u2019t support what he\u2019d done.<\/p>\n

Among the key questions for the jury in determining Merritt\u2019s involvement was whether she drove Fattore to Walmart to buy the shoes he wore the night he killed Caleb. Both left Walmart out of their detailed police statements about their activities the night before the murder.<\/p>\n

What could be heard in the wiretaps was contested. The defence argued the police transcripts contained errors that changed the meaning of what was said. In the airport intercept, after Fattore told Merritt he\u2019d confessed, Merritt said, \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t have said anything to them,\u201d and then, after a muffled comment, \u201cthe audiotapes would have f\u2014-ed us anyways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prosecutors viewed the statement as an admission of guilt, but Merritt\u2019s lawyers argued the unintelligible comment sounded like \u201cthey think.\u201d As in, police think \u201cthe audiotapes would have f\u2014-ed us anyways.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the same airport conversation, Fattore said he\u2019d told police Merritt knew nothing about his crimes until after Caleb was dead. He said he\u2019d confessed to her the week after Caleb\u2019s death, \u201cthe day after I did my video statement\u201d with police.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe day after, you\u2019ve already told me about Bridget and Bill?\u201d Merritt asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cBridget and Caleb,\u201d Fattore said.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors pointed to this excerpt as evidence of Fattore\u2019s involvement in Bill\u2019s death. The defence argued that it was a hurried, confusing conversation, and that nothing could be drawn from the comment.<\/p>\n

After three months of testimony and four days of jury deliberations, the verdicts came on a freezing Saturday afternoon in January. The jury foreman delivered them in a whisper, so that everyone in the packed courtroom had to lean forward to hear.<\/p>\n

Fattore was guilty of murdering Caleb and Bridget. He was not guilty of murdering Bill.<\/p>\n

Merritt was guilty of murdering Caleb. A mistrial was declared on her charge in Bridget\u2019s death after the jury could not reach a verdict, and the Crown issued a stay of proceedings.<\/p>\n

Both are appealing the verdicts.<\/p>\n

In an interview after the trial, Dr. Timothy Feltis, the pathologist who performed the autopsy on Bill, said that years of experience \u201cprobably should have twigged me that something wasn\u2019t right\u201d with the broken sternum. Feltis no longer believes that a heart arrhythmia is the most likely cause of Bill\u2019s death, though it remains a possibility in his mind. \u201cGiven hindsight,\u201d Feltis said, \u201cI suspect that he was the victim of foul play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could have done things differently, but I can\u2019t change it now. And as far as I\u2019m concerned, given the information I had at the time, I did the best I could.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a tragedy, a gathering of resolve<\/p>\n

From the outside, 3635 Pitch Pine Cres. looks much the same as it did when the Harrisons lived there, but the house has been sold, the inside gutted by new owners and renovated beyond recognition. The surviving Harrisons have lost the people who connected them and the place they considered home.<\/p>\n

Twenty-five of them gathered in court for the sentencing hearing in January, a collection of siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and close friends who, united by Bill and Bridget, are an extended family. In victim impact statements, they spoke of losing the essential meaning of their family and the traditions that bound them together. They spoke of trauma, depression, anger, recurring violent nightmares about their loved ones\u2019 final moments, visions of autopsy photos. They spoke of guilt and regret, of wishing they\u2019d demanded more of authorities who failed to take their concerns seriously. Some spoke of fearing for their own safety and fearing that Merritt, from behind bars, would continue to manipulate her children and turn them against the remaining Harrisons.<\/p>\n

\"gallant.JPG\"<\/p>\n

Family members and friends of the Harrisons gathered recently in Mississauga at the home of Elizabeth Gallant, front and centre. Bridget\u2019s brother, Doug Blackwell, to Gallant\u2019s right, says the family is focused on getting answers.<\/p>\n

Richard Lautens Toronto Star<\/p>\n

Over five years, Caleb Harrison\u2019s children lost their Poppa, Nanna and their dad, and watched police arrest their mother and charge her with murder. The children are not with the Harrison side of the family \u2014 despite Caleb\u2019s wish, outlined in his will, that his cousin be their legal guardian in the event of his death, and despite his cousin\u2019s efforts to honour that wish. (To protect the children\u2019s privacy, the Star has chosen not to reveal the identities of their guardians at this time.)<\/p>\n

Merritt and Fattore received mandatory sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole until 25 years have passed. Two sentences for Fattore, but served concurrently.<\/p>\n

On that final day in court, as Merritt and Fattore rose to leave the room one last time, the Harrisons stood together, shoulder to shoulder, and watched as police led them away. The verdicts brought a small measure of justice, but the family remains haunted by what happened to Bill, Bridget and Caleb, and united in their quest to get answers from the authorities that failed them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to back down because we don\u2019t want this to happen to any other family,\u201d said Doug Blackwell, Bridget\u2019s brother.<\/p>\n

In the weeks that followed, their mission would give them a renewed sense of purpose. They would compare trial notes. They would study police and coroners\u2019 reports. They would write letters to authorities, repeating the story of what happened to the Harrisons, and asking, \u201cWhat action will you take?\u201d They would gather in Mississauga at Elizabeth Gallant\u2019s house, travelling from across the province and abroad to be together, just as they once were on Pitch Pine Crescent.<\/p>\n

What has since happened in the Harrisons murder case?<\/p>\n

This story was first published in 2018. In 2023, the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned<\/a> Melissa Merritt\u2019s first-degree murder conviction. In a retrial, a jury found Merritt not guilty of killing Bridget Harrison, but members could not agree on a verdict for her charge in Caleb Harrison\u2019s death, and a mistrial was declared<\/a> on that charge. In 2025, weeks before a third trial, Merritt struck a deal<\/a> with the prosecution, pleading guilty to manslaughter. She got time served<\/a> and is now out of prison. Christopher Fattore\u2019s murder convictions were upheld.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note:\u00a0This story has been updated to reflect the fact that after it originally published, an investigation by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director found that Constable Robert Boyer did not hold the title of \u201cfile coordinator\u201d in Bridget Harrison\u2019s death investigation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Host Amy Dempsey Raven, an investigative reporter for the Toronto Star, spent more than a decade asking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":938287,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194297],"tags":[49,48,55405],"class_list":["post-938286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mississauga","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mississauga"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=938286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/938287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=938286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=938286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=938286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}