Episode 092 - The Abduction and Murder of Christine Jessop

On the morning of Wednesday, October 3rd, 1984, nine year old Christine Jessop was getting ready to go off to school.  Christine lived in Queensville, a small town in Ontario, Canada with her parents and brother.  Her older brother, Kenney, had a dentist appointment that afternoon and so Christine, who normally would come home to find her brother or parents waiting would instead be taking the bus and then coming home alone.  This wasn’t the first time Christine had come home and had to let herself in, and reportedly in the past, she had done so without issue proving herself to be reliable and mature enough to follow the procedure.  According to everything we know about her day, school went generally according to plan. 

Christine, who attended nearby Queensville Public School, received a recorder, a small, plastic woodwind style instrument from the flute family, in school that day.  Multiple people would later report seeing Christine playing with the instrument which had her name attached to the side of it.  While in school, Christine began talking with her good friend, Leslie Chipman and the two made plans to get together after school.  The plan was simple, after riding the bus home, Christine was supposed to head back to her house, drop off her school supplies, grab up some of her dolls and then head over to a nearby park to play with Leslie.  Unfortunately, Christine would never arrive at the park and what exactly occurred would become one of the most haunting and difficult mysteries in Canadian history.

CASE UPDATE

A new task force was established to dig into the case, during which time they managed to obtain more than 300 DNA samples from potential persons of interest, but they never found one for which there was a match.  There were some suspects, but no evidence to link them.  One man claimed his father admitted to the crime, prior to committing suicide, others called in tips, but DNA wasn’t able to link any potential suspect.  Ultimately, they were left with a profile which defined their killer as being unorganized and sloppy with a history of arson or cruelty to animals.  John Douglas added that the killer was likely someone Christine knew and that the child had likely gone along with him willingly.  More than thirty years after her murder, Christine Jessop’s killer would finally be identified in October of 2020.

Toronto Interim Police Chief James Ramer stated at an October 9th press conference that law enforcement had been able to identify the killer through the use of DNA, recovered from Christine’s underwear.    According to the CBC, the DNA was delivered to Othram, a united states lab which deals in DNA analysis and genetic research.  I was able to speak with Anthony Redgrave, the Lead Forensic Genealogist & Instructional Designer for Redgrave Research Forensic Services.  Mr. Redgrave explained that his team had previously worked with one of the detectives on Christine’s case, through the DNA Doe Project, after they signed with Othram, they were able to receive the materials and begin working.  Mr. Redgrave explained “My team of forensic genetic geneaologists received the DNA file for the perpetrator on GEDMatch and began analyzing his genetic cousins and their family trees to piece together the puzzle of their familial relationships.  By doing family trees for dozens of cousins, we were able to triangulate where to be looking for a person of interest inside of all those many trees and the places they overlap.  It took about six months of research by six genealogists.”

On August 7th, Mr. Redgrave and his team identified a man as being the most likely candidate at which time their evidence was turned over to the Toronto PD who would be required to verify this identification through their routine investigative procedures.  The man identified was Calvin Hoover, a Toronto resident who was twenty-eight at the time of Christine’s murder.  Hoover had taken his own life in 2015, and Toronto police were able to access his DNA, confirming the identification of their killer.  This was announced in the October press conference.  Mr. Redgrave explained that he and his team had been informed about the confirmed identification just days prior to the press conference explaining “It was a huge relief.  We felt driven to come to a candidate for ID, knowing how long the family had been waiting for answers and that Mr. Morin had also suffered while the case remained unsolved.  The case overall was a more difficult one than average for us, but we all pushed hard to come to an ID.  We never stopped - when someone was sleeping, someone else was working.  We don't submit a candidate for identification until we are as close to 100% sure as we can be, but it's not officially "solved" until the department follows through on conventional confirmation procedures.  So the two months from when we submitted Hoover as a candidate to when he was confirmed by the department was nerve-wracking, even though we were totally confident.”

Details about the killer himself are still somewhat thin and the police continue to investigate, trying to determine his movements over the past thirty-six years as well as trying to discover the potential that he may have more victims.  We do know that Hoover had a connection to the Jessop family as his wife at the time of the murder worked with Christine’s father, Bob.  This has raised a lot of red flags, not only for the family, but for the public at large.  Christine’s older brother, Kenney, when speaking with the star, expressed some of the family’s frustration saying “This was somebody so close to our family and they supposedly investigated everybody and all their movements.  How’d they miss this?”  Kenney added a disturbing detail, noting that police had been made aware early in the investigation that Hoover’s then wife was one of the people who was aware that Christine would be home alone today, pointing that that detail was in fact in the official missing person’s report.

That is a question being asked by Innocence Canada, a legal advocacy group who is calling for an independent review of the investigation.  It is believed that errors were made during the investigation which not only led to the killer going unidentified for more than thirty years but which also led to the wrongful prosecution of Morin, who was subject to multiple legal battles despite a startling lack of evidence against him.  Kirk Makin, co-president of Innocence Canada, told the Global News “To now stint on a carefully targeted review of police failures would be a mockery of all this expense and the human misery caused by this awful case.”

It has been argued that Hoover, who was a member of the family’s social circle, should have been more closely examined and any alibi provided should have been more thoroughly investigated.  There are also questions about why Hoover was never asked to present DNA to investigators.  Both Toronto Police and Ontario’s attorney general noted that the case is still active as they are investigating Hoover and that any review which might come would not be initiated until following the conclusion of the case. 

As it stands right now, much of Hoover’s life is a mystery to investigators, one which they are very much looking to solve.  In hopes of gaining new information, police have established a tip line as well as an email address people can send tips in to.  If anyone knew or was around Hoover throughout his life, police would like to hear from them. 

It’s an extremely bitter ending for the Jessop family and for all who have been so deeply involved with and touched by Christine’s story.  The guilty party has been discovered, though the exact details of what happened that cold October day in 1984 remain unknown.  We do know that Hoover not only was involved searches for Christine, but was also present at the Jessop home on the night of her funeral.  For their part, the Hoover family was shocked to discover the truth and according to the police, they have been extremely cooperative in providing whatever information they can about Hoover’s life and movements.

For the Jessop family, this provides them with some sense of closure, though justice will remain illusive as Hoover took his own life five years before he could be arrested and charged.  Kenney told to Toronto.com “I am overjoyed for Christine.  I’m happy no one can point fingers at Guy Paul; I am happy for myself but the person I am happiest for is Mom.  She was starting to believe she would never know.  For the first time in thirty-six years she won’t go to bed praying to find out who killer her daughter.  It’s a miracle.  I can’t find another word for it.”  Perhaps now, the lingering questions is why, why would Hoover do this to Christine?  That is an answer will may not ever be truly known.

There was of course, also Guy Morin himself.  On the morning of the press conference, two police officers arrived at Morin’s home to personally deliver the news.  Morin, not wanting to say much publicly, did make one statement explaining “I am relieved for Christine’s mother, Janet, and her family and hope this will give them some peace of mind.  They’ve been through a dreadful ordeal for thirty-six years since they lost Christine in 1984.  I am grateful that the Toronto police stayed on the case and have now finally solved it.  When DNA exonerated me in 1995 I was sure that one day DNA would reveal the real killer and now it has.”

DNA has solved some truly baffling cases, many of them older than Christine’s.  Hopefully, as we move forward, more cold cases will be broken open and more families will be provided with answers.  While nothing can bring back Christine, or the many victims of unsolved crimes, this at  least provides the possibility that answers will eventually be found.  I do wish Hoover hadn’t taken his life, as I would have liked to have seen him tried and sentenced for this horrible crime.  However, perhaps now, the Jessop family can deal with the pain and tragedy of her loss with at least knowing, after so long, who was responsible.  Closure though, may be something which comes only with time and while now emotions are high about identifying Christine’s killer, there will never be an answer as to why such a horrible crime was committed and how someone could commit such a heinous act against a child.

Toronto Police Tip Line:
416-808-7491
jessoptip@torontopolice.on.ca