Episode 429: In January 1995, DNA testing excluded Guy Paul Morin, the man convicted of the 1984 murder of Christine Jessop, from the crime. The Ontario Court of Appeal set aside his conviction, and Morin was released. The man whose semen was recovered from Christine Jessop's underwear in 1984 remained unidentified.

A public inquiry led by Justice Fred Kaufman spent 10 months examining how an innocent man had been convicted twice. It produced 1,380 pages and 119 recommendations. The real killer remained unnamed for another twenty-five years — until a detective named Steve Smith, a Texas laboratory, and a forensic genealogist pulled a family tree apart and found a killer at the end of it.

Sources

Report of the Kaufman Commission on Proceedings Involving Guy Paul Morin — Full text (netk.net.au)
The Canadian Encyclopedia — Guy Paul Morin Case
Innocence Canada — Guy Paul Morin case file
Toronto Life — "Inside the Hunt for Christine Jessop's Real Killer" (January 2022)
CBC News — "Toronto police identify killer in cold case of 9-year-old Christine Jessop" (October 15, 2020)
CBC News — "Calvin Hoover's family 'devastated' to learn police believe he killed Christine Jessop" (October 22, 2020)
CBC News — "The answer to the mystery of Christine Jessop's murder leaves killer's ex-wife with painful questions" (February 2021)
CBC News — "The science behind why police now believe they have the right suspect in Christine Jessop's murder" (October 2020)
Global News — "Who was Calvin Hoover? The man Toronto police say killed 9-year-old Christine Jessop in 1984" (October 2020)
Blue Line Magazine — "Out of the Cold: Toronto Police Solve 1984 Jessop Murder With New Science" (January 2021)
RCMP — National DNA Data Bank of Canada: 20 Years and Growing
Game of Crimes Podcast — "Detective Steve Smith Cracks a 36-Year Old Cold Case" (March 2022)

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