Calvin Hoover was identified by the Toronto Police Department as the lead suspect in the October 3, 1984 murder of 9-year-old Christine Jessop. The case was cleared by exception due to the death of Hoover, who committed suicide in 2015.
Jessop was abducted near her home in Queensville, Ontario. Her body was found on December 31, 1984, over 50 km away, in a wooded area near Sunderland, Ontario. She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed to death.
A DNA profile was obtained from semen from Jessop’s underpants in January of 1995. The FGG investigation was performed by Othram in partnership with Anthony Redgrave – who had formerly volunteered with the DNA Doe Project. The confirmation was made to a sample that the Centre for Forensic Sciences had on file from Hoover’s 2015 autopsy.
Guy Paul Morin, a neighbour of the Jessop family, was tried twice for the murder of Christine. He was acquitted at trial in 1986. The Crown appealed his acquittal, and a new trial was ordered. Morin was convicted at his second trial in 1992. When a DNA profile of the suspect was obtained in 1995, it excluded Morin as being a contributor to that sample. This enabled Morin to successfully appeal to overturn his wrongful conviction, the first time that a Canadian was exonerated through DNA evidence. A public inquiry into the causes of his wrongful conviction was a watershed in Canadian criminal justice, and produced a number of systemic changes, including greater recognition of tunnel vision on the part of police and prosecutors, and fraudulent expert testimony.
Hoover lived near the Jessops and was an acquaintance of the family. The Jessops had visited Hoover’s family just two days before Christine’s murder.
Ken, a second cousin once removed of Hoover, is a genealogy buff who uploaded his DNA to several genealogy sites and had built out a large family tree. His research was important in solving this case. Ken states that he is happy to have assisted in this investigation.
Sources:
CBC News. “How Genetic Genealogy Identified the Killer in a Toronto Cold Case.” CBC News, October 15, 2020, last updated October 16, 2020. Accessed December 23, 2020. https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/genetic-genealogy-identifies-killer-jessop-1.5764107.
Dubinsky, Zach. “Genealogy Buff Delighted to Find He Helped Solve Jessop Cold Case – But Also Learns He’s Killer’s Cousin.” CBC News, December 7, 2020. Accessed December 23, 2020. https://www.cbc.ca/news/christine-jessop-investigation-dna-tracing-cousins-1.5828034.
Ivany, Kimberly. “The Science Behind Why Police Now Believe They Have the Right Suspect in Christine Jessop’s Murder.” CBC News, October 23, 2020, last updated October 30, 2020. Accessed December 23, 2020. https://www.cbc.ca/news/investigates/calvin-hoover-family-tree-genealogy-1.5773187.
Syed, Ronna, and Shanifa Nasser. “Toronto Police Identify Killer in Cold Case of 9-Year-Old Christine Jessop.” CBC News, October 15, 2020, last updated October 16, 2020. Accessed December 23, 2020. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/christine-jessop-news-conference-1.5763673.