Judge orders jail to let inmate clean up
Lockdown deprives man facing three murder charges a chance to shower and shave for first day in court
A Brampton judge has ordered the Maplehurst Correctional Complex to let an inmate shave and shower before appearing in court this week for a preliminary hearing.
The unusual order came after Justice Bruce Duncan learned that a man facing murder charges had not been able to exercise personal-hygiene privileges regularly in the week leading up to his first day in court because the jail has been on lockdown.
“Certain basic human rights have to be recognized,” Justice Duncan said in court Monday on the first day of the preliminary hearing, calling the situation “quite astounding.”
Christopher Fattore, 37, and his common-law partner Melissa Merritt, 35, are jointly charged with three counts of firstdegree murder in the deaths of Merritt’s estranged spouse, Caleb Harrison, and his parents — three family members killed in the same Mississauga home years apart.
Merritt wore a jail-issued forest green sweatsuit to the hearing. Her lawyer, David Berg, explained in court that her fami- ly had dropped off street clothing, but staff at the Vanier Centre for Women in Milton wouldn’t let her change. Peter Zaduk, Fattore’s lawyer, then stood to address his own client’s concerns.
“For some reason I don’t understand, Mr. Fattore has been unable to shave for five days,” Zaduk told the judge. “They’ve been on lockdown.”
Crown prosecutor Eric Taylor explained that Maplehurst has a priority list for inmates who wish to shave. (The institution is one of several Ontario jails where, as the Star has reported, staffing issues have led to frequent lockdowns — heightened security measures that confine inmates to their cells.)
Justice Duncan, shaking his head, in- terrupted: “Sorry, they have to sign up to shave? . . . I’ve never heard of that before,” he said.
“I’m just amazed that those places think they can treat people” however they want because of a lockdown, the judge said.
The judge issued an order that said Maplehurst must allow Fattore to shave and shower before court. He also issued an order that said Vanier staff must allow Merritt to change into street clothes and attend court with the daily dose of medication she has been taking for an unknown illness. Jail staff did not provide the medication on Monday, according to her lawyer.
The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services has said it is actively recruiting and training new employees to address staffing issues at its correctional centres. A ministry spokeswoman could not respond to specific questions for this story by deadline.
Merritt and Fattore have been in jail since January 2014, when they were arrested in Nova Scotia and charged in the deaths of Caleb Harrison, who fought with Merritt over custody of their two children, and his mother Bridget Harrison. Further charges in the death of Bill Harrison — father to Caleb, husband to Bridget — were laid earlier this year.
Bill, 65, died suddenly in the family home on Pitch Pine Cres. in April 2009. It was ruled a natural death at the time. His wife, Bridget Harrison, 63, a respected educator, was found dead a year later at the bottom of a staircase in the house where she and her husband had lived for nearly four decades. Her death was considered suspicious, but police believed the most likely cause was an accident.
It wasn’t until August 2013, when the body of their 40-year-old son Caleb Harrison was discovered in the same home, where he had been raising his own children, that police launched an investigation into the deaths of all three Harrisons.
Police have said asphyxiation was the cause of death for both Bridget and Caleb, but they haven’t said anything about how they believe Bill died.
Evidence heard in court Monday cannot be reported because the preliminary hearing is subject to a standard publication ban intended to protect the fair-trial rights of the accused. The hearing continues this week. A trial date has not been set.