A MURDERER IN THEIR MIDST
First, Bill Harrison died in his Mississauga home. One year later, his wife, Bridget, was found dead in the same home. But it wasn’t until their son, Caleb, was also found dead that police gave the case to the homicide squad
On a summer night five years ago, a man drove to the home of his wife’s ex-husband, let himself in with a stolen key and killed him. The assailant wouldn’t get away with his crime — not this time. He left his DNA under the victim’s fingernails, and he tossed the gloves and shoes he wore that night in his own garbage. This was the sloppy work of an attacker who had grown brazen. He’d already gotten away with murder in the same house years earlier. He would be charged with killing three members of the Harrison family in their Mississauga home at 3635 Pitch Pine Crescent, one after the other, over five years.
First Bill. Then Bridget. Then Caleb. Years later, a defence lawyer would suggest the assailant and his co-accused would have to be “criminal masterminds” to pull off what prosecutors alleged. Far from a criminal mastermind, the man convicted in two murders was a killer whose family computer would reveal an internet history with a search for “easy ways to kill and get away with it.” A killer who a Superior Court judge said in a bail hearing “was likely encouraged to kill again because his actions had gone undetected.” A killer who evaded authorities for years. How did he do it? Inside, reporter Amy Dempsey unravels the strange story of the Harrisons and how the authorities failed them.
“None of them believed us.” NICOLE GALLANT CALEB’S COUSIN, ON OFFICIALS’ RESPONSE TO FAMILY WARNINGS
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’t shown up to his office that morning. The housekeeper said she hadn’t 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.
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.
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. “I’ve been here before,” he said. The paramedics rushed to the second-floor master bedroom, but there was nothing to be done. Caleb Harrison was dead.
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’s 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 — 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.
Now paramedics and police stood over Caleb’s body and noted troubling injuries: bruising and abrasions on his neck, swollen knuckles, deep scratches on his chest.
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’d been there before, too.
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’s aunt, who lived nearby. The friend said she’d 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.
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. “Undetermined.”
And now a third mysterious death. An entire family wiped out. How could this happen?
Peel Regional Police would come to believe that the same perpetrators were responsible for all three deaths — a theory that, if proven, meant that someone had gotten away with murder twice before, and that authorities had missed two homicides.
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 — by police, coroners and pathologists.
The Harrisons’ 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’s only sibling, sat through much of the trial last fall, incredulous at how clear the evidence of his sister’s murder turned out to be. “My faith in justice has been destroyed,” he said.
Peel police Chief Jennifer Evans launched an internal review of the Harrison family death investigations in February, then suspended it in March “pending the appeal process,” 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 “where appropriate.” Evans refused multiple interview requests from the Star and did not respond to questions about whether an independent review was considered.
Together, the Office of the Chief Coroner and the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service have launched their own internal review as a “first step,” said Dr. Dirk Huyer, the chief coroner. “We 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,” he said. An independent review will likely follow the internal investigation, Huyer said, but the institutions have not yet made a firm commitment.
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 conflictof-interest concerns. Evans was deputy police chief when Bridget and Bill died, and at least four of the province’s top coroners and forensic pathologists were involved in the Harrison death investigations.
A spokesperson for the ministry did not rule out an inquiry, but said it would be “inappropriate” 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 “be allowed to continue without interference or influence, so as not to jeopardize the integrity and independence of those proceedings.”
Nicole Gallant, Caleb’s 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. “We kept saying, You have to look at these two. Nobody else has motive,” Gallant said.
“I just don’t understand how none of them believed us.”
Home to the Harrisons for nearly four decades, 3635 Pitch Pine Cres. was a family hub — 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.
“They made it magic,” said Doug Blackwell, who drove down to his sister’s house from Kirkland Lake with his wife and daughters every Christmas and summer.
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’s internationally renowned performing arts theatre, where she met William Harrison.
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’s Beauty Parlour, a business launched by Bill’s great-grandparents after they escaped slavery in Virginia and made their way to Canada on the Underground Railroad in 1837. 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.
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.
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. “He was a little rascal,” said Elizabeth Gallant, his aunt. “Dangerously curious,” said Nicole Gallant, his cousin. “There was no shortage of near-heart attacks for any adult who was watching him.”
Caleb struggled in school. He was teased for having Tourette 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. “She expected her son to attend school and do well,” 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.
Nine years before the first suspicious death on Pitch Pine, Caleb Harrison met his future wife at a doll warehouse.
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.
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’s attention caught on a young woman behind the front desk.
Nineteen years old, Melissa Merritt was an animal lover with blushing skin, highlighted hair and girl-next-door appeal. She’d 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’s path. Merritt turned her attention to Caleb as she broke an engagement with her high school boyfriend, who wasn’t ready to settle down. She wanted a home and a husband. Most of all, she wanted children.
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.
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’s drinking and, according to an affidavit Caleb filed in family court, Merritt’s record of “making up stories.” In the spring of 2004, Merritt told their family and friends she had ovarian cancer, Caleb said.
“I admit to embellishing a health problem and causing concern for my and (Caleb’s) family,” Merritt responded in an affidavit. “I was being treated for a cyst and I embellished the situation which resulted in my and (Caleb’s) family fearing that I had cancer.” She denied claiming she had lost an ovary.
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 “put me in a headlock and hit me repeatedly in the head.” Caleb said, “I protected myself after the respondent attacked me, gouging and scratching.”
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.
Weeks later, Merritt reported a home invasion to Halton police, saying she’d been attacked in her backyard. Halton cops came looking for Caleb at his parents’ house. In an affidavit, Caleb said Merritt was “obviously unaware” that he had been seriously injured, and that he “could not walk without crutches and could not possibly have been involved in the home invasion.”
Merritt reported several more home invasions around the same time. No charges were laid. “I am 100 per cent convinced she was making up the whole story,” a Halton cop told Peel homicide detectives years later. Caleb alleged in family court that Merritt “deliberately misled” police officers “in her continued attempts to implicate me in acts of abuse” and “create suspicion about me.” Merritt was never charged.
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.
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.
“He’s not breathing. Oh my God.” BRIDGET HARRISON TO A 911 OPERATOR AFTER FINDING THE BODY OF HER HUSBAND