Peel officers admit to neglect of duty
Family push for more serious probe after cops forfeit some days off
Two Peel police officers have admitted to neglect of duty in the botched probe into the death of Bridget Harrison and have forfeited days off as punishment, but with the misconduct deemed to be of a less serious nature by their chief, a full and public disciplinary hearing will not be held.
Nearly two years after the provincial Office of the Independent Police Review Director launched its probe into Peel Regional Police investigations of the deaths of Bridget and Bill Harrison and their son Caleb, their families are making the results of two investigations public after Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah classified his officers’ misconduct to be “less serious.”
The finding concerns the investigation into the second of three killings in the same suburban Mississauga family house: Bill Harrison, 64, was found dead by his wife Bridget in the home’s powder room in 2009; Bridget, 63, was discovered dead at the bottom of the stairs nearby the next year; their son Caleb, 40, was killed in the home at 3635 Pitch Pine Cres. in 2013.
The Harrisons’ surviving family members believe Bridget’s and Caleb’s deaths could have been prevented had police investigated properly. The OIPRD review of the investigation into Bridget’s death found police suffered from “reverse tunnel vision” and “inexplicably failed” to address “coincident connections” between her and her husband’s deaths and family troubles with Caleb’s ex — and “mischaracterized” evidence from pathologists that suggested Bridget had been strangled.
Instead, the investigative team, which the OIPRD criticized in general for keeping poor notes, “would not be led away from their conclusion that no foul play was involved.”
“Less serious” police misconduct charges can be dealt with at a divisional level and without the public scrutiny that comes with disciplinary hearings held under the Police Services Act. The public usually never learns of these informal decisions.
However, in a departure from the norm, two key officers in the investigation into Bridget’s death, Insps. Sean Brennan and Gregory Amoroso, waived a confidentiality provision, “accepted responsibility” and their punishment — a loss of days off — was made public by the police service in correspondence with the families and the Star.
According to OIPRD investigator Craig McManus, Amoroso, who was an acting detective and the officer in charge of the investigation at the time, and other officers in the case initially acted appropriately. However, after Amoroso was seconded to work on the 2010 Toronto G20 Summit, OIRPD investigator Craig McManus found he appeared to have “washed his hands” of the probe.
Amoroso had a “duty to fully apprise himself of the results of (a July 2010 case conference meeting he did not attend), and follow up on the unresolved issues raised by the coroner and chief pathologist, which he failed to do,” the OIPRD report says.
Crucially, an August 2010 report prepared by Amoroso “included the inaccurate observation that the case conference had provided no evidence to suggest that the deceased was a victim of foul play.” McManus noted that Amoroso claimed to have little involvement in the case after May 2010, but evidence suggested otherwise. Amoroso also deleted emails related to the case in a purge before taking on a new role.
Brennan, then a detective, attended the conference meeting and “ignored the message clearly delivered in any objective review” that Bridget “suffered injuries consistent with strangulation, amongst others, and that an accidental death was the less likely explanation,” the report says.
The case was closed in September 2010. Caleb Harrison would die nearly three years later in August 2013, after which police finally treated the earlier deaths as suspicious. Amoroso and Brennan have accepted responsibility for the misconduct, Peel police told the Star. Amoroso forfeited seven days off, while Brennan lost one day off. Since the case, both officers have been promoted to the level of inspector.
In a letter to the Harrisons’ lawyer, Peel police lawyer Sharon Wilmot said the decision to use “informal disciplinary provisions” was appropriate and “in no way intended to diminish the very serious effects this has had on your clients.”
The Harrisons say they feel otherwise and that the OIPRD findings are serious. They have demanded a disciplinary hearing and more transparency.
“Bill’s homicide was clearly missed. Bridget’s death investigation was a complete failure due to the negligence of the two police officers,” the family said in a statement to the Star. “The killers remained free and emboldened to murder Caleb.”
They called the chief’s decision to use the informal disciplinary route “deeply concerning,” adding it has “reduced the loss of Bridget’s life — and ultimately Caleb’s — to a few days of forfeited time” and swept “blatant” transgressions “under the rug.”
A separate OIPRD complaint into the investigation into Bill Harrison’s death found poor note-taking and “several small failures” that led to the file “being closed without following up on possible leads that may have resulted in a different outcome to the investigation.”
That complaint led to no findings of misconduct.
“Clearly, the breakdown in the (police) investigation resulted in several evidentiary gaps which likely impacted the subsequent police investigations into the deaths of (Bridget) and Caleb Harrison,” reads the OIPRD report into the case.
“Nonetheless, the OIPRD investigation could not definitively conclude that the breakdown in the police investigation would have ultimately changed the outcome of Mr. Harrison’s death investigation, or the tragic events that followed.”
An OIPRD complaint investigation into police handling of Caleb’s death is still outstanding.
Following Star stories about the case, Ontario’s chief coroner also announced a review of the Harrison death investigations and decades of “concealed homicides” — deaths written off as natural, accidental, suicidal or undetermined but were later revealed to be suspicious.
Caleb, 40, was found strangled in his bed in August 2013. His death finally led police to take a closer look at the family history, including a relationship with his former spouse, Melissa Merritt, the mother to his two children.
Merritt and her new partner, Christopher Fattore, were later charged in the Harrisons’ deaths.
In a trial that ended in January 2018, prosecutors alleged Merritt and Fattore conspired to murder Caleb and his mother, and that Fattore committed the acts. Fattore alone was charged with the second-degree murder of Bill.
Merritt and Fattore were convicted of first-degree murder in
Caleb’s death. Fattore was also found guilty of murdering Bridget while Merritt’s charge in her former mother-in-law’s death resulted in a mistrial after the jury could not reach a verdict. Fattore was found not guilty of murdering Bill.
At trial, Fattore’s defence argued Bill Harrison’s death was natural.
Merritt and Fattore have both filed appeals.
Prosecutors argued the Harrisons were murdered at key moments in a bitter custody battle over Merritt and Caleb’s two children. Bill died the same day Merritt and Fattore fled Ontario with the Harrison children in contravention of a court order that gave the grandparents their son’s share of custody while he was incarcerated for an impaired driving death.
Bridget died the day before she was to give a victim-impact statement at Merritt’s parental abduction trial, at a time when Bridget had interim custody of the children. Three years later, Caleb died the night before a 50-50 summer custody split with Merritt was to revert to sole custody for him.
“The Harrison tragedy could have been an opportunity for Peel Police to address shortcomings in their behaviours and processes,” the Harrisons said in the statement to the Star. “Instead, it has exposed the deeper issue of widespread protectionism and impunity from accountability in policing.”
Peel police, in response to Star queries, said the officers in Bridget’s case take “matters raised in the (OIPRD) report very seriously.”
The service, said spokesperson Const. Akhil Mooken, is “strongly of the view that this resolution is appropriate given the time that has passed since these investigations took place and the officers have since received significant training and gained valuable experience.”
The service has also conducted its own internal administrative review of the cases.
“I appreciate that this has been difficult on the family and appreciate their patience as we follow the processes outlined by the Police Services Act,” said Mooken, who responded to questions posed in an email coaddressed to the chief.
The Star extended a request for comment to officers Brennan and Amoroso via Mooken and did not hear back.
The Harrisons’ lawyer Asha James said police chose the “least transparent process” and that police “culture and behaviour need to change.”
Serious issues of misconduct should not be dealt with informally, said James, and “we had hoped that the leadership of Peel Police would be more concerned” about ensuring the “failures” of the investigations “were publicly addressed and resolved.”
“Bill’s homicide was clearly missed. Bridget’s death investigation was a complete failure due to the negligence of the two police officers. The killers remained free and emboldened to murder Caleb.” HARRISON FAMILY STATEMENT