GUILTY Canada - Bill, 65, Bridget, 63, & Caleb Harrison, 40, slain, Mississauga, 2009-2013 *Retrial*

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http://www.mississauga.com/news-sto...uple-accused-of-murdering-mississauga-family/

Preliminary hearing continues for Nova Scotia couple accused of murdering Mississauga family

What’s been dubbed the case of the infamous “Harrison family murders” continues to work its way through the courts, with Christopher Fattore, 37, and Melissa Merritt, 34, both former Mississauga residents, still going through preliminary hearings.

Fattore’s lawyer, Peter Zaduk, confirmed the hearing, which will determine whether there is enough evidence in the case to warrant a trial, continues Sept. 1 after the judge heard four days of evidence last month. The hearing is under a publication ban.
 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...ried-for-murder-of-2-family-members-1.3483425

Melissa Merritt and her common-law husband, Christopher Fattore, will be tried for first-degree murder in the deaths of Merritt's ex-husband, Caleb Harrison, and his mother, Bridget Harrison.

Last year, they were also charged with first-degree murder in the death of William Harrison — who was Caleb's father and Bridget's husband — but a judge has discharged Merritt on that count, citing insufficient evidence, and has reduced the charge to second-degree murder for Fattore.

Lawyers for Merritt and Fattore say the pair could stand trial as early as September.

The case is expected to be a complex one, involving an intricate web of family relations.
 
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/6...ial-in-mississauga-s-harrison-family-murders/

A Nova Scotia couple accused of murdering an entire family — a mother, father and their adult son — inside their Mississauga home will stand trial later this year, an Ontario court judge has ruled.

However, after a lengthy preliminary hearing that was spread over seven months, Justice Bruce Duncan reduced a murder charge against the couple in relation to one of the victims.

What's been dubbed the case of the "Harrison family murders" continues to work its way through the courts, with Christopher Fattore, 38, and Melissa Merritt, 35, making their first appearance in Superior court tomorrow, with their trial tentatively scheduled for Sept. 16.
 
http://www.bayview-news.com/2016/03/trial-to-explore-shenanigans-at-3635-pitch-pine-crescent.html/

THAT WOULD BE MURDER

They ordered a full review of the cases and concluded all three had been smothered. That would be murder. Last year police and Crown investigators focused on Caleb’s former wife, and mother of his two sons, Melissa Merritt, and her new affection, Christopher Fattore. They were charged with the murders of all three members of the Harrison family. Changes to the charges yesterday reduced the allegations against Fattore and called William Harrison’s death second-degree murder.
Click to expand...
 
http://www.mississauga.com/news-sto...sissauga-s-harrison-family-moves-to-kitchene/

Case of couple accused of murdering three members of Mississauga's Harrison family moves to Kitchener

The couple’s trial, expected to begin later this fall, is still slated to be held in Brampton in front of Superior Court justice Fletcher Dawson, Zaduk said. Dawson is also overseeing the pre-trial hearings in Kitchener. The evidence during the hearings is under a publication ban.

Fattore and Merritt were ordered to stand trial earlier this year, but after a lengthy preliminary hearing that was spread over seven months, Justice Bruce Duncan reduced a murder charge against the couple in relation to one of the victims.


Crown prosecutors Brian McGuire and Eric Taylor are prosecuting the case against the couple.
 
Pretrial motions continue for couple accused of murdering entire Mississauga family
Trial could start in the fall
NEWS Jun 15, 2017

The pair were charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Merritt's former husband, Caleb Harrison, 41, in summer 2013; his mother, Bridget Harrison, 63, more than three years earlier; and his father, Bill Harrison, 65, whose death in 2009 was not considered suspicious until his wife and son were found dead years later.

Duncan reduced the first-degree murder charge to second-degree murder for both Merritt and Fattore in Bill Harrison’s death. The couple still stand charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Caleb Harrison and his mother. Evidence given during the preliminary hearing is also under a publication ban.
 
I was wondering what was happening with this trial. It's been quiet for a long time. I drive by the neighbourhood of the Harrison's old house every day on my way to work and always think of what happened there.
 
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/...n-the-alleged-murder-of-a-mississauga-family/

‘I killed Bridget and Caleb’: Suspect’s confession in the alleged murder of a Mississauga family
The murder trial for Christopher Fattore, 39, and his wife Melissa Merritt, 36, began Wednesday in Brampton court with the Crown’s opening address to the jury

Taylor suggested Merritt and Fattore, who have four children of their own, grew increasingly frustrated with the involvement of Harrison's parents in their children's lives.

"He forced his way into the house, attacked her and squeezed her neck until she stopped breathing," Taylor said.

Postmortem results will show he attacked Caleb while he was in bed and choked him to death while the two struggled, Taylor said, adding Fattore's DNA was found on Caleb Harrison's body.

Police and forensic doctors suspect Bill Harrison was assaulted prior to his death. Taylor told jurors Bill Harrison was killed by Fattore on April 16, 2009 when he learned of his and Merritt's plans to leave town and head east with all the children.

Wiretaps captured before and after the arrests capture Merritt and Fattore discussing the case and Fattore saying he is "taking the rap" and telling Merritt she will only be "an accessory after the fact."
 
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...estions-autopsy-in-family-triple-killing.html

Chief pathologist questions autopsy in family triple killing
Mississauga man's 2009 autopsy said he died of "acute cardiac arrhythmia." Dr. Michael Pollanen says he was likely assaulted, but the cause of death is unknown.

..... the findings suggest he took “heavy blows” to his head and the front of his chest around the time of his death, Dr. Michael Pollanen testified Friday in a triple murder trial in Brampton.

The best explanation, according to Pollanen: “They were caused by another party through an assault or an inflicted injury.”

“I felt we should exhume him and do a forensic autopsy,” Pollanen testified.

But it could not be done. Bill Harrison had been cremated.
 
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...ells-jury-he-falsely-confessed-to-murder.html

A man accused of killing three members of the same Mississauga family years apart has told a jury that he falsely confessed to murder after his arrest — but that he did, unintentionally, kill his wife’s former husband...

The jury has seen a video of a police interview in which Fattore confesses to killing Caleb and Bridget, recorded after he and Merritt were arrested in 2014. Fattore told police Merritt had nothing to do with the crimes, and that he only told her about them after the fact.

If you didn’t do it, why did you confess? Myers asked Fattore.

“Because I thought that Melissa was gonna go home,” Fattore said, meaning he believed the charges against her would be dropped and she would get to be with the children.
Click to expand...
 
These people killed anyone in their way. End of statement.

SMH.
 
A Mississauga mom of six and her common-law spouse have been found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2013 death of her former husband, Caleb Harrison.
Melissa Merritt, 37, was also charged with first-degree murder in the 2010 death of her former mother-in-law, Bridget Harrison. On that count the court declared a mistrial after the jury could not agree on a verdict.
Christopher Fattore, 40, Merritt’s spouse and co-accused, was found guilty of murdering both Caleb and Bridget.
He was declared not guilty on a charge of second-degree murder in the 2009 death of a third member of the same family — Bill Harrison, Caleb’s father and Bridget’s husband.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...t-degree-murder-in-killing-of-ex-husband.html
 
Improbable Cause
One death, then another, and another — all in the same house.
The first two written off as a tragic coincidence, until the third
shattered doubts. This is how authorities failed the Harrisons.
 
Seeker404 said:
Improbable Cause
One death, then another, and another — all in the same house.
The first two written off as a tragic coincidence, until the third
shattered doubts. This is how authorities failed the Harrisons.
Click to expand...

Good, thorough article about this sad case.
Those poor kids.
 
PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News

For the first-degree murder of Caleb, Merritt was given the mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole until after 25 years, which, factoring in the four years served since her arrest, would make her ineligible until 2039.

For killing Bridget and Caleb, Fattore received two life sentences to be served concurrently.
Click to expand...
‘You destroyed an innocent family at the cost of your own,’ Mississauga couple told | The Star
 
www.thestar.com

Mississauga woman denied bail while awaiting second murder trial in notorious Peel case

Melissa Merritt to stay in custody until she is tried in deaths of ex-husband, his mother. Three members of the Harrison family died in their home in 2009-2013.
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com

A Mississauga mother of six has been denied bail and will remain behind bars while awaiting a second trial for the alleged first-degree murders of her ex-husband, Caleb Harrison, and his mother, Bridget Harrison.

The decision, delivered Wednesday by a Superior Court judge in Brampton, is the latest development in a disturbing case that has spanned more than a decade, in which three members of the same family were found dead in their home years apart.

The accused, Melissa Merritt, 42, walked into the courtroom smiling Wednesday morning and listened intently from the prisoner’s box as Judge Jennifer Woollcombe read a lengthy decision. Merritt wiped tears from her eyes as it became clear she would not be released from jail. When it was over, she was led out in handcuffs.
 
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