I doubt if Warmington would change his story on the say-so of some anonymous random 'senior officer' who had contacted him, and Warmington's ethics would not allow him to disclose the identity of his source, even though it may lead to some answers. He likely said 'senior officer', instead of listing the rank, just to further prevent possibility of identification. Whoever it was, I get the impression that Warmington trusted his opinion. Who knows what information he was privy to at the time though? I think Satchie is correct in that everyone was getting caught up in wanting to be first out with the big news of the day. Unfortunately it was at the expense of a victim's reputation, and TPS won't own the error and tell us why they thought M/S, nor what it was after 6 weeks, that made them confident enough to make their declaration. The thought of someone impersonating is a possibility, which is why I wondered above if Warmington has had followup contact with that same person, to clarify why/how, etc. things got so mixed up. (I'm sure he has??)What I think is sort of fascinating is Warmington doesn’t name the Senior Police Officer. If this person was speaking on behalf of TPS and was involved in the early investigation and if Warmington knew who this officer is, what’s the reason Warmington doesn’t outrightly prove Saunders wrong?
And what exactly is a “Senior” Police Officer, in an organization where title by rank is the practise? The thing is, it’s not as if the media (nor the public) has a TPS directory listing the name and rank of every officer to double check a police source, on the off chance one of them decides to leak confidential information.
Or did Warmington receive an anonymous email or phone call from someone only claiming they were a Senior Police officer, which TPS has no control over. But if someone was impersonating a police officer in their contact with the media, that’s a crime whether or not the individual’s motive is also directly connected to the actual homicides.
So maybe Warmington took the opportunity to let it publicly slip, this questionable source - this person who knows who they are might be sweating a little bit maybe?