CANADA Canada - Christine Jessop, 9, Queensville, Ont, 3 Oct 1984 - #1

[Dedpanman]

In the summer of 1990, following an Ontario Provincial Police investigation, Sgt Michalowsky was charged with perjury (for allegedly knowingly making false statements under oath), wilfully attempting to obstruct justice (for allegedly preparing and testifying from the second undisclosed notebook), and wilfully attempting to obstruct justice (for allegedly tendering a cigarette he falsely claimed to have seized at the body site). On November 12, 1991, these charges were stayed by O’Connell J of the Ontario Court of Justice (General Division), due to Michalowsky’s ill health. The Crown declined to call Sgt Michalowsky as a witness.

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Very very very strange stuff. And has been well pointed out here just the tip of the iceberg. What was going on?

Chorley8, see attached article.

 

[Dedpanman]

I'm currently re-reading every article that the Globe and Mail ever printed on this case, looking for tidbits of new information... and there's been some interesting finds.

These articles relate to our current discussion on the body dump site, injuries, animal scavenging, etc. Note the author.

 

[jobo]

This statement was in the link that Woodland provided (post #1011):

"Authorities in skeletal recovery stress the absolute necessity that qualified experts be involved in the recovery efforts of skeletons from outdoors".
I guess DR Police didn't know that.

 

[Woodland]

I was tempted yesterday to mention the bones found by the Jessop's in May 1985. How did those bones, that are not anatomically related, come to be found in a pile near the body site after an LE search spanning a few days?

Somewhere someone said 'the animal that did that had fingers' but I can't find the source at the moment. Dr Ferris maybe?

Edit - were these bones always at the site or brought there after Christine's remains were found?

 

[Dedpanman]

Attached is a paper titled 'Canid Scavenging/Disarticulation Sequence of Human Remains in the Pacific Northwest'.

This is a fascinating paper, Woodland. Thanks for posting the link.

 

[Dedpanman]

From Redrum the Innocent first edition, page 152:

“What was curious and disturbing about the underpants was that the stain was located on the crotch. How could it have been deposited there if Christine had really been stripped, raped and killed at the scene itself? Logic dictated that she must have been re-dressed following the assault. The mystery increased after fecal material was discovered in the seat of her pants, enhancing the horrible possibility that Christine was alive and conscious during her ordeal. More enigmatic still, an analysis of Christine’s shoes revealed a small amount of soil consistent with the surface soil at the body site. There was always the chance the soil adhered while her body was being dragged along, but it seemed more likely that the soil meant she had walked in.”

Again, every step down the road of this mystery, one is confronted continually with facts that contradict – enabling so many different scenarios for what actually happened.

 

[Dedpanman]

I was tempted yesterday to mention the bones found by the Jessop's in May 1985. How did those bones, that are not anatomically related, come to be found in a pile near the body site after an LE search spanning a few days?

Everything about the Jessops (really - Ken) finding that little pile of bones is so bizarre it boggles the mind. I really don’t know what to make of it.

The cold-logic part of my brain asks, “What are the chances that the police missed finding some of the bones?”

Answer: Highly likely considering the way the search was conducted.

Then it asks, “What are the chances that Christine’s brother would have a feeling that some of her bones were missing well after her funeral, encourage his parents to take him out there to the site so that he could poke around, look down, and find a bunch of bones in a little pile?”

Answer: Mathematically off the charts.

Don’t get me wrong here. I don’t really think Ken actually knew there were still remains to be found. I can accept that people have weird psychic moments from time to time and perhaps this is a genuine example of that phenomenon...

What I wonder about is this: If Ken had that feeling (that the police missed finding things), maybe the killer did, too?

Perhaps the killer went back to poke around, reminisce and relive the crime months later and he found what the police had missed. He would have really enjoyed that. It would have made him feel so ahead of the curve. Powerful. Incapable of being caught. Instead of taking them as potentially incriminating souvenirs, the killer left them in a little cairn-like pile to be found. A kind of “ha-ha-you-missed-me,” gesture?

If this scenario is correct, it’s more cement for the idea that the killer had a connection with that spot in Sunderland. I wonder: How many times he’s been back there? If he’s still alive, how often does he drive down the fourth concession…

And slow down by that gate…?

 

[Woodland]

Have wondered about the soil sample on the shoes many times.

A small amount of soil where on the shoes? At what location does the soil in Sunderland start to become different from the surrounding areas? Was the soil compared to Queensville? Testing was so minimal and incomplete for this case.

Could rain have splashed a small amount of soil onto the shoes?

 

[Woodland]

Could someone have put the idea in Ken's head regarding more bones at the site which made him think and fret about it? Someone close to the family?

 

[dotr]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/a-little-spit-could-catch-a-killer-134168263.html

"A decade ago the Canadian Police Association banded with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and unsuccessfully pushed to have DNA samples taken from criminals in ways parallel to the long-accepted practice of taking fingerprints.

They pointed to the 1984 case of Christine Jessop. Raped and murdered, the smiley nine-year-old died with a heart full of fear before her body was discarded in some bush 50 kilometres from her southern Ontario home. Guy Paul Morin was arrested, convicted and went to jail. Unquestioned DNA later proved him innocent.

Today, the real killer's DNA is floating around in the national data bank waiting for a match. And it's all but incomprehensible that someone who could commit such a heinous crime has not had some criminal contact with authorities and as such, his DNA could and should be available for automatic computer comparison.

But that's not the way it is. Only certain offences are eligible for DNA seizure and they are accompanied with some pretty restrictive guidelines. So now, almost 30 years into the Jessop investigation, the once highly publicized file has more than 27,000 suspects to separately consider. And who knows, her killer may still be alive and still doing what his sickness demands. Maybe he's had a lot of police contact but nothing that has allowed for the taking of his DNA.

DNA is the brand new car that legislation delivered without wheels. The flimsy, sky-is-falling fears of those far removed from any killing field paralyzed the technology that could otherwise rocket an investigation forward.

When serial killers are at play, apprehension translates to prevention and isn't that what all sides want?"

 

[Woodland]

I always like that article dotr - especially '.. the real killer's DNA is floating around in the national data bank ..'

Have always wanted to contact this ex cop turned writer and ask which member of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police gave him this info. It wasn't 'they' as in all members.

This article came after my request for the same info which was denied.

Then that specific info is left out of the recent Fifth Estate episode on this case - specifically by Det Sgt Steve Ryan and his Chief. Then Ryan never followed up with DPM to answer the same question. Fishy, imo. Could not have happened according to my research.

 

[Woodland]

Come to think of it, I'm going to drop this writer a line and point out how privileged he was to get his hands on this info when The Fifth Estate could not.

 

[Dedpanman]

Without looking back at some records I have, I believe the school became the next owners and occupants after the Jessops vacated the property.

Chorley8 - BTW: the Jessop house was repossessed by the bank in 1992 right around the time of GPM's second trial. Source: Globe and Mail.

 

[Woodland]

I could have brought the info about the house being repossessed by the bank to everyone's attention here, but chose to sidestep that instead. Not all that relevant, imo.

 

[Dedpanman]

I could have brought the info about the house being repossessed by the bank to everyone's attention here, but chose to sidestep that instead. Not all that relevant, imo.

That's why I posted that info. Better to close that loop instead of leaving it open-ended. Otherwise, conspiracy can germinate.

 

[Dedpanman]

Could someone have put the idea in Ken's head regarding more bones at the site which made him think and fret about it? Someone close to the family?

That's the sixty-four thousand dollar question.

 

[Woodland]

Dedpanman - what does the Globe report in early October 1984 on Christine's disappearance? The Star reports she went to the store beginning 5 October but doesn't attribute that statement to LE or anyone else.

 

[Dedpanman]

Here’s the article. This is the first time the story appeared in the Globe and Mail – October 8, 1984.

What’s interesting to me is that Bob Jessop is already presenting his theory that Christine went with someone on the false pretence of going to visit him in jail.

 

[Woodland]

It's pretty much the same information as the Star. Neither paper attributes going to the store to LE or anyone else.

Wonder where that gate led to - I don't see a driveway.

 

[Dedpanman]

It's pretty much the same information as the Star. Neither paper attributes going to the store to LE or anyone else.

Wonder where that gate led to - I don't see a driveway.

I believe we're looking at the front of the house (the side that faces Leslie Street). The main front yard is behind Janet. In the background - the window with bush to the right, is consistent with other pictures of the house.