Canadian True Crime - Harrison Family Murders

Episode Date: February 15, 2019

A separated couple have ongoing issues with custody of their children, setting a chain of events in motion that would destroy an entire family.Look out for early, ad-free release on CTC premium feeds: available on Amazon Music (included with Prime), Apple Podcasts, Patreon and Supercast. Full list of resources, information sources, credits and music credits:See the page for this episode at www.canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi everyone, just a quick note before we begin. Back in 2015, police in Halifax were alerted to the fact that three people had conspired to commit a mass killing at the Halifax shopping centre. Two of them, 19 and 20-year-old males, already lived in Nova Scotia, but the third was a mysterious 23-year-old woman who had flown in from Chicago for the sole purpose of participating in the shooting. Her name is Lindsay Savanarath, and she is now in a Canadian prison serving life. She's refused to speak to the media until now. Nighttime podcast has just started a series of interviews with her from prison, where she opens up for the first time about what she was thinking when she agreed to fly from Chicago to Halifax to meet up with two people she'd met online

to commit a mass shooting and a shopping mall. If things had gone according to plan, February 14th, 2015 would have been the day I died. I would have died alongside my boyfriend, James Gamble, after having murdered perhaps 13 people in the food court of the Halifax Shopping Center. The facts of this case are well known. There were conversations on Facebook, postings on Tumblr, some weapons and a plan. But what puzzles everyone is why? Why Canada? Why a shopping mall?

Why random strangers that have no connection to myself? So go and take a listen to Nighttime Podcast series on Lindsay Savanarath. It's really interesting stuff. This podcast contains coarse language, adult themes, and content of a violent and disturbing nature. Listener discretion is advised. In 2005, Caleb Harrison's five-year marriage to Melissa Merritt had fallen apart. At 32, he was back living with his parents, Bill, and Bridget in his childhood home in Erin Mills, Mississauga.

The large Pitch Pine Crescent home was comfortable, but Caleb was dealing with a life with partial custody of his two children and the fallout of the turbulent marriage had ruined any notion of an amicable split. Their separation set in motion a chain of events that would change Caleb's life forever and would destroy an entire family in the process. This is Christy and you're listening to Canadian True Crime, Episode 40. Technically a city in its own right, as well as an outer suburb of Toronto, Mississauga is a sprawling metropolis.

Growing rapidly in the second half of the 20th century, it became a hub of industry and home to the head offices and distribution centres for many corporations and growing businesses. With its proximity to Toronto and vital, vast job opportunities in its boundaries, Mississauga also grew as a sought-after home for families. In fact, my husband and I moved straight to Mississauga from Australia in 2009 and loved it so much that we looked to buy our first house there two years later.

We lived at Winston Churchill and Eglington, a then up-and-coming newer neighbourhood in Mississauga, and while we were living there, just five minutes drive south, just below Burnhamthorpe was Pitch Pine Crescent. A quiet and comfortable family road, Pitch Pine Crescent had large houses and an entrance to a park. In 1975, Bill and Bridget purchased one of the best homes on the street

and began to settle into life with their only son Caleb. Two years earlier, Bill and Bridget had brought Caleb into their world when he was just six months old. adopted into a family that would go on to open its doors to a huge extended family and to numerous friends and neighbours. In the years that followed, these loved ones would talk of the couple's warmth and generosity and the Christmases and the family gatherings where everyone would pile into the house and everyone was welcome. Bill and Bridget may only have had one's son, but they created a huge family around them.

The couple first met in the mid-1960s. After 16-year-old Bridget's success as a child actress, she landed an apprenticeship at Stratford's well-regarded performing arts theatre. Working backstage at the Stratford Festival, she met William Harrison for the first time. William, or Bill, as he was known, was 18 and worked in the costume department. The two fell for each other, they would say,

later at first sight. In 1969, Bill and Bridget married. Bridgett went into a career in education, working as a teacher and a principal before moving up to superintendent and then special assistant to the education minister. Bill worked in management for the Sobees grocery chain and would eventually go on to be an executive. Outside of work, Bill was a little league coach and utilised his caring fatherly nature as a volunteer, big brother. In their younger days, the couple had tried to get pregnant, but after it hadn't happened in a while, they decided to adopt. Bill and Bridget doaded on Little Caleb.

Bridget was more authoritative, possibly given her teaching background, and Bill was known as the calming force in the family. The couple were very close and worked with each other's strengths, As Caleb grew up, they faced some difficulties with him struggling at school at times. He acted out at school, which put a strain on his relationship with his mother, who was also a teacher. But as most families do, they got on with it, and when Caleb finished high school, he went straight into the workforce. In the year 2000, Caleb was 27 years old and was working in the shipping department of a dull warehouse in an industrial park. in Mississauga. He had developed a strong work ethic and enjoyed the routine and benefits that

working life afforded him. My Favorite Doll was a collectible Barbie doll distributor that had grown in the early years of e-commerce and had discovered an online demand for vintage Barbie dolls. It was there at My Favorite Doll that Caleb met Melissa Merritt. Melissa was a friendly 19-year-old working at the front desk and after establishing a friendship with Caleb and sharing rides to work, they fell in love. Melissa was from a law enforcement family. Her father was already a Toronto police officer

and her brother would later become one too. She and Caleb were married after two years and had two children, a boy and a girl. doting father Caleb tattooed the names of both his children close to his heart. A year before their 2005 separation, Melissa had told Caleb and his family that she had ovarian cancer. This situation became a little murky because Melissa had also told the family that she'd lost an ovary. After several arguments around that time, Melissa would admit that she had embellished her health condition. The truth was that she had been treated for a cyst.

She didn't have ovarian cancer and hadn't lost an ovary, but she said she was sorry that she had led their families to believe that. Caleb had been drinking excessively, and this added to the marital problems. One night, in June 2005, an argument got out of control, and according to Melissa's report, Caleb hit her and put her in a headlock, hitting her repeatedly in the head. She called the police and filed charges for domestic assault. Caleb spent three nights in jail and was eventually convicted of the charge.

Caleb's version of the events, though, was that Melissa had attacked him, gouging and scratching at him until he found himself needing to physically defend himself. Caleb's childhood best friend, Stephanie, still lived next door to his parents, Bill and Bridget. On an interview she later gave to the TV show Dateline, she spoke of her confusion over the charges of assault that Melissa had laid against Caleb and the ongoing accusations of violence that Melissa would pursue in the coming years. Melissa claimed that Caleb was sneaky and would attack her when she had her back turned or had gone to bed. All her claims were denied by Caleb at the time, but he did acknowledge his drinking problem and the fact that one of the

conditions of his release from jail was that he would refrain from drinking alcohol. In any event, the couple separated and Caleb moved back to Pitch Pine Crescent with his parents. A dispute had also begun for custody of the two children, but for the time being, they would live half the time with Melissa and half the time with Caleb at his parents. Shortly after Caleb returned home to Pitch Pine Crescent, he was invited to a party with some of his work friends. He had agreed to be the designated driver and had borrowed his mother's Mercedes to make the trip to the nearby city of Milton.

But instead of refraining from drinking altogether, Caleb decided to have one drink. But that turned into several, and by the time he was ready to drive home, he was two and a half times the legal limit. His friends refused to get into the car, saying that they would walk instead. So Caleb got into the car and drove off by himself. Only moments up the road, a taxi approached coming from the opposite direction,

taking four men home after a night out. As the two cars edged closer to each other along Derry Road, Caleb, driving 100 kilometres per hour, veered into their lane and hit the taxi head on. Caleb's friends were still walking up the road and watched on as both cars burst into flames. Two of the taxi passengers crawled out of the burning wreck as neighbors ran out dragging the other two men free from the vehicle. Caleb's friends, who had seen the collision from up the road as they were walking, ran to pull him from his mother's car. Caleb suffered a broken leg and other minor injuries, but would find himself fully responsible. for the serious injuries of the other passengers

and the life of the taxi driver who died the next day in hospital. Caleb was charged with impaired driving causing death and bodily harm. He only made bail on the provision that he would remain under house arrest at his parents' house. This ignited the bitter custody battle with Melissa.

She didn't want Caleb, or his parents, having any form of custody of the children. When a judge granted Caleb access to the children two days a week and every other weekend, so long as he lived with his parents, Melissa became enraged. She began filing more domestic violence charges against Caleb at the same time as his charges for impaired driving made its way through the court system.

Melissa filed a report of a home invasion at her property, stating that Caleb had attacked her in her yard. It was when police investigated her accusation that they became concerned that Melissa was fabricating the information. Caleb was still recovering from his injuries and was unable to walk any distance without crutches. The police concluded that he was physically incapable of committing the offence that Melissa had described.

Melissa kept reporting more home invasion, that police were unable to substantiate, and when the couple ended up in family court, Caleb laid out all the charges that he believed Melissa was making up in order to mislead the police about his character. By the end of 2008, over three years after the accident, the court case was still going, and so too was Melissa's drive to win full custody of she and Caleb's children.

By this time, they had to have to be. had both met new partners. Caleb had begun a relationship with a woman named Carinda, who had two children of her own. Caleb's parents, Bill and Bridget, brought her into the fold as a member of the family. Melissa had met someone online. Christopher Fetori was six foot four and built like a tank, and worked as an occasional security guard. He and Melissa began a fast-paced relationship with the moving in together and starting a new family of their own. Melissa wanted full custody of her other two children as she went on to have more kids with Chris.

As Caleb's trial drew near, Melissa began filing numerous complaints with the Children's Aid Society as well as the ones with the police, and not just against Caleb, but also Bill and Bridget. She accused all three of assaulting the children and colluding to alienate the children from her. The problem was, however, that when police looked into the accusations, they found that the children had been coached into what to say by their mother.

Melissa had begun refusing to let the Harrisons have their agreed access to the kids, and by the end of 2008, a judge ordered police to remove the children from Melissa's care if she did not abide by the court order. A few months later, 35-year-old Caleb was given an 18-month jail sentence for causing the death of the taxi driver, as well as the serious injuries sustained by the other passengers. The judge acknowledged that he appeared to be a decent man, but reminded him that at the time of the accident, he was already on a court order not to drink, and on two years probation already.

He added that when Caleb had finished his sentence, he would be prohibited from driving for two years. During Caleb's trial, Melissa and her new partner, Chris, were observed sitting in the back of the courtroom, sniggering at the Harrisons. This worried Caleb's mother Bridget, as she and Bill were petitioning to take over Caleb's custody of the children as part-time caregivers while their father was in jail. Her worries were confirmed when two weeks later as Christmas approached, Melissa refused to allow the Harrisons to see their grandchildren. Again, the judge warned her to stop interfering with the family's access and granted Bill and Bridget co-parenting rights for the duration of Caleb's jail time. Four weeks later on April 16, 2009,

Bridget and Bill Harrison were attempting to get some nice. normalcy back in their lives. On a day when the children were at Melissa and Chris's house, Bridget stayed late at the school where she worked for a meeting. Seeing as she was not going to arrive home until around 9pm, Bill had arranged takeout for dinner and had begun eating it at the coffee table in front of the TV. When Bridget arrived home, the house was unusually dark, but she could hear the TV was on. When she approached the living room, There was no sign of Bill, so she went upstairs and couldn't find him there either. As Bridget came back downstairs, she noticed the bathroom door near the base of the stairs was closed,

and as she called out to Bill again, she tried the handle only to find it locked. She knew something wasn't right, and she used a pin to unpick the lock. There, slumped on the floor, bent over and wedged between the toilet and the door, was Bill unresponsive. Shortly after calling 911, first responders arrived pronouncing Bill dead. He was 65 years old. When examining the scene,

it was found that Bill had removed his wedding ring and necklace and had taken out his Swiss Army knife. He had also taken his blood pressure and pain medication out. The pathologist determined that he had died of acute cardiac arrhythmia. A non-phorxic autopsy was performed, which found that Bill had suffered a broken sternum and a large bruise on his scalp.

What this concluded was that either Bill had fallen, breaking his sternum, leading to heart arrhythmia, or that he had a heart arrhythmia leading to him falling and breaking his sternum. There was no way to tell either way, but what was decided was that Bill had died a natural death. When Bill died, it was a relief to the Harrison family that the children were staying at their mum's house and weren't in the house when he was found. Caleb found

out in prison and was allowed out under strict supervision and in his jail uniform, under the direction that he was only allowed to view his father's body. With Caleb behind bars, it was up to Bridget to break the news to the kids about their grandfather's death. They were currently having custody time with their mother and Chris, so Bridget went to the school to see them there. When she arrived, she was told that they weren't in school. The kids had said they were going on a trip, but Bridget didn't know anything about any trip. Next, she went to Melissa and Chris's house, and they weren't there, nor had they been since before Bill had died. But Bridget wasn't due to take over custody for a few more days,

so she organised her husband's funeral as she waited. The day Melissa was due to drop the kids off at the Harrisons, she officially broke the court order by not showing up. A nationwide police bulletin was put out to find them. The kids never made it to their grandfather's funeral. As family and friends came to terms with Bill's death, and the fact that the kids were missing, something else didn't sit right with Bridget. She questioned how Bill had just suddenly died.

She wondered why he was slumped the way he was, and she asked herself why he had locked the bathroom door in the first place, something he wouldn't usually do when home alone. She was concerned that Melissa had used Bill's death as an opportunity to run away with the kids. With Bill gone and Caleb behind Barclay, Bridget was left to fight on her own for her grandkids. Focusing herself, she applied to the court for full custody of the children, even though the authorities had no idea where they actually were.

This was granted on a temporary basis until the family was found. Three months into Caleb's sentence, he was paroled and returned home to live with his mother. In the meantime, unbeknownst to the police, police or the Harrisons, Melissa had actually abandoned her house in Mississauga, which had a mortgage of over $200,000 still owing. Her police officer father was a guarantor on her mortgage and told the police he had no idea where she was. It took almost three months after that, but Melissa's father found her. By this time, she had given birth to her third child with Chris, and Chris had changed his name. trying to create a new identity.

But Melissa's father didn't advise the police that he'd found the runaways. They were eventually found because of a mistake made by Chris, a slip-up. A rent check for the couple's new home was attempted to be cashed, but in Chris's real name, not the name he'd changed to. The family had moved to Nova Scotia. In November of 2007, seven months after Bill's death, death, Bridget and Caleb were told that the police had located them. They had tried to start a new life and a new home in the small village of London Derry. When police arrived at the house,

Melissa was arrested and charged with parental abduction. She was released on $30,000 bail, which was paid for by her police officer brother, and was told to have no contact with her two oldest children or Caleb or his mother Bridget while she awaited trial. The two children were returned to Caleb and Bridget full time on the condition that Caleb abided by his parole. He was to refrain from driving, which would require him to heavily rely on Bridget for everything from driving him to work to getting the kids to and from school. But he had them back and he and his mother waited for the court date, where they were prepared to again fight for the children together. In April of 2010, a hearing was set in the family court where Melissa was set to plead guilty

to parental abduction. Shortly before that, she'd been arrested again for breaching the conditions of her bail when she was found at the Harrison residents trying to visit the children after she'd been ordered to have no contact with them or the Harrisons. Bridget had prepared to testify in court at the end of April. She'd written a victim impact statement which was to be read, describing her painful journey from the imprisonment of her son to the untimely death of her husband and then the abduction of her grandchildren.

She would be there to hear Melissa admit her guilt. The morning before the hearing, in the family court, Bridget got up early as she usually did, well before 6 a.m. She made breakfast and helped get the kids ready for school, as Caleb also got himself ready for work. It would be another 18 months before Caleb would receive his driver's license back, but they were making do-okay in the meantime. The one-year anniversary of Bill's death had just passed and the family was moving forward. That afternoon, Bridget didn't arrive at school to pick the kids up. The older child was eight and his teacher deemed him old enough to walk home by

himself, so she let him go. At approximately 3.30pm, he walked through the front door of their home to find his grandmother Bridget dead at the bottom of the stairs. She was 63 years old. 8-year-old ran to a neighbor for help with his grandmother, and when the paramedics arrived, they felt an eerie sense of deja vu, as they stood just steps away from the bathroom, where a year earlier, almost to the day, they had attended the death of Bill Harrison. Bridget was found lying on the floor at the bottom of the stairs,

with her feet and legs facing outwards on the floor. Her head and shoulders were on the first and second steps. Her purse and glasses were scattered, which indicated she might have been preparing to leave the house to collect the children from school. There was an abrasion on her chin and red marks on her neck. With what they described as a violent fall down the stairs, it was possible that she had sustained her injuries during that fall.

It was noted that the stairs were carpeted and that she had a pair of crocs still placed firmly on her. feet. There was no sign of forced entry, but the doors were unlocked when her eight-year-old grandson returned home. This time, a coroner attended the scene and voiced concerns about the marks, possibly bruising, on her neck. Unlike Bill's death, which only warranted a non-phornsic autopsy to confirm his natural cause of death, this time a coroner requested a full forensic autopsy. be carried out. Bridgett was found to have a broken vertebrae in her neck and several broken ribs. Although the autopsy did not reveal the cause of death, her neck injuries raised concerns.

The chief pathologist advised police that it was worrisome that Bridget had broken vertebrae to both the front and back of her neck, possibly with neck compression. He also made mention of his concern now over the death a year earlier of Bill, just feet away. There were injuries to support the theory of a fall, including multiple spinal fractures, but there were also things which didn't support this finding. There were no hip or pelvis fractures, no wrist fractures, and no scalp bruising. There were also injuries which the pathologist believed supported possible asphyxiation. Bridget suffered skin injuries on the front of her neck, called patikii, which is the gathering

of small blood vessels at the surface of the skin from trauma. She also had front neck strap muscle hemorrhages and laryngeal fractures. But there just wasn't enough evidence to suggest either way, the fall or asphyxiation, so Bridget's death was labelled undetermined. Because of this, the coroner then updated Bill's file to the same category, undetermined. But Bill had been cremated, so no further testing would be able to be performed. With no signs of a struggle and nothing to suggest foul play, police had no choice but to go with the theory that Bridget had fallen down the stairs

in a rush to get out the door. The parental abduction hearing was cancelled. And Caleb, not wanting to be anywhere near Pitch Pine Crescent where both of his parents had died, went to stay in a hotel. Broken by his mother's death and still reeling from his father's, he was back with his girlfriend, Carinda. He had a job at an electronics store and was still making do without his license. His neighborhood friend was able to take his kids to school.

Caleb was awarded temporary sole custody, which had previously sat with Bridget, and Melissa was only allowed to see the kids during supervised visits. Caleb wanted the children to be happy, though, so after some time he allowed Melissa to have unsupervised access. They would sometimes stay with her for a week at a time, with their other half-siblings, and then return to Caleb for a week. Caleb himself wasn't doing so well. He was finding it difficult to cope with all of his losses

and had confided in friends that he felt depressed. Soon his depression got the better of him and he began to drink again, resulting in things between him and Melissa beginning to unravel again. By now, she and Chris had moved back to Mississauga with their other kids, But Caleb had decided to start following the court order again

and stopped allowing her the unsupervised visits. Senior Sergeant Greg Amaroso was an acting detective at the time. He was assigned to lead the coroner's investigation into Bridget Harrison's sudden death. The sole purpose of the investigation was to determine whether Bridget's death was an accident or homicide. After being briefed on the family's history, he canvassed the neighbourhood before directing other investigators to interview specific people. He requested that officers speak to Caleb, to a tenant who at the time was living in the basement of the Harrison home,

to a delivery man, and then of course to Melissa and Chris. No one was considered a suspect, as there was no evidence that a crime had even been committed, but there was enough suspicion that the loose ends needed tying. Caleb was taken into Peel Regional Police Station for questioning. He told the officers that when he viewed his mother's body, he had noticed the mark on her face near her chin and that it had not been there that morning.

Caleb was very calm and cooperated with all questions. When he was asked to take a polygraph, he obliged. He then asked them to work. look closely at his ex-wife and her partner. 30-year-old Melissa Merritt was also brought in for an interview. She read out a statement prepared by her lawyer, which basically said that she understood she isn't a suspect, and if that wasn't correct, she will end the statement now and speak to her lawyer.

She then said she was making the statement for the following reasons. Quote, I've been told that if I do not make a statement, the police. officers will continue to come to my house until I do. I have spoken to the access center. I have supervised access with my children. I've been advised that the police have spoken to them and therefore made my access to my children very difficult and so far it's been stopped. I have been told by the police that if I didn't make a statement, the police would speak to the crown in charge of my previous charges and unless my lawyer tells me to do so I will not sign any document nor take a polygraph in her interview Melissa spoke about the odd timing between Bill's death and Bridget's

death I think it's weird that she passed away like a week after Bill like it was almost like a week between the anniversary of yeah I don't know what you call it but say the anniversary of Bill passing away He had passed away for one year and then I think it was almost like a week later that she had passed away. I think that's odd. But, you know, I kind of then when you start thinking about it, it's like, well, it was a year anniversary since her husband passed away. Maybe, you know, like I said, I've heard the stress killed. I've heard, you know, like it can kill you or can just eat away at your body or whatever. I've been told that because I've been stressed out, you know, since my kids were taken from me.

And my doctor's like, you need to take it easy. like because it'll feel like I have ulcers now that I'm on medication. Are you? I was going to ask are you on medication? Yeah. So because I'm just always worrying and I don't see them and I'm stressed out about everything that's going on. And I thought about it, I was like, that's really weird. Like that close of a time span.

But then sometimes like that I'm thinking, well, maybe the one year anniversary get upset again. You feel like you go through that remorse again. I don't know. Yeah. Um, as to like, you know, when I don't know anything that would have happened to or I don't, I've got, you know, my worries about things, but. And what would those worries be? Well, not so much worries. It's just, um, when I was with Caleb, you know, I'm not, I don't want to be like, you know, I've already been told by Detective Amarro so that fingers are being pointed and I'm not in any way pointing fingers. Yeah.

Yeah. But when I was with Caleb, he didn't have a good relationship with his mom. Okay. I'm not saying that's enough to do something to her, but he didn't have a great relationship with his mom. They had, you know, they would argue a lot. I know that they had a rough, you know, growing up stage where they wouldn't get along. I don't know. Like, and again, I don't know how she died. I don't know what she looked like. I don't know if she was assaulted. I don't know if she looked at her. I don't know anything about that. So I don't want to be making any assumptions that he beat the hell out of her and she died because I don't know. Like, I don't know what she

look like. You know, like if, you know, her face was all bashed in, then maybe it would be a little... Melissa added that one of the contributing factors to her and Caleb's separation was that Caleb had attacked her. She reminded them that Caleb was previously convicted of domestic assault. At one point, she said, I know what he did to me and I know what he's capable of doing. I'm not pointing fingers. You asked me what popped into my head, and this is it. All that popped into my head is, I wonder if. The police went to Melissa and Chris's house and asked Chris to accompany them to the station to give a statement. He agreed.

During his interview, he was laid back and unfazed. He was told it was a witness statement and he was not considered a suspect. But when Caleb was brought up, Chris labeled his partner's ex-husband as unpredictable and violent, suggesting they needed to be looking at Caleb as potentially being someone who would want to hurt his mother. But Caleb's alibi was airtight. He was at work the whole day and there was proof that he hadn't left. Chris was asked if he would be willing to take a polygraph and he declined,

stating that Melissa's father, by then a former Toronto police officer, had told him that they were unreliable. A week after the investigation, into Bridget's death began, it ended. Sergeant Amaroso was assigned to other matters after it was established that Bridget Harrison's death was not believed to be the result of homicide and that the circumstances that raised questions

were likely just coincidences. In the meantime, some of Bridget's family, including Caleb's uncle, were harboring doubts over his innocence. They kept coming back to, questions over whether he had something to do with his mum's death. The family originally thought it might have been Caleb. He was living in the same house as his parents, had a documented alcohol problem, and ongoing disputes regarding the assaults on Melissa. Even though Caleb was

able to prove he was at work that day, they didn't have an exact time of death for Bridget, so it couldn't be stated for sure that he didn't do it. As 2010 drew to a close, Bridget's family were wrestling with so many unanswered questions. The police weren't overly interested, though. They had determined that there wasn't any foul play. Over the next two years, Caleb got on with life without his parents and focused on just being there for his kids. In 2013, Melissa attempted to gain partial custody of the kids again.

With the time that had passed, Caleb decided to let water under the bridge and agree to her having unsupervised access again. They had an arrangement where the kids would spend an extended period with her, Chris and their other kids over the summer. The night before the changeover where the kids would be going back to pitch pine crescent with Caleb, Melissa and Chris attended their daughter's ball game where Caleb was coaching. They acknowledged each other on the field, but didn't speak. After the game, Melissa and Chris took their kids to a local restaurant near Walmart

on the way home. The following morning, Caleb didn't turn up to work. His co-worker thought it was strange when he was even 10 minutes late because Caleb was so reliable. After trying for a couple of hours to get through to him, his co-worker decided to go by the house and make sure everything was okay. Around midday, the housekeeper answered the door and said that she didn't think Caleb was in and that she'd already been there for two hours. She never cleaned his room anyway, she said. Caleb's co-worker said that there may be a chance he could still be in there, so the housekeeper agreed to let him in to check. As they both walked up the stairs, the work friend began calling out for Caleb as he approached his bedroom door.

When he walked into Caleb's room, he found him lying in his bed, a blanket pulled up to his chin and his sleep mask still on. It was only when he ventured closer, he realized that Caleb was dead. When the paramedics arrived, one of them said to himself, I've been here before. He was the first on the scene of Bridget's death three years earlier. Caleb Harrison was 41 years old. At around 2pm, a uniformed officer pulled up at Melissa and Chris's house

where they were home with her and Chris's children as well as Caleb's two, and they were notified of his death. This was the day that the two kids were due to go back to their dad. At the scene, Caleb was found to have significant bruising and abrasions on his neck and chin, His knuckles were swollen, he had a cut on one hand, and deep scratches and bruises on his chest. It appeared that he'd been deceased for a number of hours as Rigamortus had set in. Both the coroner and Detective Rice had concerns that this was a homicide, and within a matter of hours their hunch was confirmed

when the pathologist located a number of other injuries to Caleb's head and chest, inflicted by an elongated object they thought might have been a rod or a bar or even a baseball bat. They also found evidence of neck compression and by 5pm that evening this was presented as the cause of death. Caleb had been strangled. Two police officers returned to Melissa and Chris's house that evening to conduct recorded interviews. The pair were not aware that Caleb's death. was considered a homicide just yet. At that time, his death was just marked as suspicious.

The police spoke to Melissa and Chris separately in their unmarked police car, recording each conversation with full disclosure that they were not considered suspects. An appeal was made to the public for information from outside the Harrison home, stating that Caleb Harrison's cause of death hadn't yet been confirmed, but he'd last been seen coaching his children at a baseball diamond on Thursday evening. They said they'd like to get some background and history on Caleb's movements in the last few weeks, particularly those who had any contact with him after the baseball game where he was last seen. By now, Bridget's death was also being reviewed.

With the medical examiner having previously listed Caleb's mother's death as undetermined, the evidence of bruising around her neck meant that strangulation could not be ruled out. Caleb's family told the police that they needed to focus on Melissa and Chris. They firmly believed that the couple were responsible for murdering Caleb, with the motive being to get custody of the children.

The family also had their suspicions that Melissa and Chris were involved in the death of Caleb's mum Bridget. In the meantime, Melissa by default had gained full custody of the kids following Caleb's death. Over the following three to four days, both Melissa and Chris were interviewed numerous times. They were now fully aware that Caleb's death was ruled a homicide and that there may be requirement for further interviews. They were told to inform the children that their father's case was deemed a murder and that victim services would be in contact.

It was then announced to the public that Caleb's homicide was now being linked to his mother's death and that Bridget's death was no longer an accident. It was the first time in a long while that the family felt confident that the Peel Regional Police were taking their concerns seriously. Within days of Caleb's death, detectives had set up an operation to get

evidence. Up until this point, there was not one piece of physical evidence that Melissa or Chris had murdered Bridget or Caleb. Undercover officers went to Melissa and Chris's home, posing as garbage collectors. Inside the couple's trash were a pair of black rubber gloves and a pair of brand new looking running shoes. The shoes were traced to the local Walmart and police realized that the night before Caleb was found murdered, Melissa and Chris had taken their family to dinner at the restaurant next door to Walmart. When the store pulled their CCTV footage, Chris Vatori could be seen walking to the registers carrying the exact same pair of shoes. After testing was conducted on the gloves

found in the garbage, they found both Chris and Caleb's DNA. Chris and Melissa had no explanation for the finding. Lab results from the crime scene had also come back. Chris Vitori's DNA had been located under Caleb's fingernails. There was now no doubt that Chris was involved in Caleb's death, and the evidence was enough for an arrest, but they wanted evidence against Melissa too. They believed she was the mastermind behind it all,

and they were willing to risk the weight and obtaining evidence to prove it. By this time, Melissa had moved the entire family back to a rural property in Nova Scotia again. They were, after all, not facing any charges. But the police were watching them. They were now the top suspects in the murders of Bridget and Caleb Harrison. After they left, Peel Police gained warrants

to seize the couple's laptop from their former home, a homemade trailer left on a property which still contained some of their belongings. The computer showed a number of Google searches, which concerned them. What if a grandparent has legal custody and dies? How long after a death does it take to claim life insurance? If a grandparent has custody of children and they die,

which of the parents gets the kids? They searched on how to pick a lock. How long does it take to die from choking? If a person who was being strangled had just died at the moment someone came to rescue and fought off the killer, would it be possible to revive him with CPR, or would they most likely be a hidden damage that would prevent it? They also searched for easy ways to kill and get away with it, and why would they keep someone's spine after autopsy? and finally how to get rid of searches and addresses on my computer.

There were also searches for bump keys and mortise locks, which was the exact type of lock on the front door of the Harrison's home. And every now and then a Google search was made for Bridget and Bill Harrison and then how to tell if your phone is tapped. The investigation into Melissa and Chris continued behind the scenes. as the family was assured that the police were working at full throttle. They had obtained judicial authorisations to intercept the private communications of the couple, including wiretaps, room probes and computer key logging software.

They were preparing to catch them out. Just to go back a bit, in 2012, the year before Caleb died, Melissa and Chris had woken in the middle of the night to find their Nova Scotia bungalow on fire. Chris grabbed the children and fled out the window, along with Melissa, who was five months pregnant with her sixth child, her fourth with Chris. They weren't injured, but lost all their contents and their pets, and after moving temporarily to a hotel, they started a GoFundMe page which they named the Fittori Family Fire Fund. The front of the campaign bore a picture of the couple, sad-faced, in front of their burnt-out home.

They had a donation goal of $50,000 to help them start over, and they provided an email address for people to contact them. Months and months went by, and they'd only managed to make 10% of their requested funds. Skip to 18 months later, and a month of their requested funds. Skip to 18 months later, and a month after Caleb's death, they received an email from a woman wanting to help them with the fire fund. Sue Andrews introduced herself as being associated with a group of ladies who often pitched in to help others in need.

In the email, Sue told Melissa that the way the group works is that they all bring forward different causes and together decide where they'll be placing their resources. They had seen the newspaper articles about the fire, and they had agreed to help. Melissa responded to Sue, but was standoffish, saying she was worried that it was the media somehow involved in the offer. Sue assured her that it wasn't. After this, the two women began messaging constantly. Sue Andrews wasn't associated with the media, but she wasn't exactly a woman offering her goodwill,

either. Sue Andrews was, in fact, a number of law enforcement officers tasked with an approved undercover operation. The plan was to intercept the couple's online communications in hopes of obtaining further information on their ISP or internet service provider. Being careful to stick by the rules of the approved order to make contact, Melissa was free to respond or not to respond to any email. After the initial email exchange, Sue Andrew said she would not contact Melissa again, and then it was Melissa who chose to continue the communication. The email exchanges would go on for four months. Sue and her group offered various forms of financial assistance. Gift cards were sent, always electronically or direct to the retailer. These were to be used to purchase food,

gas, clothing and toys. Melissa accepted financial help in finding a long-term rental, and Sue offered to pay three months rent if it could go directly to the landlord. As the time went on, the family were also provided a hotel room and meals. Melissa mentioned to Sue that they still had their trailer with the family's belongings in it, back in Mississauga. They had tried to tow it away, but it swayed too much. Melissa said she needed $1,200 to hire a flatbed truck and asked if Sue knew anyone who could give her a loan. After this, the trailer was moved to a storage unit somewhere unknown. Police saw this as the perfect opportunity to gain authorized access to the couple's belongings to get listening devices into their home. If they could put gifts in with the trailer, they could place

listening devices into those gifts. But according to the warrant they had, Melissa would need to approve of someone to enter the trailer. So the mysterious friend Sue offered some further help. She said her nephew who had a hauling company would help move the trailer and its contents to Melissa and Chris. At this point, Melissa not only gave Sue the address where the trailer was, but she gave approval for Sue's nephew to go inside and repack the contents if necessary. The contents of the trailer were packed up and Sue had arranged for gifts for the couple to be added to the contents with listening devices placed inside.

One of these was a new computer. Over a series of months, police intercepted numerous conversations between Melissa and Chris. By January of 2014, they had gathered enough evidence to arrest Melissa and Chris for the murders of Bridget and Caleb Harrison. By January of 2014, almost five months after Caleb's death, a team of Peel Regional Police Officers with the assistance of local RCMP dispatch travelled to Nova Scotia. As they pulled up to the house, Chris opened the front door and walked out onto the front porch. The couple had no idea they'd been recorded for months, so when the officers placed them both under arrest, each for two counts of first-degree murder, they were shocked.

When officers went to handcuff Chris, they realized that due to his size, they would need to use leg irons to restrain him. The Children's Aid Society took all six children and placed them into emergency care, while the couple was taken to the Halifax Regional Police Building to be interviewed separately and where they were both charged. Taken into a Halifax courtroom in handcuffs today, 33-year-old Melissa married and her 36-year-old husband Christopher Fattori were remanded into custody. They've been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of 41-year-old Caleb Hayer.

Harrison and a 63-year-old mother, Bridget. That allows the arresting agency, in this case, Peel Regional Police time, to come down, take the individuals back. It's in Italy-crossed Nova Scotia, where Merritt, Fetore and their children settle down, far from the eyes of Peel Regional Police. They've been here for three months, and they were really nice. They were arrested in this rural community yesterday. During Chris Vittori's 15-hour interview, he sat mostly with his arms folded. He sighed, over and over, rubbed his face and put his head in his hands on numerous occasions. When told of the charges, he explained that there was no way he was responsible for either murder.

The detective laid out all the evidence that they had on him. When Chris heard the bombshell that his DNA was found, found to be under Caleb's fingernails, he said, quote, well, they got there some other way because it wasn't from me. Even after being confronted with all the evidence, including recordings of conversations between he and Melissa in their home, he denied any wrongdoing. Then, the interview turned.

Chris Vitori, realizing that there was concrete evidence against him, decided that he would tell officers his version of events. In this clip, he starts by talking about his feelings toward Caleb Harrison. I didn't like Caleb Harrison. I didn't like the way you treated my kids. I didn't like hearing all the horrific stories. It was an awful family.

The children are my sh**. I and Moses had to live with it every day and I couldn't watch Melissa's attitude. and how sorry she was for everything that was going on. And I'm telling you right now that Melissa Barrett did not know anything until after it was done. What did you do? I killed Bridget Harrison and killed Harrison. How did you kill Bridget?

I knocked on her door. She opened the door. He pretended to have a letter to give to the children. She refused the letter, so I then forced my way into the house and I adopted. What did you do? I hit her a couple times. I then proceeded to squeeze her neck until she stopped breathing on the floor. Here, he refers to Melissa and Caleb's oldest child,

who walked home from school and found his grandmother. His name has been bleeped out for privacy. I can find her right over. I can't find her. That's not the plan. That's not what I want. I figured that she would someone would come home or Caleb would come home

and find her. I didn't expect her to come to the house. I didn't think that was going to happen. As for Caleb, I snuck out in the middle of the night. I also had no idea. I laughed. I went there. I caught him to his house.

We needed to go up to the bedroom. I hit him in the chest. And when he sprung up, we'd be in a struggle. I threw him into the shelving unit beside his bed. He tried to bribe him with money. I didn't speak to him. I just knocked him to the ground and I reached just choking me.

Melissa and Chris were then to be transported back to Ontario. They were placed together for the first time, this time in a room at the airport which the police had bugged before their arrival. The couple's conversation was recorded. Melissa asked Chris what he told the police, and he told her he was taking the rap for it to get her a lesser charge. He told Melissa that he'd said to the police that he only told her after it happened. Literally, accessory after the fact, he said.

He also told her that he confessed to being the one who conducted all of the Google searches. Melissa asked him why he did all of that. Chris replied that he wanted her to get their children. Between January and July, the couple were held on remand in Ontario until the hearing to determine if there was enough evidence to go to trial. Meanwhile, the case was being built and the family quietly worked hard behind the scenes on one other aspect of this convoluted family mystery,

the death of Caleb's father, Bill Harrison. the first death for this family. Bill's autopsy, which stated the cause of his death as unacetained, also clearly noted a fractured sternum, faint bruising over his nose in the midline and bruising on his neck. In the section marked inquest required was the word no. With the autopsies of both Bridget and Caleb having been scrutinised and the description from Melissa's partner Chris himself of how he killed the two,

the circumstances and the evidence around Bill's death were now being seen in a completely different light. Highly confidential information had also come to the attention of the police that at the time of Bill Harrison's death, he had become aware that Chris and Melissa had made plans to take the kids and skip town. Bill's death certainly would have been a convenient silencer. Chris Vittori's charges were now upgraded to include the second-degree murder of Bill Harrison and the trial for all three murders was set, but it would not begin until September of 2017.

So what went wrong and could these deaths have been prevented? It's simple to look back over the three deaths and wonder how the police dropped the ball. There were warning signs as far back as Caleb and Melissa's separation and the fabricating of stories of abuse against both Caleb and his parents from Melissa. The family argued that if Bill's death was investigated correctly, then the following deaths of their loved ones may have been prevented. But on the other hand, in Bill's case and in Bridget's to an extent, the police had no evidence that a crime had been committed, while the chief pathologist and others involved expressed concern, in the end, the death was determined to be unexplained. It was only in light of Caleb's death,

which clearly showed evidence of foul play that the other deaths could be viewed in a new light. In September of 2017, Melissa Merritt and Chris Vittori's trial began. It would go for three months. Both faced first-degree murder charges for Bridget and Caleb Harrison, and Chris, by himself, faced a third charge for the second-degree murder of Bill Harrison. Chris Vittori was accused of physically committing the murders alone, and Melissa Merritt was accused of conspiring in their deaths. Her lawyer, Joel Hector, argued that there was no evidence that Melissa had planned to kill anyone. Even though Chris had admitted in a taped interview to the two murders,

he, along with Melissa, was now pleading not guilty to all the charges. Chris wanted to officially take back his taped admission and attempted to plead guilty to a new charge of manslaughter. He said he only intended to hurt Caleb, not kill him, but his request was denied. He would still go on trial for first-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty. Crown prosecutor Eric Taylor presented the deaths as being the result of a long-standing custody battle between Caleb Harrison and Melissa Merritt.

Melissa and her then new partner, Chris, grew increasingly frustrated with the involvement of Caleb's parents and their children's lives. That led to several custody disputes that wound up in court and ultimately a plan. cultivated by Melissa to kill them all systematically. The jury was played all recorded conversations and all police interviews. They were presented with the theory that Chris Vittori first killed Bill Harrison the same day that Melissa and Chris were accused of parental abduction. Then he killed Bridget Harrison in the same home one year later. The day before she was due to to testify at Melissa's parental abduction trial.

And then three years later, Chris Vitori snuck into the Harrison home for the third time, this time wearing shoes he had just purchased at Walmart and a pair of latex gloves and beat Caleb Harrison with a baseball bat while he slept. The timing was important because it was the night before Caleb was due to take back custody of his children. When Chris took the stand, he recounted his police tape confession. He stated that he was placed under duress and was forced to make that statement to protect his partner Melissa. Although he described in detail in the interview how he physically attacked Bridget and Caleb, he was now stating that he'd made it up because under such duress,

he felt it was the only way out of the interrogation room. When it came to Caleb's murder charge, Chris admitted that he had an altercation with him at the house. He said he and Melissa just wanted extra time with the children, and his plan was just to knock Caleb around. When they fought at Caleb's home, the struggle turned deadly and according to Chris, he accidentally killed Caleb. Melissa's defense focused on the wire-tapped conversations that the police had accessed. They presented a situation where hundreds of hours of taped recordings

and transcripts were filled with constant notes of unintelligible words. Melissa claimed that law enforcement had filled in the gaps to suit their agenda. The defense also accused a Peel Regional Police Officer who was tasked with transcribing wiretap evidence that would be used to incriminate the couple of making several significant mistakes which would, in turn, implicate them.

The jury reached their verdict after four days of deliberations. As over 25 members of the Harrison family looked on, the jury foreman stood to face the judge and read the verdicts aloud. 40-year-old Christopher Fetori was found guilty, a first-degree murder in the deaths of both Bridget and Caleb Harrison. but he was found not guilty of murder in the death of Bill Harrison due to insufficient evidence. 37-year-old Melissa Merritt was found guilty of the murder of Caleb Harrison, but on the murder of Bridget, his mother, the jury couldn't reach a verdict and so a mistrial was declared.

The pair sat in the prisoner's box steering expressionless across the courtroom, as members of the Harrison family gave victim impact statements. Elizabeth Gallant, Caleb's aunt and Bill's sister, said, We all have suffered from recurring, violent nightmares of our loved ones' last moments, and we will never forget the terror that plagued us for years, not knowing which family member might die under suspicious circumstances next, or when. Caleb's cousin, Kate Blackwell, wrote a statement that said, I hope that one day you realised that you destroyed an innocent family at the cost of your own.

Melissa Merritt and Chris Vatori both received life sentences with no chance of parole for 25 years. The six children were sent to live with Melissa's family. After the verdict, the family released a state state. to the media. Quote, we feel it is important to shed light on any failures or other shortcomings in the investigative process to ensure that corrective actions are taken by the public institutions involved, such as the police, coroners and forensic services, so that no family has to endure the anguish that we have suffered.

Due to these lingering questions over the police handling of the murders, Peel Police Chief Jennifer Evans launched an internal review of the Harrison family's death investigations. Pending the appeals process and the length of the study, the finding would be made public when deemed appropriate. The review was postponed before Chief Evans apologized to the Harrison family for delaying dealing with the issues and made a personal request that they trust her that the new review would be a top priority. The family requested that the Attorney General hold a public inquiry.

Six months after the trial ended, the Ontario Chief Coroner's Office announced a review of a series of what they called concealed homicides, including cases going back 30 years. The Chief Coroner also announced their own separate analysis of the three Harrison cases. The family had concerns. that if each agency reviewed their involvement separately, this would not, quote, have the scope, authority and independence necessary

to fully uncover the facts and prevent mistakes from being repeated. And the family argued, this issue would be exacerbated by the sheer number of investigators involved across the three deaths, including a minimum of four of the province's top coroners and forensic pathologists.

A member of Caleb's family said that they had been left with a lack of faith in the public systems meant to protect them. They had told the police for years that they needed to look at Melissa and Chris, and for years they were brushed off. The inquiries continue. Thanks for listening, and a huge thanks to Anna Priestland for writing this episode. I really appreciate all of your kind reviews on Apple Podcasts, and whenever I see them on Apple Podcasts, apps. Thank you so much. To support the show, you can follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Just search for Canadian True Crime. Or you could pledge $2 a month on Patreon and you'll get early access to all of my episodes with all of the ads removed. I also let my patrons in on what I'm doing, what cases I'm working on, what's happening with the show, video updates and more.

To check it out, go to www. patreon.com slash Canadian true crime. Today's podcast suggestion is One Eye Open, a British true crime podcast produced and hosted by the lovely Steffy. Hello, I'm Steffy, the host of One Eye Open, my very own true crime podcast. I write, research and produce each episode from my fancy little room here in England. Join me. as I delve deep thee into mysterious murders and painful punishments. The terrible tales are real, and although dark, I'm sure they'll appeal. I've been described as the Mary Poppins of true crime,

but you'll need more than a spoonful of sugar to help these crimes go down. I'd recommend a gin and tonic, a large one. If you like your true crime served with ice, lemon, and a touch of class, Then come and find me. Steffy, on my podcast one eye open. I'll be waiting for you. This episode, I am saying thank you to these patrons. Justin L. Ashley L.

Torkel, Kimberly S, Jen N, Caitlin E, Mara S, Lindsay N, Zoe K, Jason D, Tom C, Kelly H and Sam B. This episode of K, Canadian true crime was written by Anna Priestland, and audio production was by Eric Crosby. The host of the Beyond Bazaar True Crime podcast voiced the disclaimer, and the Canadian true crime intro song was written by We Talk of Dreams. I'll be back soon with another

Canadian true crime story. See you then.