Guy Paul Morin

Guy Paul Morin is a Canadian man who was wrongfully convicted of the 1984 rape and murder of his nine-year-old neighbour, Christine Jessop, in Queensville, Ontario.

Guy Paul Morin is a Canadian man who was wrongfully convicted of the 1984 rape and murder of his nine-year-old neighbour, Christine Jessop, in Queensville, Ontario. His conviction was overturned after DNA evidence excluded him, and he was formally acquitted in 1995. A later public inquiry found major errors in the investigation and prosecution, and in 2020 police identified Calvin Hoover as the source of semen recovered from Jessop’s underwear.

Background

Guy Paul Morin became a suspect after the 1984 killing of nine-year-old Christine Jessop in Queensville, Ontario. The case became one of Canada’s best-known wrongful conviction cases.

Trial and conviction

Morin was tried twice and was convicted of first-degree murder in 1992 after being acquitted in an earlier proceeding. His conviction was widely criticized because of disputed evidence and investigative errors.

Exoneration

In 1995, the Ontario Court of Appeal entered an acquittal after DNA testing excluded Morin. The acquittal ended his criminal case and cleared him of responsibility in the murder.

Public inquiry

The 1996 Kaufman Commission examined the case and concluded that the investigation and prosecution suffered from major failures, including tunnel vision, disclosure problems, and misuse of science.

Later identification of the killer

In 2020, Toronto Police Service announced that Calvin Hoover, who had died in 2015, matched DNA evidence linked to the crime.