Couple arrested in bizarre family deaths

(Update)
Peel police announcing arrests Tuesday in the death of a Mother and Son from Mississauga. 33-year old Melissa Merritt and her 36-year old common-law husband Christopher Fattore are each charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Caleb and Bridget Harrison.

This has been a very bizzare story from the beginning. Three members of the Harrison family lived and died in their home. Father Bill died unexpectedly at 3635 Pitch Pine Crescent in 2009. He was 65 and healthy, and police couldn’t determine his cause of death. The family just assumed it was a heart attack. Now, fast forward to April of 2010 when his wife Bridget was found dead at the bottom of their staircase. Police ruled her death suspicious. And last August their only child, 41-year old Caleb, was found dead in the family home, and police ruled it was a homicide.

When Bill Harrison died in his home in 2009 his son Caleb was in jail, serving time for drunk driving where he killed a taxi driver. Around that time, Caleb’s ex-wife Melissa Merrit abducted their two kids and disappeared for months with her boyfriend Christopher Fotorre.

Caleb and Melissa split in 2005 after he was charged with domestic assault.

Neighbours say Harrison had put past mistakes behind him and was a good dad: “He was an awesome dad, an awesome dad, a role model. He lived for his kids.”

After the unexpected death of his Father and suspicious death of his Mother, Caleb, who had full custody of his children, continued to live in his childhood home with them. Neighbours were heartbroken to hear of the deaths.

Inspector Goerge Koekkoek is with the Peel Regional Police: “I think the community at large is extremely devasted. The Harrison family was well liked by their neighbours.”

Peel police say their investigation of Caleb Harrison’s death led them down new avenues, which is how they determined his Mother was also murdered.

Inspector Koekkoek said: “The links didn’t come immediately apparent until Caleb’s passing and that was shed a light on the other deaths.”

Police say the death of Bill Harrison is still under investigation. And when it comes to motive, they aren’t saying anything.

Merritt and Fattore headed to Nova Scotia about four months ago and law enforcement officials there were a big part of solving this case. The couple will appear in court in Nova Scotia Wednesday. They will then be brought back to Ontario and appear in a Brampton court this Friday.