[1][4] The public inquiry was issued on 26 June 1996 by the Lieutenant Governor-in-Council, appointing Fred Kaufman, Q.C., a former judge of the Quebec Court of Appeal, as commissioner.
Her mother thought that, at 9 years old, Christine was too young to visit the detention centre, and had been left behind, on her own in Queensville, 60 km (37 mi) north of Toronto.
Two months later, on 31 December, her remains were found in a farmer's field in Sunderland Brock Township, 55 km (34 mi) east from her home; she had been stabbed to death and investigators discovered semen stains on her underwear.
The Crown claimed that the trial judge had made a mistake in directing the jury about the meaning of "reasonable doubt" and that the acquittal should thus be thrown out and Morin retried.
The Commission was officially mandated to "inquire into the conduct of the investigation into the death of Christine Jessop, the conduct of the Centre for Forensic Sciences in relation to the maintenance, security and preservation of forensic evidence, and into the criminal proceedings involving the charge that Guy Paul Morin murdered Christine Jessop.
[2][4] Twenty-five parties were given standing and numerous witnesses were called to testify who were either experts or participants in the administration of criminal justice from around the world.
[3] The report defines tunnel vision as a "single-minded and overly narrow focus on a particular investigative or prosecutorial theory, so as to unreasonably colour the evaluation of information received.
"[7] As such, many of Kaufman's 119 recommendations were systemic in nature, dealing with ways in which police and prosecutors can avoid a narrow mind set—ranging from better interviewing techniques and improved methods of gathering and storing evidence from a crime scene, to continuing education of officers.
[3] Jessop's real murderer remained unidentified until 15 October 2020, when Toronto Police named the killer as Calvin Hoover, who was 28 at the time of the case.
Following an autopsy, a sample of his blood was on file at the Centre of Forensic Sciences laboratory in Toronto, which is what detectives used to conclusively match his DNA to the Jessop crime scene.
While Calvin Hoover's name was mentioned more than once in the homicide case file—including when his wife told investigators that he was taking care of their kids and had nothing to add to her statement—he was never actually questioned.