Chief Investigative Reporter Kevin Donovan, who brought you the Billionaire Murders, is back with Murder on Mount Olive, an investigation of a crime the courts closed the book on in 2012.
On a sunny day in August, 2009, a man is shot three times at a barbecue. What happens that day will put a budding young soccer star turned carpenter behind bars for life for a crime he says he didn’t commit.
This is the story of Christopher Sheriffe and his fight for justice.
Two years ago he contacted the Star, asking for a re-investigation of the case. He’s had many opportunities to say he was involved and get a break from the justice system. He says he won’t, because he’s innocent. In this series, we look at the cops, the lawyers, the prosecutors, the judges, the confidential sources, the evidence and the lack of evidence that put him behind bars.
Read the individual instalments of this investigation:
In the first instalment of our series re-examining a deadly shooting in 2009 in northwest É«É«À², the Star’s Kevin Donovan reconstructs the crime. Read part one.
A witness’s statement leads police to a nearby house, owned by Christopher Sheriffe’s parents. His case is being re-examined by the Star. Read part two.
Collins Bay Institution in Kingston, Ont., where Chris Sheriffe has been serving his sentence.
É«É«À² star illustration using photos from The Canadian Press, DreamstimeIn an interview at Collins Bay penitentiary, Sheriffe describes his life in prison and what he says happened the day of the killing. Read part three.
What police got from forensic evidence and witness accounts in the killing of Kim Golaub, a case being re-examined by the Star. Read part four.
The controversial photo with the accused, Chris Sheriffe, in the centre. He and others said it was a photo of a group of pals after another friend was killed. Police sources said this is the Hustle Squad, a feared subgroup of the Jamestown Crips.
É«É«À² Star illustration with court files and DreamstimeThe case against Chris Sheriffe seemed to be faltering until new evidence emerged. But the defence wouldn’t be able to challenge these witnesses. Read part five.
Chris Sheriffe’s family realized the police must have been looking for Chris’s brother, 25-year-old Lloyd Jr., not 58-year-old Lloyd Sr. Read part six.
The jury in Chris Sheriffe’s murder trial came back in less than a day.
É«É«À² Star illustration using photos from Kevin Donovan and DreamstimeThe trial hears step-by-step descriptions of the night before the killing, and of that afternoon. And a DNA error plays a key role. Read part seven.
