The man who shot Jane Creba sat across the table from two Toronto police detectives, slouching and swiveling in his chair, looking relaxed.

“I hope you find out what’s going on, with your investigation,” Jeremiah Valentine said in an August 2006 interrogation videotaped by Toronto police.

In three months, Valentine would be charged with second-degree murder in Creba’s death. At his trial, he would plead guilty to shooting the bullet that fatally struck Creba in the back as she walked down bustling Yonge St. on Boxing Day 2005.

As he questioned Valentine, Det. Sgt. Savas Kyriacou — the veteran homicide detective who dedicated five years of his career to the Creba case — knew he did not yet have enough to arrest Valentine, who was a main suspect. But the soft-spoken detective issued what can now be interpreted only as a warning.

“We’re missing one little piece of the puzzle, with the eyes and nose on it,” Kyriacou told Valentine. “We’re this close.”

When Creba, an outgoing 15-year-old Toronto high school student, was caught in brazen afternoon cross-fire between rival gangs, her death made international headlines. The senseless slaying became emblematic of the violence that rocked the city in 2005, a time so fraught with shootings it became known as the Year of the Gun.

After a months-long, unconventional investigation that involved hours of wiretapped conversations and up to 50 officers and civilians, Kyriacou ultimately found his missing puzzle piece. Valentine was sentenced to life in prison, and three other men were convicted in her death — one of murder, and two of manslaughter.

Alongside his partner, Det. Sgt. Brian Borg, who joined the homicide squad just six weeks before Creba’s death, Kyriacou helped establish a legal precedent — one that the unit commander of the Toronto police homicide squad says has changed the way the force investigates public shootings.

On the 10th anniversary of Creba’s death, the Star spoke with the two lead homicide detectives about the impact of Creba’s death and the legacy of the investigation.

‘To try to convict of murder, that was new’

One dead and six wounded. More than one shooter. Dozens of potential witnesses. One thing was clear to Borg and Kyriacou from the outset: the Creba investigation was going to be complex.

Within 40 minutes of the 5:15 p.m. shooting, two arrests had already been made, including that of Jorrell Simpson-Rowe, who was carrying a 9-mm semi-automatic handgun. As the investigation continued, a theory about the series of events began to take shape: Detectives believed there had been a clash near the Eaton Centre between two rival gangs that soon after turned into a gun battle.

Police soon identified key players, after launching what then-police chief Bill Blair called the Herculean effort behind “Project Green Apple,” named after Creba’s favourite fruit. Investigators reviewed 250,000 wiretap calls and hundreds of hours of videotapes. There was undercover surveillance, offers of witness protection.

As the probe progressed and detectives still could not nail down whose bullet killed Creba, they made an important realization — “it didn’t matter,” said Borg.

“She was killed, in essence, because two people were trying to kill each other.”

The theory was that more than one person could be charged with murder in Creba’s death by their participation in a gun battle on a busy street — “If you are involved in a shootout, you are culpable,” Kyriacou said.

In June 2006, Toronto police arrested eight people they alleged were rival street-gang members. As they uncovered more information and cases worked their way through court, the charges changed, suspects were added and dropped.

Valentine was arrested in November 2006, largely due to incriminating testimony from a drug dealer, and his guilty plea — he was sentenced to life in prison — was a major boon. But legally, the most significant conviction was that of Simpson-Rowe.

The 17-year-old had been a carrying a handgun, but it did not fire the bullet that killed Creba. Detectives and prosecutors believed he could be found guilty of murder nonetheless, although there was no legal precedent for that in Canada.

“To try to convict of murder, that was new,” said Gerry Ferguson, a University of Victoria law professor, who was written about the Simpson-Rowe decision. Prior to this case, a non-shooter involved in a gun battle would be likely to face a lesser charge of manslaughter, he said.

Simpson-Rowe appealed the conviction, but the Ontario Court of Appeal found he “substantially contributed” to Creba’s death by engaging in a mutual gunfight on a busy street — one he knew was likely to cause someone’s death, even if the deceased wasn’t his target.

As a result, Ferguson said, prosecutors are now more likely to pursue murder charges in homicide cases where a gun battle is involved.

That’s hugely significant, says the unit commander of the Toronto police homicide squad, Staff Insp. Greg McLane. Unfortunately, gun battles in public places are no longer exceedingly rare, he says, referencing the fatal shooting inside the Eaton Centre food court in June 2012, the Danzig St. shooting one month later, and the shooting at Muzik nightclub in August.

Now, “when we move forward in our investigations, we have the ability to lay charges against people who were parties to the offence, and not just the person who was known to have pulled the trigger that fired the fatal bullet,” McLane said.

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The stakes are high in these investigations, McLane said. Police need to be able to lay charges that will discourage future crimes.

“I take a lot of pride, along with Brian (Borg), that we contributed to something that’s going to carry on.”

‘The final straw’

The day after Creba’s shooting, during a news conference packed wall to wall with media, Kyriacou gave an earnest assessment of the shooting’s impact. “Toronto,” he said, “has finally lost its innocence.”

Kyriacou got some flak for it, Borg said. In briefings with the media, homicide investigators are typically expected to be calculated, to stick to the facts, to show little emotion. Kyriacou said it was a spontaneous comment from the heart.

“It was one of those things where, if I thought about it, I wouldn’t have said it,” he said.

Innocence, a sense of safety, a good reputation — whatever Toronto lost, there was no denying 2005 was a violent year. Homicides spiked to 80, almost 25 per cent higher than the previous year, and 52 of them were shootings.

Borg and Kyriacou agree Creba’s death was as high-profile as it was precisely because it was a tragic coda.

“On the heels of a very bad summer, which went into a very bad fall, the year ended with a very young, vibrant lady being murdered by two gangs,” Borg said. “I think it was the final straw for a lot of people.”

Creba’s death is considered the catalyst for new crime-fighting initiatives, including the creation of the provincially funded Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (this fall, the provincial government revealed plans to dramatically cut annual funding to TAVIS).

Both detectives felt tremendous pressure to make quick arrests, and in the early months, Borg and Kyriacou worked exclusively on the case.

Borg, who was a seasoned police officer but new to the homicide squad, picked up a lot from Kyriacou — and the experience he gained on the Creba file proved invaluable when, in June 2012, he was the homicide investigator on call when gunfire erupted inside the Eaton Centre food court.

“I turned on the TV, I could see what was happening down at the Eaton Centre, and I immediately knew that this was going to be my case,” Borg said. “I remember turning to my wife and saying, ‘I don’t know if I can go through this again.’ ”

Borg recognized it would be vital to mobilize and get a lot of officers on the ground, gathering evidence and witness accounts. “You just pick up and you go,” Borg said.

Both officers are now at the end of their policing careers; Kyriacou retires from the Toronto police this month and moves over to a newly formed investigative unit at the office of Ontario’s provincial advocate for children and youth. Borg says 2016 will be his final year with Toronto police.

There’s no doubt the Creba case was among both detectives’ most memorable cases. Kyriacou, who was the main police contact for the Creba family, says he often thinks of the girls’ parents and her two siblings.

Borg frequently gets asked if the Creba case will leave the most lasting impression once he retires. Undoubtedly, it had a profound impact on him, he said.

“But I’ll be very honest with you. For me, those are not the cases that I remember. I actually remember the ones I didn’t solve more than the ones I did.”

Wendy Gillis can be reached at wgillis@thestar.ca .

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