A court document reveals that the planned attack on a prison official, which led to the investigation known as Project South involving police corruption and organized crime, was coordinated by suspects using fake identities on an encrypted messaging platform. Before the alleged assassination attempt, individuals are said to have utilized the Signal app to exchange personal details and images of the victim, a high-ranking corrections officer at the Toronto South Detention Centre whose identity remains confidential due to a publication ban.
The details are outlined in a legal submission filed by Crown prosecutors in the Ontario Superior Court. The document, based on conversations found on confiscated cellphones, illustrates how a suspected network offering contract killings is linked to the purported murder plot.
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Former Toronto police officer Derek McCormick pleads guilty in Project South investigation
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Crown won’t prosecute some charges laid in Project South police corruption investigation
The Project South inquiry was initiated in June 2025 after York Regional Police intervened in the alleged planned attack when the suspect’s vehicle collided with a police car stationed outside the official’s residence.
Initially, close to 30 individuals were arrested in connection with Project South, including seven Toronto police officers and one retired constable. One officer, who has since retired, pleaded guilty recently, and one civilian’s charge was dropped.
‘Hit Squad Required’
On June 16, 2025, four days before the thwarted murder attempt, a person identified as Dequon Lemonious, supposedly operating under the alias “Danny Phantom” on Signal, allegedly asked Median Jackson, known as “Lebron James,” to scout an address and verify the presence of a specific vehicle.
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