A man convicted of a double murder he says he never committed has been ordered to have a new trial by the Justice Minister, 45 years later.
After being convicted of the murders of Ronald Bourgoin and Sylvie Revah in 1978, it took more than four decades for Claude Paquin to get another chance.
“Finally I’m going to be a completely free person,” Paquin told us, who still had to adhere to strict release conditions.
At the time, star informant Bernard Provençal testified against Paquin and claimed that Paquin had ordered the couple’s murder. His bones were discovered by hunters in Saint-Colomban in the Laurentians several months after his disappearance.
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Paquin was convicted of two counts of premeditated murder five years later, in 1983.
innocence project
The man, who always maintained his innocence, spent 18 years behind bars before being released on parole. In 2020, he approached the Justice Minister for a review of his sentence. His story was told in the show Innocence Quebec ProjectA show hosted by Marie-Claude Barrett, showcasing the work of lawyers and students who try to shed light on cases of judicial errors.
A saga that lasted 45 years*
- June 1978: Ronald Bourgoin and his wife Sylvie Revah were murdered
- October 1978: A hunter found their bodies in Saint-Colomban
- June 1983: Claude Paquin convicted of two counts of premeditated murder
- December 1987: The Quebec Court of Appeal rejects his appeal
- November 1999: He gets his parole deadline postponed
- January 2020: He filed a request for review of his criminal conviction
- April 2024: Federal Justice Minister orders retrial
According to the review request, a copy of which our Bureau of Investigation obtained, Provençal allegedly lied on more than one occasion about several key facts, which specifically led to the 81-year-old’s review request to the Justice Minister. Had to accept.
“There are reasonable grounds to conclude that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred,” Canada’s Justice Minister Arif Virani said in a press release Monday.
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Honorable Virani’s conclusion stems from the discovery of “significant new information (…) that calls into question the fairness of the process.”
conspiracy with police
Lawyers for Claude Paquin, working as part of the Quebec Innocence Project, cited several troubling facts in their request for review.
They specifically claim that informant Provençal may have conspired with the police to convict him, to monetize his version of the facts, and to receive benefits from the police that he never disclosed (request redaction See quote from).
The Provençal informant finally declared in an affidavit 13 years later that Paquin had nothing to do with the double murder, which was not enough for the Supreme Court of Canada to order a new trial.
“It was many years of work. Mr. Paquin can now walk with his head held high,” said his attorney, Julie Harinen.
The case will have to be returned to the Quebec courts, where the next course of action will be determined, taking into account that many witnesses and key people are now dead.
Quote from revision request
“(…) the informant’s testimony was fabricated”
In an affidavit “the Provençal informant mentioned certain benefits that he would have received in exchange for his declarations”.
“The police may have turned a blind eye to major crimes committed by a Provençal informer.”
“The Provençal informant may also have lived in the police officer’s trailer (…)”
She “revealed that she systematically gave false testimony in her testimony (…) and that the police asked her to keep quiet about any benefits she might have received from the court”.
*Source: Department of Justice Canada and Archives montreal journal