New trial 45 years later for man convicted of ordering couple’s murder

A man convicted of a double murder that he maintains he never committed obtains, 45 years later, a new trial ordered by the Minister of Justice.

It took more than four decades for Claude Paquin to get another chance, having been convicted of the murders of Ronald Bourgouin and Sylvie Revah in 1978.

“I am finally going to be a completely free man,” Paquin told us, he who still had to comply with strict conditions of release.

At the time, star informer Bernard Provençal testified against Paquin and claimed that the latter had ordered the murder of the couple. Their bones were discovered by hunters in Saint-Colomban in the Laurentians several months after their disappearance.

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 Minister of Justice to obtain a review of his convictions. His story was told on the show Innocence Quebec Projecta show hosted by Marie-Claude Barrette, which showcased the work of lawyers and students who try to shed light on cases of judicial errors.

A saga that has lasted for 45 years*

• June 1978: Ronald Bourgoin and his wife Sylvie Revah are assassinated
• October 1978: A hunter discovers their corpses in Saint-Colomban
• June 1983: Claude Paquin is convicted of two counts of premeditated murder
• December 1987: The Quebec Court of Appeal rejects his appeal
• November 1999: He obtains a reduction in the time limit for his parole
• January 2020: He files a request for review of his criminal convictions
• April 2024: Federal Minister of Justice orders retrial

According to the request for review of which our Bureau of Investigation obtained a copy, Provençal allegedly lied on more than one occasion about several key facts, which notably led the Minister of Justice to grant the request for review from the man of 81 years old.

“There are reasonable grounds to conclude that a miscarriage of justice probably occurred,” said Canada’s Minister of Justice, Arif Virani, in a press release released Monday.

The Honorable Virani’s conclusion “stems from the discovery of significant new information (…) which calls into question the fairness of the process.”

Conspiracy with the police

Claude Paquin’s lawyers who acted as part of the Quebec Innocence Project cited several disturbing facts in their request for review.

They claim in particular that the informer Provençal would have conspired with the police in order to have him convicted, to have monetized his version of the facts and to have obtained advantages from the police which he never disclosed (see extracts from the request revision).

The Provençal informer finally declared in an affidavit 13 years later that Paquin had nothing to do with this double murder, which was not enough for the Supreme Court of Canada itself to order a new trial.

“It was several years of work. Mr. Paquin can now walk with his head held high,” said his lawyer, Ms.^e Julie Harinen.

The case will have to be sent back to the Quebec courts, where the next course of action will be determined, taking into account that several witnesses and key people are now deceased.

EXTRACTS FROM THE REVISION REQUEST

“(…) The informer’s testimony was fabricated”

“The Provençal informer mentions certain advantages that he would have received in exchange for his declarations” in an affidavit

“The police would have turned a blind eye to major crimes committed by the Provençal informer”

“The Provençal informer would have even lived in a trailer belonging to the police officer (…)”

He “reveals that he systematically perjured himself in his testimony (…) and the police asked him to keep quiet from the court about any form of advantage that he might have received”

Source: Request for review sent to the Minister of Justice of Canada by Projet innocence Québec

* Sources: Department of Justice Canada and archives Montreal Journal