Claude Paquin finally acquitted of 2 murders, 41 years later

41 years after his conviction for two premeditated murders that he did not commit, Claude Paquin is now a free man.

Judge Lyne Décarie pronounced her acquittal at the Montreal courthouse Wednesday morning. The 81-year-old man, who walks with a cane, was quick to thank the judge. You just put me out of hell he declared.

The public prosecutor announced that it had no evidence to present to support the accusations against the octogenarian, who spent 18 years in prison. He also had to respect strict conditions since his parole in 2001.

These are situations that the department and all prosecutors seek to avoidadmitted the prosecutor for criminal and penal prosecutions, Maya Gold Gosselin.

Claude Paquin, who says he wants to take advantage of his freedom to travel, sent his first thoughts to the families of the two victims. I want parents to know that I never participated in this, never directly or indirectly.

Ronald Bourgouin and Sylvie Revah, friends of Mr. Paquin, were murdered in the Laurentians in 1978. Five years later, in 1983, Claude Paquin was found guilty of ordering their murders. The prosecution was then based mainly on the testimony of the informer Bernard Provençal.

Over the past four decades, Claude Paquin has always proclaimed his innocence. Finally, in 2024, with the help of lawyers from the Innocence Project Quebec, Minister of Justice Arif Virani ordered a new trial. He then claimed to have reasonable grounds to believe that there had been a miscarriage of justice in his case.

As part of a request for judicial review, the lawyers of the Innocence Quebec Project succeeded in demonstrating that the informer Provençal had perjured himself on several occasions and that he had conspired with the police to testify in exchange for certain advantages.

Claude Paquin intends to savor his victory and tame freedom before thinking about what comes next. They changed my life, my life is no longer the same the octogenarian told -, who is not yet able to say whether he will take steps to obtain compensation.