Claude Paquin, a man from Quebec who had been wrongly convicted of a double murder and later acquitted after 41 years, has reached a substantial settlement with Montreal and the provincial government. The agreement was announced by all three parties in a joint statement released on Friday. The City of Montreal and the Attorney General of Quebec expressed their hope that this settlement would help Mr. Paquin move forward from this challenging period in his life without the need for a lengthy trial scheduled for this fall.
In 1983, Paquin was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder related to the deaths of Ronald Bourgouin and Sylvie Revah, a couple who were killed in 1978 in the Laurentians. Following his conviction, Paquin served 18 years in prison before being granted full parole in 2001 under strict release conditions, which continued for the next 23 years. In 2024, the federal justice minister ordered a retrial based on new information that suggested a “miscarriage of justice likely occurred.” Paquin, who is now 83 years old, was acquitted on November 6, 2024.
Paquin attributed his acquittal to the diligent work of his legal team, which included members of Projet Innocence Québec. The case against Paquin heavily relied on the testimony of Bernard Provençal, a prominent police informant. However, Projet Innocence Québec uncovered evidence over time that cast doubt on Provençal’s credibility.
Represented by lawyers from Woods LLP, Paquin filed a multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit in Quebec Superior Court in May 2025 against the City of Montreal and the Attorney General of Quebec. The lawsuit alleged that agents of these entities, including Montreal police, the Sûreté du Québec, and the Quebec Crown prosecutor’s office, were negligent. It claimed that they were aware as early as 1983 that the informant’s testimony was false and that any physical evidence linking Paquin to the crime scene had been tampered with or falsified.
The lawsuit described Paquin’s ordeal as more than just a miscarriage of justice; it portrayed it as the theft of a life and an unjust sentence that extended beyond prison walls. While seeking damages of over $89 million, the exact settlement amount remains undisclosed due to a confidentiality clause in the agreement. As the lawsuit was settled out of court, its allegations were not subject to judicial scrutiny, and all involved parties have agreed not to provide further comments.
