Claude Paquin, a man from Quebec who was wrongly convicted of a double murder and later acquitted after 41 years, has reached a multimillion-dollar agreement with Montreal and the provincial government.
The settlement was announced by all three parties in a joint statement on Friday. They expressed hope that this agreement, which avoids a lengthy trial scheduled for this fall, will help Claude Paquin move forward from this challenging period in his life.
In 1983, Paquin was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder related to the deaths of Ronald Bourgouin and Sylvie Revah, a couple killed in the Laurentians in 1978. He served 18 years in prison, receiving full parole in 2001 under strict release conditions that lasted for the next 23 years.
In 2024, the federal justice minister ordered a retrial due to new information suggesting a potential miscarriage of justice. Paquin, now 83, was acquitted on November 6, 2024. He credited his legal team from Projet Innocence Québec for his acquittal.
Paquin, represented by Woods LLP attorneys, filed a civil lawsuit in May 2025 against the City of Montreal and the Attorney General of Quebec for alleged misconduct by their agents, including Montreal police, the Sûreté du Québec, and the Quebec Crown prosecutor’s office. The lawsuit claimed that authorities were aware as early as 1983 that the informant’s testimony was false and that the physical evidence linking Paquin to the crime was fabricated or altered.
The lawsuit described Paquin’s ordeal as not just a miscarriage of justice but as a stolen life, with a sentence that extended beyond prison walls. His lawyers highlighted his prolonged unjustified deprivation of liberty, calling it the longest documented in Quebec.
While the lawsuit sought over $89 million in damages, the exact settlement amount remains confidential due to a non-disclosure agreement. As the lawsuit was resolved outside of court, the claims were not litigated, and the involved parties have agreed not to provide further comments.
