Wilbert Coffin
Encyclopedia
Wilbert Coffin was a Canadian prospector
who was convicted of murder and executed in Canada. Montreal
journalist, editor, author and politician Jacques Hebert
raised doubt in Coffin's guilt in J'accuse les assassins de Coffin, published in 1963. The book led to a royal commission which upheld the conviction. See more at Coffin Affair
.
On 15 July 1953, the remains of Eugene Lindsey were found in the Gaspé region of Quebec
a month after his disappearance. The body had been torn apart by bears. On 23 July 1953, the bodies of Lindsey's 17-year old son Richard and 20 year-old Frederick Claar were also found, 4 kilometres away. The three men had last been seen going into the woods to hunt. Lindsey had graduated from high school in Pennsylvania the day before the trip. Coffin was accused of ambushing the three men and stealing more than 600 dollars. Coffin denied committing the murders, but admitting to stealing some of the men's luggage.
Coffin went through seven reprieves after his conviction where he was denied clemency by the Quebec Court of Appeals, the Canadian Supreme Court and the Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent
's cabinet. Finally, on 10 February 1956, Coffin mounted the gallows. He was refused his final wish of marrying Marion Petric, his partner and mother of his 8-year-old son James.
Indian
Frederick Gilbert Thompson confessed to the crime in 1958, fingering his friend Johnny Green as the killer of Richard. He later repudiated his confession and Canadian authorities dismissed his story as not credible.
Prospecting
Prospecting is the physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.Prospecting is a small-scale form of mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore...
who was convicted of murder and executed in Canada. Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
journalist, editor, author and politician Jacques Hebert
Jacques Hébert
Jacques René Hébert was a French journalist, and the founder and editor of the extreme radical newspaper Le Père Duchesne during the French Revolution...
raised doubt in Coffin's guilt in J'accuse les assassins de Coffin, published in 1963. The book led to a royal commission which upheld the conviction. See more at Coffin Affair
Coffin affair
The Coffin affair was an event in Canadian history in which a man named Wilbert Coffin was hanged for the murder of three men. The affair started in June 1953 in Gaspésie when three men from Pennsylvania were reported missing...
.
On 15 July 1953, the remains of Eugene Lindsey were found in the Gaspé region of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
a month after his disappearance. The body had been torn apart by bears. On 23 July 1953, the bodies of Lindsey's 17-year old son Richard and 20 year-old Frederick Claar were also found, 4 kilometres away. The three men had last been seen going into the woods to hunt. Lindsey had graduated from high school in Pennsylvania the day before the trip. Coffin was accused of ambushing the three men and stealing more than 600 dollars. Coffin denied committing the murders, but admitting to stealing some of the men's luggage.
Coffin went through seven reprieves after his conviction where he was denied clemency by the Quebec Court of Appeals, the Canadian Supreme Court and the Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent
Louis St. Laurent
Louis Stephen St. Laurent, PC, CC, QC , was the 12th Prime Minister of Canada from 15 November 1948, to 21 June 1957....
's cabinet. Finally, on 10 February 1956, Coffin mounted the gallows. He was refused his final wish of marrying Marion Petric, his partner and mother of his 8-year-old son James.
Posthumous
MohawkMohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
Frederick Gilbert Thompson confessed to the crime in 1958, fingering his friend Johnny Green as the killer of Richard. He later repudiated his confession and Canadian authorities dismissed his story as not credible.