MARION PETRIE, COFFIN'S MISTRESS, TESTIFIES BEFORE THE COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH

Centre d'archives de la Gaspésie/Musée de la Gaspésie. P123 Fonds Georges-Étienne Blanchard. Boîte 1.

MARION PETRIE, COFFIN’S MISTRESS, TESTIFIES BEFORE THE COURT OF QUEEN’S BENCH

In her testimony before the Court of Queen’s Bench, at Percé in 1954, Marion Petrie, Coffin’s mistress, stated that Coffin arrived at her place in Montréal with a valise in which there were a blue-checkered shirt, a couple of pairs of shorts, a couple of pairs of socks, a pair of blue jeans and a set of towels. The waist of that blue jeans measured 42 inches. It has been proven before the Percé jury that this valise and its contents had belonged to Frederik Claar, one of the victims. Here are a few excerpts from Marion Petrie’s testimony before the Court of Queen’s Bench.

EXCERPT FROM THE TESTIMONY OF MARION PETRIE, COFFIN’S MISTRESS, BEFORE A JURY OF THE COURT OF QUEEN’S BENCH ON THE 30TH OF JULY 1954
COURT TRANSCRIPTS FROM PAGE Z-26 TO Z-30

EXAMINED BY MTRE PAUL MIQUELON FOR THE PROSECUTION

Q. Will you look at this valise, which has been filed as P-34, and tell us if the valise that Wilbert Coffin...
THE COURT;
Q. If you have seen this before?
A. Yes, it was like that.
Mr. Paul Miquelon, Q.C. for the prosecution :
Q. Like that? Is it the same?
A. That’s the same.
Q. Do you remember – did you open this valise when Coffin arrived at your place?
A. Not the same day.
Q. Well, the next day, I suppose?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Will you give us what were the contents of this valise?
A. There was a blue-checkered shirt, there was a couple of pairs of shorts, a couple of pairs of socks, a pair of blue jeans.
Q. Talking about a pair of blue jeans, would you look at those, which have been filed as P-34, and tell us if you have seen those before? They have been torn since?
A. I see that.
Q. They were not torn when at the time, I understand?
A. ….What was the question again, please?
Q. I am asking you if you have seen those before: you said Mr. Coffin brought a pair of blue jeans?
A. That’s right.
Q. I am asking you if you have seen those before?
A. They look like a pair of his, but they are not the ones he had in Montréal with him.
Q. When he left for that trip, did he bring those jeans with him, the ones he had brought from Gaspé?
A. Yes sir.
Q. What is it about those that you say – those you saw in Montréal, between those and these?
A. The pair he had in Montréal, I fixed the cuff for him, and they were more new than that.
Q. And those that your are talking about, he brought with him at Val d’Or when he left?
A. When he left my house in Montréal, he took them away with him.
Q. And apart from you have told us about the work you had done on those jeans, apart from that, are they similar to the ones he took to your place from Gaspé?
A. Well, most jeans look alike when they are new.
Q. Were the pockets brown?
A. But these here look like a pair of his old ones.
Q. Where have you seen those before?
A. Down in York Center Gaspé, when I was down there.
Q. Will you look at that pair of jeans filed as P-36 and tell us if those could be Wilbert Coffin’s?
A. No, I don’t think they are his.
Q. Would that be too large for him?
A. No, I don’t think, no, when a man works in the woods, he has to have his clothes large.
Q. Now, apart from the jeans, what did he bring from Gaspé that day?
A. He had a pair of binoculars.
Q Do you know what became of those binoculars?
A. I gave them to captain Matte.
Q. Will you look at those binoculars, which have been filed as P-25 together with the case, and tell us if you have seen those before?
A. They look like the same pair he brought to Montréal with him.
Q. Was there anything else he brought to Montréal?
A. There was an odd-looking knife with a lot of gadgets on it.
Q. What became of those?
A. I also gave them to captain Matte.
…
Q. Were there any towels?
A. The towels were in the valise.
Q. When he left for his trip?
A. I put one in the valise when he left.
Q. And the towel you gave him when he left Montréal was it one he had brought home on that trip?
A. That was a set of four towels and one face cloth.
Q. What I want to know, Miss Petrie, is this: was that set of four towels in the valise when he arrived at your place?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Will you look at this towel, which has been filed as P-32, and tell us if you have seen this before?
A. Yes sir.

HOW CAPTAINS MATTE AND SIROIS WERE APPOINTED - COFFIN AFFAIR

HOW CAPTAINS MATTE AND SIROIS WERE APPOINTED

EXCERPT FROM THE BROSSARD REPORT
PART VII, VOLUME 2, PAGES 410 AND FOLLOWING
ON CERTAIN MAJOR INCIDENTS IN THE COFFIN AFFAIR

PRELIMINARIES
(A literal translation by Clément Fortin)

The Commission has studied, up until this day, this important part of the proof related directly to the events connected to the murder of the hunters and to the means set forth in Coffin’s defence by his counsels, lawyers, or others : it will now study certain major incidents of the affair.

Chapter 1

FOREIGN INTERVENTION

And

THE SELECTION OF CROWN REPRENSATATIVES

(A literal translation by Clément Fortin)

The choice of captains Matte and Sirois

Captains Matte and Sirois have described before this Commission in what circumstances they were appointed to investigate the disappearance of three American hunters.
Their testimonies were confirmed entirely by that of Mtre Cantin who was, at that time, legal adviser to the Department of the Attorney General, but was acting as de facto Assistant General Attorney with Mtre Frenette ; Mtre Cantin was in charge of criminal matters and, in particular, major crimes ; it is in this capacity that he supervised the Coffin affair as early as the 5th of July ; to this end, he had to rely mainly on the information he obtained from sergeant Doyon who was in charge of the Gaspé police station, as they were transmitted to him by Mr. Henri Charland, then assistant to Chief Lambert of the Provincial Police in Québec City; Mr. Charland, for all practical purposes, was in charge of all investigations in the judiciary district of Québec comprising half of the province. Informed that until the 11th of July, after the hunters’ abandoned pick-up truck was found, the only persons who, until then, had been in the bush and had made the discovery were guides, game and fish wardens of the Gaspé region, informed that the father of one of the victims was coming down to Gaspé and that American newspapers had themselves laid hands on the affair and were obviously interested in the results of the searches being carried out, he required that instructions be given sergeant Doyon to hasten the searches and to not let the voluntary searchers work alone, and had him informed that if he needed extra help, the Department would not hesitate to give it to him. Informed a few days later, through verbal reports made by Doyon to Charland, that Doyon pretended that three dead bodies had been found while only one had been found until then and that Doyon declared that Wilbert Coffin was under suspicion, being the last known man to have seen Eugene Lindsay, Mtre Cantin requested that Dr. Jean-Marie Roussel from Montréal and Mr. Maurice Hébert from Québec City be sent on the spot (15th of July 1953) ; he gave, on the 17th of July, orders to Mr. Charland so that vigilance and searching activities be doubled up to avoid that the Provincial Police be accused of not doing its job and of letting foreign searchers do it ; troubled by the contradictions contained in Doyon’s reports and with the slow progress of the investigation, mystified by a report from Doyon stating that he did not believe in a crime anymore, but thought it was an accident or, if there was a crime, that the murder would have been the result of a quarrel between the three hunters themselves, informed that during this important period of time Doyon had gone fishing to a private club, Mtre Cantin telephoned him and reprimanded him harshly; afterwards, informed on the 21st or 22nd of July, that Gaspé police officers and other persons, some of them searchers, were amazed at the familiarity, kindness, friendship that seemed to exist between Doyon and Wilbert Coffin, Mtre Cantin called Doyon again to let him know that he did not understand why Coffin was treated with as much familiarity and to advise him to be careful with him and to try to have him to come out with it. Then Mtre Cantin advised the Solicitor General that it appeared necessary, under the circumstances, to send, as this is often done, a superior officer of the Provincial Police to be in charge of the investigation.
Lieutenant Morel was first selected but unfortunately because of illness, he was not available ; then lieutenant Martin Healey of the Department of Criminal Investigations was chosen ; the latter was on vacation and was busy building his house, and asked to be exempted, this request was granted. Then Mtre Cantin and the Solicitor General chose captain Matte, after having considered lieutenants Morel and Healey. Against captain Matte’s objections, it was decided that he would go immediately ; foreseeing that the investigation would necessitate much travelling around the peninsula, Captain Matte insisted that he be assisted by Captain Raoul Sirois, a born Gaspesian knowing well the region and who was in charge of road traffic police. More that fifteen days had passed since the disappearance of the hunters had been reported and to date only one body had been found. Captains Matte and Sirois left on the evening of the 22nd of July and arrived in Gaspé the following day, two days before the member of Congress Van Zandt asked information, undoubtedly to please his constituents irritated by the sensational news coming from reporters hastily despatched to Gaspé and eight days before the Solicitor General receives the letter “so threatening” from the Canadian National Sportsmen’s Show.
Here is how that “most effective between “the though ones” began the search of his hanged man” under the pressure of American intervention!
At pages 42 and 43 of his book, Mr. Hébert, to better insult captain Matte, thinks fit to first praise his own investigator, the former sergeant Henri Doyon :
«Sergeant Doyon who was in charge of the investigation, behaved conscientiously; he never knowingly hid information that might have been useful to the law. Sergeant Doyon has proven simply that he was seeking the truth. Because, in this province, we require from the police that it places itself in the service of head hunters who are too often Crown attorneys, the spirit of law of sergeant Doyon could not influence the executioners appointed by the Department of the Attorney General. It was therefore logical that the investigation was taken away from him. That is what they did.
In the name of Cantin, Rivard and Duplessis, captain Matte became master of the situation.
This policeman was the living symbol of the government he served without asking questions, knowing well that it was the only way to reach the top.
Tough, brutal, and cynical, he was destined to a brilliant career in the Provincial Police of that time. »

The truth is that, because sergeant Doyon, in an unexplainable period of disorientation, « was at a standstill », captain Matte was asked without enthusiasm to go and help him.
I SHALL POST NEXT WEEK HOW THE CROWN ATTORNEYS WERE CHOSEN

COMMENT LES CAPITAINES MATTE ET SIROIS ONT ÉTÉ CHOISIS DANS L'AFFAIRE COFFIN

LE CHOIX DES CAPITAINES MATTE ET SIROIS

EXTRAIT DU RAPPORT BROSSARD
PARTIE VII, VOLUME 2, PAGES 417 ET SUIVANTES
SUR CERTAINS INCIDENTS MAJEURS DE L’AFFAIRE COFFIN

PRÉLIMINAIRES


La Commission a étudié, à ce jour, cette partie importante de la preuve touchant directement aux événements reliés aux meurtres des chasseurs et aux moyens invoqués à la défense de Coffin par ses défenseurs, avocats et autres : elle étudiera maintenant certains incidents majeurs de l’affaire.

Chapitre 1

LES «INTERVENTIONS ÉTRANGÈRES »

Et

LE CHOIX DES REPRÉSENTANTS DE LA COURONNE

Le choix des capitaines Matte et Sirois

Les capitaines Matte et Sirois ont décrit devant cette Commission dans quelles circonstances le mandat de conduire l’enquête policière sur la disparition des trois chasseurs américains leur fut confié. Leurs témoignages sur ce point furent entièrement confirmés par celui de Me Cantin qui était, à l’époque, Conseiller juridique au Département du Procureur général, mais agissait de facto comme Assistant Procureur général adjoint avec Me Frenette ; les fonctions de Me Cantin étaient plus spécialement de s’occuper des matières criminelles et, en particulier, des crimes majeurs ; c’est comme tel qu’il fut amené à s’occuper de l’affaire Coffin dès le début de cette affaire aux environs du 5 juillet 1953 ; à ces fins, il dut s’appuyer principalement sur les renseignements obtenus du sergent Doyon qui était en charge du poste de Gaspé, tel que les lui transmettait M. Henri Charland, alors assistant du Chef Lambert de la Sûreté à Québec ; M. Charland, à toutes fins pratiques, dirigeait toutes les enquêtes dans le district d’appel judiciaire de Québec comprenant la moitié de la province. Informé que jusqu’au 11 juillet, après que fut retrouvée la camionnette abandonnée des chasseurs, les seules personnes qui, jusque-là, étaient allées en forêt et avaient fait la découverte étaient des guides, gardes-chasse et gardes-pêche de la région de la Gaspésie, informé que le père de l’une des victimes se rendait sur place et que les journaux américains s’étaient eux aussi emparés de l’affaire et s’intéressaient évidemment au résultat des recherches entreprises, il fit donner des instructions au sergent Doyon d’accélérer les recherches et de ne pas laisser les chercheurs bénévoles travailler seuls et le fit informer que s’il avait besoin d’aide supplémentaire, le Département n’hésiterait pas à la lui donner. Informé quelques jours plus tard, par des rapports surtout verbaux de Doyon à Charland, que Doyon prétendait que trois cadavres avaient été découverts alors qu’un seul ne l’avait été à date et que Doyon déclarait que certains soupçons se portaient sur Wilbert Coffin, le dernier homme connu à rencontrer Eugene Lindsay, M. Cantin donna des instructions pour que le docteur Jean-Marie Roussel de Montréal et M. Maurice Hébert de Québec soient tous deux envoyés sur place (15 juillet 1953) ; il donna, le 17 juillet, des ordres à M. Charland pour que la vigilance et les activités soient redoublées afin que l’on ne taxe pas la Sûreté de ne pas faire son devoir et de l’abandonner à des mains étrangères agissant bénévolement ; inquiet des contradictions dans les rapports Doyon et de la lenteur avec laquelle l’enquête procédait, mystifié par un rapport de Doyon en date du 20- juillet qu’il ne croyait plus à un crime, mais croyait à un accident ou, s’il y avait eu crime, que le meurtre aurait été le résultat d’une chicane entre les trois chasseurs eux-mêmes, informé que pendant cette période importante Doyon serait allé à la pêche sur le terrain d’un club privé, Me Cantin prit le téléphone et fit des remontrances assez dures à Doyon ; puis, informé le 21 ou le 22 juillet, que les officiers de police de Gaspé et d’autres personnes, dont les chercheurs, s’étonnaient de la familiarité, de la complaisance, de l’amitié qui semblaient exister entre Doyon et Wilbert Coffin, M. Cantin rappela de nouveau Doyon pour lui laisser savoir qu’il ne comprenait pas que Coffin fut traité avec autant de familiarité et pour lui donner le conseil d’être prudent avec lui et d’essayer de lui faire vider son sac. Ce fut alors que Me Cantin avisa le Solliciteur général qu’il lui paraissait nécessaire, dans les circonstances, d’envoyer, comme cela se faisait souvent, un officier supérieur de la Sûreté pour aller diriger le travail.
Le choix s’arrêta tout d’abord sur un lieutenant Morel qui, malheureusement à cause de maladie, s’avéra n’être pas disponible ; il se fixa alors sur le lieutenant Martin Healey du Département des enquêtes criminelles ; celui-ci, qui était en vacances et était à se construire une maison, demanda à être exempté, demande qui lui fut accordée. C’est alors que le chois, par Me Cantin et le Solliciteur général, s’arrêta sur le capitaine Matte, après qu’on eut tout d’abord songé aux lieutenant Morel et Healy. Contre les objections du capitaine Matte, il fut décidé qu’il partirait immédiatement ; prévoyant que l’enquête exigerait beaucoup de déplacements à travers la péninsule, le capitaine insista pour qu’on lui nomme comme adjoint le capitaine Raoul Sirois, un Gaspésien de naissance connaissant bien la région et qui était en charge de la police de la route. Il y avait plus de quinze jours que la disparition des chasseurs avait été rapportée et à date un seul cadavre avait été retrouvé. Les capitaines Matte et Sirois se mirent en route dès le soir du 22 juillet et arrivèrent à Gaspé le lendemain matin, deux jours avant que le député Van Zandt demande des informations, sans doute pour faire plaisir à des électeurs énervés par les nouvelles sensationnelles en provenance de reporters dépêchés en vitesse à Gaspé et huit jours avant que le Solliciteur général reçoive la lettre « si menaçante » de la Canadian National Sportsmen’s Show.
Voilà comment ce « plus efficace d’entre les « durs » se mit à la recherche de « son pendu » sous la pression de l’intervention américaine !
Aux pages 42 et 43 de son volume, monsieur Hébert, pour mieux injurier encore le capitaine Matte, croit tout d’abord opportun de faire l’éloge de son enquêteur à lui, l’ancien sergent Henri Doyon :
« Le sergent Doyon, chargé de l’enquête au début, s’est conduit en homme consciencieux ; il n,a jamais sciemment caché des renseignements qui auraient pu être utiles à la Justice. Le sergent Doyon a donné la preuve qu’il cherchait la vérité, tout simplement. Parce que, dans cette province, on exige de la police qu’elle se mette au service des chasseurs de têtes que sont trop souvent les procureurs de la Couronne, l’esprit de justice du sergent Doyon ne pouvait influencer les exécuteurs de hautes œuvres, désignés par le Bureau du procureur général. Il était donc logique qu’on lui retire la direction de l’enquête. Ce que l’on fit.
Au nom de Cantin, Rivard et Duplessis, le capitaine Matte devenait le maître de la situation.
Ce policier était le vivant symbole du régime qu’il servait sans poser de questions, sachant bien que c’était la seule façon d’atteindre les premières places.
Dur, brutal et cynique, il était promis à une brillante carrière dans la Police provinciale de cette époque. »

La vérité est que, parce que le sergent, dans une période inexplicable de désorientation, « piétinait sur place », le capitaine fut, sans enthousiasme, appelé à lui venir en aide.
J’AFFICHERAI LA SEMAINE PROCHAINE LE CHOIX DES PROCUREURS DE LA COURONNE

BILL BAKER'S PICK-UP TRUCK THAT HE HAD LENT TO COFFIN

Bill Baker’s pick-up truck that he had lent to Coffin. From Montreal to Gaspé, it when from one ditch to another, to finally run into a tramway.

Centre d'archives de la Gaspésie/Musée de la Gaspésie. P123 Fonds Georges-Étienne Blanchard. Boîte 1.

LA CAMIONNETTE QUE BILL BAKER A PRÊTÉE À COFFIN

La camionnette que Bill Baker a prêtée à Coffin. D'un fossé à l'autre, de Gaspé à Montréal, elle a été finalement emboutie par un tramway.

Centre d'archives de la Gaspésie/Musée de la Gaspésie. P123 Fonds Georges-Étienne Blanchard. Boîte 1.

INTERVENTION DES ÉTATS-UNIS DANS L'AFFAIRE COFFIN

POUR LIRE CES DOCUMENTS, CLIQUEZ

SUR LES IMAGES

Voici la déclaration faite sous serment par

Ernest de W. Mayer, le Consul des États-Unis

à Québec,à l'été 1953, lorsque les ossements

des trois chasseurs américains furent

trouvés.

Lettre adressée, le 30 juillet 1953, à Van Zandt, membre du Congrès américain par le Département d'État des États-Unis.

EXTRAIT DU RAPPORT BROSSARD
PARTIE VII, VOLUME 2, PAGES 410 ET SUIVANTES
SUR CERTAINS INCIDENTS MAJEURS DE L’AFFAIRE COFFIN

PRÉLIMINAIRES


La Commission a étudié, à ce jour, cette partie importante de la preuve touchant directement aux événements reliés aux meurtres des chasseurs et aux moyens invoqués à la défense de Coffin par ses défenseurs, avocats et autres : elle étudiera maintenant certains incidents majeurs de l’affaire.

Chapitre 1

LES «INTERVENTIONS ÉTRANGÈRES »

Et

LE CHOIX DES REPRÉSENTANTS DE LA COURONNE

Dans son deuxième ouvrage « J’accuse les assassins de Coffin », monsieur Hébert a reproché en termes assez durs aux administrateurs provinciaux d’avoir été, dans le choix des policiers et avocats chargés respectivement des enquêtes policière et judiciaire, guidés par des mobiles politiques, mesquins et peu honorables. Je cite les passages suivants du chapitre 2 du livre :
Page 19

« le gouvernement provincial était plus soucieux de réparer en vitesse les dégâts causés par l’affaire à l’industrie touristique que de chercher la vérité. Pour M. Duplessis, il ne s’agissait pas d’un meurtre ordinaire, mais d’un attentat contre une source de revenus importante de la Province. Enfin, mes enquêtes récentes m’ont fourni la preuve que le gouvernement provincial a subi de très fortes pressions américaines, les unes venant même du State Department. »

p. 20 « Pour limiter les dégâts, il fallait - n’était-ce pas la moindre des choses ? – trouver rapidement le coupable de cet horrible meurtre, le punir comme il convenait en lui faisant payer de sa vie le triple assassinat. »
L’industrie touristique ne fut pas représentée au procès par un témoin à charge officiellement délégué par un syndicat d’initiative, une association d’hôteliers ou le ministère des Finances, mais l’ombre de ce témoin absent a certes plané sur le petit palais de justice de Percé. »
p. 21 « Ainsi, on n’a rien su dans le Québec des pressions, faites par la Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Club qui comptait plus de 200 00 membres, dont plusieurs fréquentaient assidûment les lacs et les bois du Québec, dont les autres étaient susceptibles de venir un jour ou l’autre semer leurs dollars dans la province de M. Duplessis.
Cette puissance association connaissait son prestige auprès des autorités provinciales : dès qu’elle apprit la mort tragique de trois chasseurs de Pennsylvanie dans la brousse gaspésienne, elle n’hésita pas à intervenir et à faire savoir au procureur général qu’elle voulait de « l’action ».
p. 22 « Au cours de l’enquête, Van Zandt avait rendu publique une lettre que venait de recevoir du consul américain à Québec l’assistant du Secrétaire d’État John Foster Dulles. »

Voyons ce qui en fut de ces différentes questions.
Interventions étrangères
Les autorités judiciaires de la province subirent-elles des pressions étrangères quant à l’enquête policière sur la disparition des trois chasseurs américains ?
Il y eut certes quelques interventions, mais elles furent peu nombreuses et de caractère tout à fait normal et régulier.
Inquiétés par l’absence prolongée de leur fils, M. et Mme Claar communiquèrent, pour une première fois, avec la Sûreté provinciale à Gaspé le 5 juillet 1953, un mois par conséquent après le départ des trois chasseurs pour Gaspé. N’ayant pas reçu d’informations avant le 9, ils se mirent de nouveau en communication avec, cette fois, non pas la Sûreté, dont le sergent Doyon était en charge à Gaspé, mais avec une personne qu’ils savaient avoir déjà agi comme guide pour M. Lindsey, puis, partirent eux-mêmes pour Gaspé où ils se trouvèrent vers le 12 juillet et les jours suivants.
Apparemment, à la suite de nouvelles publiées dans les journaux locaux d’Altoona, Blair County Unit Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs d’Altoona, Pennsylvanie, d’où étaient partis les chasseurs, s’avisa d’envoyer, le 22 juillet, à la Canadian National Sportsmen’s Show de Toronto, un télégramme comportant, entre autres, la demande suivante : « It was resolved that we appeal to you to lend support in any way you think possible in the efforts of the police and other searchers in solving the mystery of our three missing Pennsylvania hunters ; any efforts on the part of your organization in helping to bring quick action in clearing the mystery and seeing that justice is done will be greatly appreciated”.
Le 24 juillet, la Canadian national Sportsmen’s Show répondait à l’Association d’Altoona, entre autres choses, ce qui suit :
« While we will be only too glad to assist your Association in any way possible, we do not belive that our entry into the complicated situation in Québec would be proper, nor do we think that it is in any way necessary… In addition, we feel that the administration of these matters in the province of Quebec is in the hands of wese and capable officials, and while there might appear to be some confusion at the present time, we believe that you can rely upon them entirely for proper investigation and action and that adequate justice qill be handed out for any worongs or criminal actions that may have occurred. We believe that, in the long run, you will be quite satisfied with Québec and Canadian activities with reference to this entire situation.”
Le même jour, la Canadian National Sportsmen’s Show transmettait à M. Georges Léveillé, Directeur du Bureau provincial du tourisme, copie du télégramme reçu d’Altoona et copie de sa réponse à ce télégramme ; elle ajoutait :
« I do think that their wire was caused by a certain amount of hysteria and requires no action, but felt that you should be informed in this matter.”
Cette correspondance était transmise en date du 31 juillet 1953 à l’honorable Antoine Rivard, Solliciteur général. Il y avait déjà au-delà d’une semaine que les officiers supérieurs de la Sûreté de Québec étaient rendus sur les lieux.
Me C. E. Cantin nous déclara que sa décision à lui d’attacher une importance majeure à la cause Coffin ne fut pas le moindrement dictée, en aucun temps, par le Procureur général ou le Solliciteur général ni par des pressions exercées par la Pennsy.vania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, le Consul américain, Ernest de W. Mayer, et un M. Van Zandt, membre du Congrès représentant la Pennsylvanie ; sa décision fut prise à raison du fait que l,affaire avait, sous la conduite du sergent Doyon, mal démarrée, que les cadavres n’ayant été découverts qu’un mois après la disparition de chasseurs et après leur assassinat probable éteint dans un état de décomposition excessivement avancée et que, de plus, c’était la première fois qu’on avait une preuve que des ossements avaient été déplacés et brisés par des ours, par des animaux sauvages. Cette décision de Me Cantin fut d’ailleurs prise avant l’échange de correspondance dont il a été ci-haut question et avant des démarches, apparemment par téléphone, d’ailleurs bénignes du Consul américain à Québec.
Quant à ces démarches du Consul américain, la Commission a obtenu de lui les informations suivantes :
À la suite d’une demande adressée par un M. Van Zandt, « house representative for Pennsylvanis », en date du 24 juillet 1953, le Départment du Secrétaire d’État aux États-Unis s’enquit de l’affaire auprès de son Consul à Québec et informa, M. Van Zandt en date du 30 juillet ainsi que suit :
« The Department has also been informed by the American Consul that the case is being closely followed by Sollicitor General Rivard and other high provincial officials who are confident that they will solve the crime despite the difficulties arising from the time lapse between the deaths on June 11 or 12 and the discovery of the bodies a month later. The Consul has been assured that this confidence is based on clues or evidence which cannot be presently disclosed.”
Quels étaient précisément les renseignements obtenus par le Consul et dans quelles circonstances?
Monsieur Mayer ne pouvant, à titre d’ancien consul, venir témoigner devant la Commission, nous avons obtenu de lui une déclaration assermentée, dans laquelle il nous a fait part des renseignements suivants :
A. « I am not sure that I learned of their (hunters) disappearance before learning of their death. If I did, it was throught newspaper reports.”
…
A. “I remember inquiring only once about the case of Québec Provincial officials…”
…
A. “To the best of my recollection, no special report about the matter was made at the time by me personally or by my office, but possibly routine forms entitled “Report of the Death of an American Citizen” were forwarded to the Department of State.”
…
A. “ I did not at any time bring such pressure to bear on the Government of the Province of Québec, or any of its representatives or police officers in order to find and bring to trial the party responsible for the death of the three American hunters.”
…
Q.”What did you do, when you learnt that one Wilbert Coffin had been arrested and charges with the murder of one of the hunters? Will you file all correspondence bearing on that subject, either with the Government of the Province of Québec and its officials, or with the U.S. State Department or the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs?
A. “ I took no action at that time or subsequently.”
D’autre part, nous avons reçu du Secrétariat d’État aux affaires extérieures du Canada, en date du 14 avril 1964, copie d’une note de l’Ambassade des États-Unis se rapportant à l’affaire Coffin dans laquelle l’Ambassade précise ce qui suit :
« The United States Government has, of course, assured the Commission, throught the United States Consul General at Quebec, that United States authorities made no more than the normal representatios regarding the welfare of United States citizens. The United States Government would like to avail itself of this opportunity to state this assurance again.”
Voilà donc les fameuses pressions qui ont été exercées par le State Department des États-Unis sur l’honorable Maurice Duplessis, son gouvernement, le Solliciteur général, le Département du Procureur général et les policiers, voilà donc les piaffements d’impatience de la Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs sur lesquels l’auteur s’est basé pour attribuer à ces responsables de l’administration de la justice dans la province des mobiles mesquins, utilitaires et imaginaires ; je dis « imaginaire » car l’auteur n’a jamais été en contact, avant la rédaction de son livre, avec aucun des officiers que j’ai nommés ci-haut.
La dernière mesquinerie est la référence que fait l’auteur (Hébert), à l’appui de ses suppositions, à un article du magazine « Liberty » publié plusieurs mois après l’exécution de Coffin, en avril 1956. Comme si les sentiments et opinions personnelles d’un quelconque chroniqueur de ce magazine pouvaient représenter les opinions des administrateurs de la justice du Québec.

UNITED STATES INTERVENTION IN THE COFFIN AFFAIR

CLICK ON THESE IMAGES TO READ THEM

Sworn statement made by Ernest de
W. Mayer who was the United States
Consul at Québec City in the Summer
of 1953 when the bodies of three American
hunters were found in the Gaspé bush.


Letter addressed to Van Zandt, member of
Congress, from the Department of State on
July 30th, 1953.

CLICK ON THESE IMAGES TO READ THE DOCUMENTS.

EXCERPT FROM THE BROSSARD REPORT
PART VII, VOLUME 2, PAGES 410 AND FOLLOWING
ON CERTAIN MAJOR INCIDENTS IN THE COFFIN AFFAIR

PRELIMINARIES
(A literal translation by Clément Fortin)

The Commission has studied, up until this day, this important part of the proof related directly to the events connected to the murder of the hunters and to the means set forth in Coffin’s defence by his counsels, lawyers, or others : it will now study certain major incidents of the affair.

Chapter 1

FOREIGN INTERVENTION

And

THE SELECTION OF CROWN REPRESENTATIVES

In his second book “I Accuse the Assassins of Coffin” Mr. Hébert blamed in hard words the provincial administrators for having been, in the choice of police officers and lawyers entrusted with the carrying out of the police and judicial investigations, guided by political reasons, mean and not honourable. I quote the following passages from chapter 2 of the book: Page 19
« the provincial government was more anxious to repair hastily the damages caused by the affair to the tourist industry than to seek the truth. For Mr. Duplessis, it was not an ordinary murder, but an attack on an important source of revenue for the Province. Lastly, my recent investigations have given me the proof that the provincial government has undergone strong American pressures, some of them even coming from the State Department. »
p. 20 « To control damages, it was necessary – was it not the lesser things to do? – to find quickly someone guilty of this horrible murder, to punish him rightly and have him pay with his life for this triple murder. »
The tourist industry was not represented at the trial by a witness for the prosecution officially delegated by a syndicate, a hotel keepers association or the minister of Finance, but the shadow of this absent witness has certainly overhung the little Percé courthouse. »
p. 21 « Therefore, no one has known in Québec of the pressures made by the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Club which has a membership of more than 200 000, some of whom frequented assiduously Québec lakes and bushes, some others were likely to come one day or other spend their dollars in Mr. Duplessis’ province.
This powerful association knew the high reputation it had with the provincial authorities : as soon as it learned the tragic death of three hunters from Pennsylvania in the gaspesian bush, it did not hesitate to intervene in this case and let the Attorney General know that it wanted that some “action” be taken.
p. 22 « In the course of the investigation, Van Zandt had made public a letter that he had received from the American Consul in Québec City the assistant of the Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.”

Let’s get to the bottom of these different questions.
Foreign intervention
Have the judicial authorities of the province undergone foreign pressures in the police investigation on the disappearance of three American hunters ?
There were indeed a few interventions, but they were not numerous and were of a normal and regular character.
Worried by the prolonged absence of their son, Mr. and Mrs. Claar communicated, for the first time, with the Provincial police in Gaspé on the 5th of July 1953, a month after the departure of the three hunters for Gaspé. Having not received information before the 9th, they communicated again with, this time, not the police, of which sergeant Doyon was in charge in Gaspé, but with someone they knew had been Mr. Lindsey’s guide, then, they left for Gaspé where they arrived around the 12th of July and the following days.
Apparently, following news published in Altoona local newspapers, Blair County Unit Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, Pennsylvania, from where the hunters had left, took upon itself to send, on the 22nd of July, a telegram comprising, inter alias, the following request: « It was resolved that we appeal to you to lend support in any way you think possible in the efforts of the police and other searchers in solving the mystery of our three missing Pennsylvania hunters ; any efforts on the part of your organization in helping to bring quick action in clearing the mystery and seeing that justice is done will be greatly appreciated”.
On the 24th of July, the Canadian National Sportsmen’s Show answered the Altoona Association, among other things, what follows:
« While we will be only too glad to assist your Association in any way possible, we do not believe that our entry into the complicated situation in Québec would be proper, nor do we think that it is in any way necessary… In addition, we feel that the administration of these matters in the province of Quebec is in the hands of wise and capable officials, and while there might appear to be some confusion at the present time, we believe that you can rely upon them entirely for proper investigation and action and that adequate justice will be handed out for any wrongs or criminal actions that may have occurred. We believe that, in the long run, you will be quite satisfied with Québec and Canadian activities with reference to this entire situation.”
On the same day, the Canadian National Sportsmen’s Show transmitted to Mr. Georges Léveillé, Director of the Provincial Tourist Bureau, a copy of the telegram received from Altoona and copy of his answer to this telegram ; it added :
« I do think that their wire was caused by a certain amount of hysteria and requires no action, but felt that you should be informed in this matter.”
This correspondence was transmitted on the 31st of July 1953 to the Honourable Antoine Rivard, Solicitor General. Superior police officers of the Provincial police were already on the spot for more than a week.
Mtre C. E. Cantin declared to us that his decision to attach importance to this case was neither dictated by the Attorney General nor the Solicitor General nor by pressure exerted by the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, the American Consul, Ernest de W. Mayer, and Mr. Van Zandt, member of Congress, representing Pennsylvania ; his decision was taken because the affair had, under sergeant Doyon’s command, ill-started, that the bones of the hunters having been discovered only one month after their disappearance and after their likely murder were in a state of decay excessively advanced and that, moreover, it was the first time they had a proof that bones had been displaced and broken by bears, by wild animals.
As to the steps taken by the American Consul, the Commission has obtained from him the following information :
Following a request made by Mr. Van Zandt, house representative for Pennsylvania, on the 24th of July 1953, the Department of the United States Secretary of State requested information about the affair from its Consul in Québec City and informed Mr. Van Zandt on the 30th of July as follows:
« The Department has also been informed by the American Consul that the case is being closely followed by Solicitor General Rivard and other high provincial officials who are confident that they will solve the crime despite the difficulties arising from the time lapse between the deaths on June 11 or 12 and the discovery of the bodies a month later. The Consul has been assured that this confidence is based on clues or evidence which cannot be presently disclosed.”
What was that information obtained by the Consul and in what circumstances?
Mr. Mayer being not able, as former Consul, to come and testify before the Commission, we have obtained from him a sworn declaration in which he gives us the following information :
(NOTE: BY CLICKING ON THE PICTURES AT THE TOP OF THIS WRITING, YOU MAY READ THE FORMER CONSUL’S SWORN DECLARATION TO THE BROSSARD COMMISSION.)
A. « I am not sure that I learned of their (hunters) disappearance before learning of their death. If I did, it was through newspaper reports.”
…
A. “I remember inquiring only once about the case from Québec Provincial officials…”
…
A. “To the best of my recollection, no special report about the matter was made at the time by me personally or by my office, but possibly routine forms entitled “Report of the Death of an American Citizen” were forwarded to the Department of State.”
…
A. “ I did not at any time bring such pressure to bear on the Government of the Province of Québec, or any of its representatives or police officers in order to find and bring to trial the party responsible for the death of the three American hunters.”
…
Q.”What did you do, when you learned that one Wilbert Coffin had been arrested and charged with the murder of one of the hunters? Will you file all correspondence bearing on that subject, either with the Government of the Province of Québec and its officials, or with the U.S. State Department or the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs?
A. “ I took no action at that time or subsequently.”
On the other hand, we have received from the Secretary of State for Canadian external affairs, on the 14th of April 1964, copy of a note from the United States Embassy in connection with the Coffin affair in which the Embassy states precisely what follows:
« The United States Government has, of course, assured the Commission, through the United States Consul General at Quebec, that United States authorities made no more than the normal representations regarding the welfare of United States citizens. The United States Government would like to avail itself of this opportunity to state this assurance again.”
There they are those famous pressures that were exerted by the United States Department on the honourable Maurice Duplessis, his government, the Solicitor General, the Department of the Attorney General and police officers, there it is the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs fidgeting impatiently on which the author took, as a basis to attribute to those responsible for the administration of justice in the province, petty motives, utilitarian and imaginary; I say “imaginary” because the author has never been in contact, before the writing of his book, with any of the afore-mentioned officers.
The last pettiness is the reference that the author (Hébert) makes, in support of his assumptions, to an article in the magazine « Liberty » published several months after the execution of Coffin, in April 1956. As if the feelings and opinions of some chronicler of this magazine could represent the opinions of the Québec administrators of justice. (To be continued)