Sunday, September 24, 2006

Stoddard Online

Stoddard Online Continued from part eleven. . . .

As I have mentioned to all my readers on numerous occasions, this is a difficult story to write. There are twists and turns, and there are occasionally spur lines running off in other directions. As well, information poured in during the course of the story, thanks to a very caring audience. It is still coming in now as I type this portion of the manuscript. It is 5:30 AM on the west coast of Canada and I have received a phone call already this morning, advising me that some pertinent facts that I was seeking are now available.

Without doubt, in all endeavors in life there is a point where we tend to stop and ask ourselves if what we are doing is worth all the sacrifices necessary to achieve a projected goal. Fortunately, in this case I have never been forced to make that decision. If I had though, an event that took place yesterday morning would have renewed my strength, and boosted me to an all time high in my desire to see this case reach a rightful conclusion.

Several weeks ago, I received an e-mail from a certain gentleman who was acting as a third party in the setting up of an interview between a Mrs. Mimi Wilson and myself. I realize that the name Mimi Wilson may not mean a lot to you at this point, but trust me, it will very shortly.

Let us go back in time now to the summer of 1953. Mimi and her husband, a medical doctor from Toronto, were crossing the St. Lawrence River on a ferry heading toward Riviere du Loup. On this particular ferry there was a Jeep containing two occupants. This Jeep and it's occupants stood out for a number of reasons, among them, there were two riders, they kept pretty much to themselves, and the Jeep was constructed in a special way that I will not identify here for obvious reasons. Another important aspect of this sighting by Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, was the fact that this Jeep bore Pennsylvania license plates. Upon arrival at Riviere du Loup, this Jeep exited the ferry and proceeded in the direction of the Gaspe' Peninsula.

A few weeks later, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson became aware of the fact that a Jeep of this description had been reported by Wilbert Coffin when he explained his whereabouts to the authorities. He had said he saw it in the woods with the murdered bear hunters when he returned a member of the hunting party to their broken down truck. He was introduced to the occupants of the Jeep as friends of the Lindsey's from Pennsylvania. He also would declare that the license plates on this Jeep were not Quebec plates, however, he could not state for sure where they were from.

The Wilson's, in their desire to aid the investigation contacted The Quebec Provincial Police in Montreal. They relayed their information, and were advised that someone would be back to them . They never received a response from the police, and the next they heard the trial was over and Wilbert Coffin had been convicted of first degree murder.

I will suggest to you, this was not an oversight on the part of the justice ministry of the province of Quebec. It was a planned calculated measure to suppress the evidence that the Wilson's would have given. As a matter of fact, it would have created so much doubt, that the trial most probably would never have taken place.

I do have some news however for the justice ministry. Mimi Wilson is now more determined than ever to have her evidence heard. You will not keep her down this time around. She has a full recollection of her evidence. She conveyed it to me yesterday, in a casual and matter of fact way, consistent with someone telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Mimi Wilson also told me of an incident yesterday that was not only profound, but incredibly touching, in a way that it even brought tears to a crusty old so and so like myself. She told me of a young man of 18 years who left the Ottawa area in 1978 in a Volkswagen camper bus heading for Colorado. This young man disappeared during his journey, and was never heard from again. The family of this young man were frustrated with the lack of interest shown by law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border with respect to this disappearance. It became necessary for the boy's family to investigate it themselves with the help of a private detective. It took a long time. Finally, the trail was completed. This young man had extended a helping hand to two people hitch hiking. They confessed to murdering him. This young man's name was Eric Wilson. Mimi Wilson was his Mom. You may have seen a feature length documentary on this incident. It was titled "Just Another Missing Kid." It won an academy award.

In my books, Mimi Wilson won an academy award with me yesterday. She shares the Coffin family's grief. She told me that. She also said that neither she nor her husband have ever felt that Wilbert Coffin was guilty. As a matter of fact, they have never even had doubts.

People relate many revelations to me. They always have. Maybe I am a good listener, I try to be. It is not always easy though. I related this story to you from Mimi Wilson to display her determination and drive, and her love for mankind. Considering what she has gone through, some in similar circumstances may have taken a different approach. Not Mimi, she knows the Coffin family needs her help right now, and she is prepared to provide it. The Coffin family needs your help right now as well. Let Mimi's coming forward after all these years be your inspiration to do the same thing. Otherwise, you are only protecting a bunch of thugs who did nothing for you, other than scare you into covering their butt's for them. If you know of any event that relates to this case, it is imperative that I hear from you now. This is our last chance.

Lew Stoddard
Posted to site September 26, 2006

In three days I shall be posting another episode of this tale. I have made the decision to share actual letters and correspondence with you from back in the 50's. You will see first hand the lies, the deceit, the dirty tricks of those involved in this tragedy. I will tell you now, some of it is graphic in detail, some of it is potentially damaging and embarassing to both the government of Quebec, and the government of Canada.


22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Stoddard,

I cried when I read your posting just now. You are a great guy, you display lots of sensitivity, yet drive home a very hard and direct message

April G
Halifax, NS

Anonymous said...

Thank God for the Wilsons, Thank God for Lew stoddard too.

Marilyn Downs
North Bay

Anonymous said...

Hard hitting Mr. Stoddard, yet so very down to earth. You are making headway.

Barry D
Sackville, N B

Anonymous said...

I know that documentary Just another Missing Kid. I have a video copy of it. Makes us realize of how very vulnerable that we are, and young Mr. Wilson was only trying to help someone as was Wilbert Coffin. Great posting today Lew.

J and C Weatherby
Langley, B C

Anonymous said...

Heart warming, sad, hard hitting, but a definite message lew.

Karen Gee
Montreal

Anonymous said...

Bless Mrs. Wilson, Bless The Coffins, and you know what "Bless Lew Stoddard"

Jill
Burnaby

Anonymous said...

Keep pitching Lew. You are going to win this thing yet.

Carolyn Davies

Anonymous said...

You say it like an evangelist Lew, but you put your heart in it and you are a teriffic writer, have always said that. Good detective too.

Bob and Cathy
Prince Rupert, B C

Anonymous said...

I realize that it is a free country, and yes you are free to investigate anything that you choose.

There is a moral issue here though that I am not so sure that you are addressing.

You are probably correct, there apparently were some law enforcement officers who stepped out of bounds.

My question is simply this. Is it proper for you to be knocking our government, which makes them look bad through no fault of their own? I have lived in Canada for seven years, and have nothing but praise for the government.

Dennis Klein
Windsor, Ontario

Anonymous said...

Reply to Dennis Klein in Windsor, Ont

Welcome aboard Dennis, and more importantly, welcome to Canada.

I am glad to hear Dennis that you have praise and respect for the Canadian government. If you did not, then you selected the wrong country for residency.

I was born in Canada Dennis. I was a Canadian yesterday, I am a Canadian today, and I shall be a Canadian tomorrow.

I believe Dennis that we have a beautiful country in all respects. We are not perfect, however, I believe that on our worst day, we are still better off than most countries of the world on their best day.

You suggest that I slap the government. You know what, you are right. We have a great democratic system here in Canada Dennis, but the problem is, from time to time, a few inept oafs creep into the system, and I would not be a good Canadian if I didn't do my part to clean the system up.

A graphic example, the population of Canada would be one more citizen than what we currently have, had the asinine decision of a corrupt faction within our democratic process not been able to send him to the gallows for a crime that he did not commit.

Lew Stoddard

Ps. . . Thanks Dennis for supporting my site. Keep in touch!

Anonymous said...

six, seven, eight, nine, ten and the winner is Lew Stoddard by knock out.

Your reply to Mr. Klein above is right on the money.

This is gong to happen this time Mr. Stoddard, I feel it. Good luck to you and all the Coffin family, I see them commenting on here periodically.

Jake and Elfi
Abboitsford, B C

Anonymous said...

Lew, though sad by your last posting, I was touched by that story regarding Mrs. Wilson. My heart is with her as well as the Coffin family. Truly, they are both victims.

Beth
Saint John, New Brunswick

Anonymous said...

Mr. Stoddard,

You do have a great command of the words that cause people to sit up and pay attention, however in my opinion, you breach that respect from time to time.

I am making direct reference to your decision to publish exerpts of documents that were obviously private at the time, concerning a very important investigation. I believe that you are being a bit disrespectful in carrying this out, as I am of the opinion that most people would not be that interested in the stuff in the first place, and I include myself in that group.

I would therefore ask that you might reconsider your decision to do this. Thank you for your consideration Mr. Stoddard.

R. St. Pierre
Quebec

Anonymous said...

Hello Mr. St Pierre,

Well sorry to diasppoint you Sir but I for one want to read everything possible about this case. Speak for yourself, not others.

M. McDougall
St. Johns, Nfld

Anonymous said...

Hey R. St. Pierre, who are you covering up for?

I don't care if it says a little or a lot, I want to know about it. I will be the judge of what I should see and not see, thank you very much

I wish also to say to the Coffin family, these have been a troubled 50 plus years but when I look upwards I see a ray of light trickling in.

Doris T
St. Stephen, N B

Anonymous said...

Response to Mr. R. St. Pierre

Hi Sir, welcome aboard to the web site where you are a stranger only once. Someone once said "Strangers are only friends who haven't met yet"

Being a man who is shy, and one of few words, I shall attempt to address your concerns point by point.

Firstly you speak of my plan to publish "exerpts" from documents pertinent to this case. That Sir is not entirely accurate, as it is my full intention to not publish "exerpts" from documents, my plan is to publish the "entire" documents. That way, there can be no accusations that I took things out of context.

Secondly, I believe that people do have a right to know what went on behind the scenes, and the reasons as to why evidence was tarnished and suppressed by the judiciary.

As well Mr. St. Pierre, responding to your concerns gives me the opportunity to let everyone know of a time and date change for my planned publishings. Originally it was to have been on Friday, however, I have had to alter that date in order that it not conflict with personal medical attention that has come up for Friday.

The new publishing date will be Thursday norning, September 28, 2006 at 9:00 AM Eastern Time. Join me then, won't you?

By the way, my information will be available to you on here in both French and English, reflecting some folks are more comfortable in one language than with the other.

Lew Stoddard

Ps. . . Mr. St. Pierre, before I let you go. Play a little game of pretend with me please. Let us pretend that no one is reading this, so on Thursday evening would you be kind enough to send me a short e-mail and let me know if your personal curiosity got the better of you, and that you might have sneaked a little peek at the posting even though you said you were not interested. I promise not to tell.

Anonymous said...

Mr. R st. Pierre
Speak for yourself only Mr. st. Pierre! I do want to read every document possible in this case…
Don’t kid yourself sir, everyone is VERY interested in the stuff, as you put it... we are not in your group, sir…
What is it you would like to keep hidden?


Go for it Mr. Stoddard, make them squirm in their seats wondering if there name will appear next...

Anonymous said...

My personal message to the Coffin family.

I can see where this is starting to get messy. Perhaps as some have said, it will not necessairly be new evidence that hopefully we shall learn about, but when no one has told me about it for all these years, it is new to me and I want to hear it.

I have always, and I do now consider Wilbert Coffin to have been hanged for a crime that he did not commit.

There is one thing sicker than the crime of murder, and that is the killing of another human being for that crime of murder that evidence says he did not commit.

That is why I want to know about this and I hope that Mr. Stoddard will shut some people up, and tell us who the murderers of Wilbert Coffin was.

If it can be proven, that they knew there were grave doubts as to his guilt and they allowed him to be hanged anyway, then, as far as I am concerned, the authorities committed murder and should be brought to justice. Simply, someone has to be prepared to take some responsibility for this gruesome act. Good luck to you all, and my heart is with you.

Janine Mercier
Law Student from Trois Riviere

Anonymous said...

Bravo Ms. Mercier. . . You will make a fine lawyer one day. You have spunk, you display attitude, and obviously you are not afraid to get your hands dirty. Those are all the qualities of a good Pitt Bull criminal lawyer.

Fred Nicols
Kamloops, B C

Anonymous said...

I am not suggesting whether Maurice Duplessis,Captain Matte, Captain Sirois, or Sgt Vanhoote took the high road or the low road when they went on their final journey, but I do hope they have internet at the end of whichever road they travelled.

Anonymous here in The Thousand Islands

Anonymous said...

Dear anonymous:

I tried to take the high road but there were angels at every turn directing me in a different direction. However, down here there is internet and believe me I am burning up at what I read.

Anonymous said...

I am brave enough to suggest that Our current PM, Stephen Harper, can and should appoint a former PM, Brian Mulroney, who practices law in Montreal to head a judical review of this entire case of wrongful conviction! The judical mandate should be left wide open to determine the results and the laying of any charges possible for surviving participants.