Stoddard Online

Stoddard Online . . . My plans are to publish here on the web site, various pieces of original correspondence, and as well, documents detailing facts surrounding the Wilbert Coffin affair leading up to and including the 1954, Regina Vs Coffin trial of first degree murder in Perce' Quebec.

Many of these documents may appear long, boring, and drawn out. In each document that I shall be presenting over the next few days, there are key points that will be highlighted in colours. These statements range from manipulation and deceit, right up the ladder to plain lies. Those ststements that can be proven as lies will be in "red." Those that fall under manipulation and deceit are highlighted in "blue." There are a few statements that actually fall under both headings. These will be highlighted in "green."

Months back, when I commenced writing this story I informed you that there are many graphic details with respect to this affair. Every possible effort has been made to ensure the dignity of the deceased persons. You will note references made to photographs of the deceased as exhibits for the trial, however, actual photographs have been deleted from the files.

As most of these documents have been translated from French, you will note grammatical errors in some instances. This is as a result of translation, as language translation is not an exact science. I apologize for this, but I am certain you will be understanding. Translation of all these documents has been an arduous task. I personally thank and praise Lani Mitchell for her hundreds of hours of hard work and dedication, since we embarked upon the journey to set the record straight in this case.

You will see many references throughout of the word "Surette" or "Surette Provinciale De Quebec." Simple translation is "Quebec Provincial Police." The

As you read this stuff over the next few days, please take time to reflect for a moment that this stuff formed the basis for the process to hang a man. For a starting point to show you the documents, I have decided that a good place to start would be at Quebec City with Captain Alphonse Matte getting the call from Duplessis to go to Gaspe'. Here is the first part, with my comments immediately following each article. . . .

SURETE PROVINCIALE DE QUEBEC

DIRECTEUR ADJOINT DE LA SURETE Gaspé, P.Q.
July 29 1953

From J.A.Matte, Capt. Pol. Jud.
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Re. Eugene Lindsay, Richard Lindsay and Frederick Claar ( Hollidaysburg, Blair Cty, Pa.) MURDERS

To continue with further reports and on the instructions of the APGS (C), I left Quebec at 9:15 p.m. on July 22 1953, accompanied by Capt. Raoul Sirois and Gend. Romuald Poirier. At 10:30 a.m. the next day we were at the bureau of the Surute provincial in Gaspé where we immediately met Sergeant Doyon. About 11 a.m. this same day, Barney Donohue, hunting guide, who was part of the group of searchers near camp 24 of Canton Holland informed Sergeant Doyon that the corpses of two Americans were found the same morning by a man named Eddy Bouchard and one named Julien Jalbert. We went immediately to the locations where we arrived about 3p.m.

In place, accompanied by Capt. Sirois, Sgt. Doyon, Gend. Romuald Poirier and others, we put in some boxes the remains found about 75 ft. from the camp known as no. 26 of Canton Holland and that the complete skull, the jawbones, the bones, such as parts of shoulder blades, collarbones, thighbones, tibias, fibulas, etc…………………….. further more found clothing that was probably worn by this victim and that consisted of a pair of pants, probably brown with a leather belt tinted red carrying a buckle with the initials “R”- a mackinaw red and black ( …shirt) a white shirt with the name “ Hollidaysburg Tigers” on it and a figure of a tiger in blue. On this shirt appearing in the center and slightly to the left, region of the heart, a perforation in which the contour has a scale of about 4 inches in diameter, colour reddish, a sport shirt tinted green marked ‘ sport top-washable’ shows as well a perforation and at the same level as was described on the white shirt; 1 windbreaker or red and black checked shirt marked “ Woolrich” with a zipper also had a perforation and in the same level that was already mentioned for the other two pieces. Attached to this report is a complete list of articles found at this spot.


The same day, being 23-7-53, in proximity to the first skeleton some remains belonging definitively to a second skeleton, were found about 115 feet from the first, on the other side of the St Jean river in a flank of a mountain bordering camp no. 26; a pelvis with part of a spinal column, traces of four sides, 2 femurs and some other small bones. That which allowed us to make identification of this second skeleton was the inferior jaw bone and a denture, the two fit perfectly together.1 pair overalls “Jeans” blue, where the pockets were inside out, were furthermore found, 1 red t-shirt, size “large of Penney’s “ 1 left foot ankle boot, in brown leather laced with eyelets, sole of a black galosh, being probably size 11 or 12.


About 130 ft. from a camp at the extremity northwest of this camp, the searchers Julien Jalbert and Leo Langlois found under a stump and well covered, a black leather vest size 42 in which several exterior pockets with zippers were open. On the collar of this vest was the initial “R” in rhinestones and on the other side of the collar a metal plaque gilded with initials US. Some small items were found in the pockets on the side of the vest, some chewing gum, an English key, etc… See the complete attached list.


The two skeletons and all the mentioned objects were taken to Gaspé the same night and stored in the garage of the Surete to guard them there while waiting for the medical examiner, Dr. Jean Marie Roussel of Montreal.


As was asked by the A.P.G.S. (C), we subsequently drew up a list of all found objects to date also by Sergeant Doyon and these men like ourselves and we attach, for your information, all these lists to the report.


Having been informed that a truck located by the searchers at 1 mile south of camp 21 on 11-7-53, was parked near the residence of garage owner Lloyd Annett, at 4.5 miles from Gaspé and under no surveillance, I thought to try to take necessary arrangements to have it brought back to Gaspé and stored in the garage of the Surete Provinciale. This was done on 27-7-53 and after examination; a list was made by agent J.C. Vanhoutte the same day. The objects mentioned on this list were in the truck of Eugene H. Lindsay, license R6PN9 for the current year and the state of Pennsylvania, Ford model 69c, year 1947, dark green colour, serial no. 727263. Annexed list report of these objects.


Since 23-7-53 we had disclosed to Capt. Sirois the attention to the searches between the camps 26 where the remains were found of the two last victims and also at camp 24 in the objective of retrieving the skull of the skeleton of Eugene Lindsay. These searches were fruitful and the 24-7-53 2 rifles, a pair of binoculars and other pieces were labeled and immediately transported to Gaspé.


The subsequent days gave as well satisfactory results and also 27-7-53 the wallet of Eugene Lindsay was found and all of its contents gone except for some silver (change? Money?) that was there. The search was terminated 28-7-53 in the evening with the approval of the A.P.G.S. (C).


At 2 pm on 27-7-53, to continue, under the precedence of Coroner Lionel Rioux of Riviere au Renards, in the room of the Canadian Legion in Gaspé the inquest into the circumstances of the death of Victims Lindsay and Claar. The jurors were made up of the following people-_Alvin Patterson, 32 years, Georges Kruse, age 49 years, Lewis Miller, 42 years, Lloyd Annett, 63 years, Whorrel Annett, 53 years, and Reggy DeGruchy, 47 years. At the recovery of this inquest, four witnesses were heard being in this order Dr. Jean Marie Roussel, Clarence E. Claar, father of the victim of the same name, Jacob Clyde Sell, brother-in-law of the victim Lindsay and Wilbert Coffin.


At the finish of these testimonies, through the president of the jury, Reggy DeGruchy, the verdict following was rendered.
“From testimony given by Dr Roussel and other witnesses, our verdict is that Richard Lindsay and Frederick Claar were murdered from gunshot wounds by person or persons unknown. As that the torso and skull being completely missing and from evidence given by Dr Roussel and other witnesses, our verdict is that Eugene H. Lindsay died from a cause unknown.”

During the night of 27-7-53 to 28-7-53, we interrogated Wilbert Coffin, age 39, living in York Center at Gaspé. This interrogation was to gain knowledge from Coffin, when, how, and where he came in contact with the American hunters, principally to end up knowing if he was giving us the same version as he had earlier given to Sgt. Doyon, and at Coroner’s inquest because of all the evidence the population of Gaspé totally suspects (-----? Word missing at edge of page--) Coffin as being the author of these three assassinations. Coffin gave us the names and addresses of certain people that he saw in Montreal, as well that he said to us of having been reimbursed of $ 40.00 from young Lindsay on 12-6-53 after he had made a trip to Gaspé in the cause to come to the aid of them to get a fuel pump for their truck. He couldn’t offer a satisfactory reason to explain his precipitous departure in the course of the night of 12 or 13-6-53 from Gaspé to Montreal with the truck, the property of Bill baker. He told us then of his trip to Montreal where he failed to having made a call to his two brothers who operate a garage in Gaspé, same as to certain parents. And more, he took himself to visit a sister, Mrs. Bert Williams in Cornwall, Ontario, and on his return to Montreal, he crashed the truck of Baker and was himself hospitalized in a Montreal hospital which he couldn’t furnish the (name?) Some days after he left in a bus from Montreal to Val D’Or where he says he was going for several days, sleeping at the Windsor Hotel on the main road to Val D’Or in a boarding house operated by a Chinese. In the course of this interview, we had further learned that he took himself to the mining brokers, that he would have spoken to them of the claim he possessed in Gaspé, inviting the men to come see the terrain. On this information we verified at Battery Park Hotel and in fact, we see that 20-7-53 is the date of the (duetour) of Coffin to Gaspé, under the No. of registration card Jos KYLE and W.A. …TIE (can’t see the name here) was registered in cabin no. 3 known as the name …Buckley’s. These two brokers, Coffin told us, would have given him in total $57.00 to defray the cost of the boarding house from Val D’Or to Gaspé, passing by Mount Laurier, Montreal and following the south side of the river.


This day we had the opportunity to interview Clarence Claar and J. Clyde Sell. The last, brother of Mrs. Lindsay didn’t seem to be conversant with the organization made by his brother in law for the trip that would take them from between Hollidaysburg to Gaspé. Save for the praises he made of his brother in law in his private life, he couldn’t give us any information that would be helpful in this case. Of one part, Claar reported to us to be a travel companion of Eugene Lindsay and that both worked as a mechanic for the Road Company of Pennsylvania. Seeming to be familiar with the affairs of his friend, Lindsay, he informed us that he lived (next words are black….. can’t read…) his son had graduated the same day as their…..of Hollidaysburg and that this trip to Canada
Had been organized as a …reward for young Richard. The finances of Lindsay were certainly good, said he, by the fact that it was about two years ago that he had sold a bus line with a charter (?) for the sum of $ 20,000.00 that the sale hadn’t been for cash but that the payments were made…. Such as was understood between the interested parties. We were able to obtain again to this trip not any certainty of the amount of money that Eugene Lindsay might have had in his possession before he left Hollidaysburg; neither a single detail about the sort of baggage that the hunters would have had when they were getting ready to come to Canada. About his son, he is positive that he had no more than about $11.00 on him when he left, learning this information himself from one of his friends who had seen his son just before he left.


Around 10:45 p.m. on this day Capt. R. Sirois received a phone call from J.A, Tapp of Moncton, informing him that 28-7-53 when he was in the bar of Baker’s Hotel, he had the occasion to speak with two people; one who was American and the other a Canadian. The description of these two people was given in a note annexed to this report and the information indicated that this American had come to hunt bear as well. We doubt that this party was in the forest long enough to meet the Lindsay party. However the information from Baker’s Hotel was taken from this subject.


At the point of furnishing our report, we learned from the director of Canadian International paper, David Pit Johnson and of Wilfred Carter of the Ministry of Hunting and Fisheries, of certain information that wasn’t in accord with the preliminary report of Sergeant Doyon.


In his report of 14-7-53 in the third paragraph, Sgt Doyon says that Lindsay asked for a woods permit between June 12 1953 to about the 31st. para. Of report of 28-7-53 he says of Coffin that this last had noticed the truck in the flank of a mountain on July 10th. The information that we took since our arrival here in Gaspé and that was verified previously, we learned that Lindsay asked for and received his permit to go in the woods on 8-6-53. We learned moreover that Sgt. Doyon had accompanied Wilbert coffin to the place of the crime, something that he didn’t mention in his report of July 28 1953. The report, submitted by Johnson of the C.I.P. jointly with Carter of the Ministry of Hunting and Fisheries, we note as well (and more verification is being made on this subject) that the first searches and the first discovery of a skeleton was done by a group organized by Johnson and Carter. Johnson advised moreover that Sergeant Doyon was conversant with the searches made and asked Johnson to inform him if he came up with developments. Moreover the information of this report is important and will be checked at the first opportunity.

(J.A.Matte) Captaine
In Charge of the Judiciary Police

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In the above letter to his boss, Captain Matte tries to give the impression that he has everything under control. As you have read, the bodies of Richard Lindsey and Fred Claar have just been discovered. It is important to note though that Captain Matte and his partner had not yet arrived in Gaspe' when the bodies were found. Later in the story, you will read where he makes reference to being there on the scene when the bodies were found, with Barney Donahue and his partner being those who found the bodies, when in fact that was untrue.

I will make reference here to you of Sgt. Henri Doyon. Sgt. Doyon was the station commander of the Quebec Provincial Police at Gaspe' when Matte arrived. Matte would spot immediately that Doyon had respect, had things under control, but he did not fit into Matte's method of doing things. He had to go. Important to this posting is the one you will read in a few days with reference to Sgt. Doyon. That interview took place in the insane asylum where they had banished him. He will tell us that he and Matte would lock horns on the first day of Matte's arrival. Matte asked the name of the last person known to have see or talked to the missing hunters. When he heard the name Wilbert Coffin, he was now the murderer, and you will note the interrogations of Wilbert that would go on relentlessly had their beginning in this letter.

The bottom line summary from this first letter from Captain Matte is the fact that Sgt. Henri Doyon's departure is planned, and Wilbert Coffin has been singled out as the murderer. You will also note that captain Matte tells his boss a total lie when he states that the whole town is of the opinion that Wilbert Coffin commited these murders when the exact opposite was the true opinion. One would have been hard pressed to find one person, French or English who were convinced that Wilbert Coffin commited thes crimes. We will go now to the next piece of correspondence, and then tie them together as we go. Pay close attention to the last sentences of this letter. The demise of Sgt. Henri Doyon is guaranteed. This letter is from Captain Alphonse Matte to J C Vanhoutte, who woud soon become one of Captain Mattes's lead hands. Again, it is published firstly in translated format to English, immediately followed by the French version. Following the letter, you may see my recap and my comments, as I explain how it will tie in to other documents and actions to follow. . . .

SURETE PROVINCIALE DE QUEBEC

Personnelle Quebec, July 31 1953

Agent J.C. Vanhoutte,
A/S Poste de la Surete Provinciale
Casier postal 67,
Gaspé, P.Q.

My Dear M. Vanhoutte,

1. Would you verify as I've ask you, I think, on all the cars that entered the forest since the beginning of the searches for the American hunters, and try also to find the car that lost the metal circle of a headlight.

2. Verify also, and eliminate if possible, the story of a jeep that might have entered the forest around the date that really interests us, between the 8th of June and the 20th of June. With the information given by people of Fox River.

I think you should meet the guide Richard Patterson, and ask him if at the beginning of the summer he was asked to guide some Americans, and note all the information to that effect,
and also questions on the Lindsay's side.

3) If you lack work before my return, there is need for you to go to St Leonard , N.B., and to verify at the customs of this place, if other Americans than Lindsay , in a (panel?) or in a jeep, made declarations that they were going to search? In Canada, and, in effect, you could find in these permits the number of rifles, etc. I would like that this verification be made with all unquestionable doubt possible. Inform yourself likewise from this bureau what are the other points of entry to New Brunswick from the American side in this province. Obviuosly you could verify the nearest customs on the condition that it wouldn’t be more than 200 miles.
4) I don’t know how long I will be absent but, in all ways, we have had a good interview with the solicitor general on our arrival last night and obtained that Sirois continues with me in this investigation. It is possible that a member of the post in Gaspé will be recalled to come to Quebec very shortly. Under the circumstances, you will want to stay on top of this. ( Translation reads…..you will want well not to move away from this…I take that to mean “ you will want to stay on top of this.”)

JAM/rl (J.A. Matte-Capitaine)
In charge of ??? ( can’t read this part..only part of page there)

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This letter deals mainly with deception and manipulation on the part of Captain Alphonse Matte. You will note that in the second paragraph that he is instructing Vanhoutte to verify the existence of a Jeep vehicle that was in the forest where the Lindsey's were. It is interesting to note his order. He instructs Vanhoutte to "eliminate." it's existence, should he confirm the presence of the vehicle. This is the first example of tarnishing and suppressing key evidence to build the case around Wilbert Coffin.

With reference to instructing Mr. Vanhoutte to go to St. Leonard, this was, on the surface a fruitless effort, as and he already knew the answers that Vanhoutte would receive. In those days, Canada Customs did not demand the showing of sporting arms when coming across the border. There is no possible way that they would know which vehicles possessed firearms. Secondly, Mr. Matte suggests to ask if Canada Customs knew of any others in addition to Lindsey who had come across the border declaring that they were coming to search. He makes a major goof here. Lindsey did not come across the border to search. He came across the border presumably to hunt. He knew in advance that Customs would give a negative response. That may not seem important, but it is vital later when he would declare that there was no record of Americans coming across the border. Also, in those days records were not kept of which vehicles had entered Canada. I can recall being back and forth across the border hundreds of times when the border stop was little more than a "Hello and have a good trip." Silently, the case was being built, the trap was being set, and Wilbert coffin was the quarry.

The last paragraph says it all. It makes reference to a member of the post at Gaspe' being recalled to Quebec. It doesn't require a crystall ball to figure out who that member might be. It was none other than Sgt. Henri Doyon. His fate was now sealed as well. Even though he would not be making his exit for sometime, no more would he be a thorn in the side of Matte's case against Wilbert Coffin.

You will also note from the tone of the letter that Captain Matte appears to be perhaps planning to go somewhere on a trip. He is. He is about to take off on an extended trip to Montreal in an attempt to replicate Wilbert Coffin's recent trip there. This trip would require the services of an expert like himself in the field of deceit, chiefly because many folks along the way would have to be "reminded" of their recollection of the trip.

Join me again in a couple days for some more reading material. With reference to the French version, a slight hitch developed. As I mentioned the formats were slightly different, so certain adjustments have to be made, though I ask you to bear with me and I will publish the French versions tomorrow in an amended posting. This would not have been a problem originally, however, with the scheduled posting being moved ahead one day, the time frame was just too tight. Again, the French versions will be complete, just the same as the English. In subsequent postings in this series the French and English will appear in the same current episode. Cheers for now. I am late posting, please forgive me.

Lew Stoddard
Posted to site September 28, 2006