Stoddard Online

Stodddard Online: . . . . SPECIAL TO THE WILBERT COFFIN CASE

By now you are no doubt aware of certain articles appearing in some of the eastern publications regarding the Wilbert Coffin case. As we all know, this case has been around for in excess of fifty long years. As a result, anytime that information not previously known about by the public can very easily be absorbed by a hungry society as the long awaited turning point that is almost guaranteed to break the case. This is where the public should tread with caution.

Judging from some of the comments on my web site, and through numerous e-mails on this latest revelation, there will be a cross section of the public who will be quick to say that I am just trying to steal someone else's thunder. If that is your approach, that is ok. My position on this remains the same, I am not ready to start doing cartwheels just yet. This case is not over. I wish it was, but it simply isn't.

You will have read of the possible involvement of a Mr. Jean Philippe Cabot in this case, naming him as a possible perpetrator of this crime. That is not new information. That story has been around for at least thirty years. You will have read in some of the recent articles that Mr. Cabot's son, Gabriel, has stated that he was a witness to his father commiting this crime. You may be hearing of that for the first time only now with the recent newspaper accounts. Again, this is not new. That part of the story is decades old as well. It was not publicly reported on previously because of one underlying reason, and one reason alone. That reason being , there would have been possible slander implications, simply because there was no sworn affadavit to back up the claim. Suddenly, the story emerges now in the press. It is ok here to say, Why now? The quick answer to that is because Mr. Gabriel Cabot passed into eternity in May of 2006, thus removing the slander barrier that existed.

On a personal note, I commenced investigating and writing the story of Wilbert Coffin in April of 2006. Within one week of research, Mr. Cabot's name was brought to my attention through many rumours. I did a fair amount of researching Mr. Cabot. Information came from many sources. It had to be sifted very carefully, as obviously much of it was based strictly on what someone had heard, and that person had heard it from someone else, and so on down the line. In other words, lots of stories, but not a lot that I could nail down as concrete. I did learn though, as many others did, Mr. Cabot Sr. was not a nice person. Obviously, I never had the opportunity to interview Mr. Cabot, so again, even the stuff that is accepted as fact, I know of no sworn document to support these allegations.

I know that it takes courage and stamina for a family member to come forward in cases such as this. I commend the family for that, but again, the information brought forward in this latest report seems to stem from Gabriel Cabot who has passed on, with no sworn statement that I am aware of. In the absence of sworn testimony, just how much creedence will be placed on all this by the government review board, I am not sure, and indeed, I do not speculate.

In the event there are some of you who will suggest that I did not know previously of the Cabot allegations, well, let me suggest that I can back up my claim. As I have stated many times in my writings, I publish nothing as fact that I cannot back up with a personal interview, or a document to nail it down. In this case, I have such a document, signed in the hand writing of the author. As a matter of fact, I have at least two of them. Because of this fact, I will suggest to you, that the basis for much of the current stories that you are reading in the newspapers was garnered from this same individual, and not from sudden new research carried out by the publications. I know that because the same information appears in some of the newspaper accounts that is in the signed documents that I am in possession of, and I have possessed these since early spring. Let me be clear, I am not saying this as a means to question the validity of the content in the documents that I possess, I am merely suggesting that I know the roots of the story.

I am not the only person to view and read these documents. I have shared the content and allowed some members of the Coffin family to view them as well. I will tell you that one of these documents was written to Jean Gabriel Cabot and is dated July 31, 2004. The other document, hand written is to a gentleman in the Gaspe region. That document is dated October, 1999. The document to Mr. Cabot was written in an attempt to coerce him to talk and swear information. In my view, at best it would serve to scare off someone allegedly having gone through what Mr. cabot is purported to have experienced. I believe the tone of this document is atrocious, and I believe that the author was not qualified to do such an interrogation. In contrast to this document, the other addressed to an individual in the Gaspe' region, asks among other things, did the recipient recall if Philippe Cabot's vehicle had bald tires or not? Under normal everyday conditions that may be a good question, however, in this case, the vehicle in question was owned in 1953, and this was now 1999.

I was going to post these documents, and I do not rule out the possibility that I may still do so. I chose not to at the present time in order to avoid embarassment to the author, particularly in the document to Mr. Cabot, because as I stated I do not like the tone of the wording, and quite frankly, I find it disturbing and chilling. I sought and obtained a legal opinion yesterday with respect to publishing these papers. I was assured that I was well within the confines of the law to publish them, as their origins are authenticated, and given to me by the person who prepared and signed them.

In one weekend publication one statement jumps out at me. Gabriel Cabot is reportedly saying that he witnessed his father beating Eugene Lindsey, and then finish him off by running over him with the truck and crushing him. Obviously, the reporter did not see, or did not have available the autopsy report on Mr. Lindsey. I do have those reports on all three individuals. There is absolutely nothing in the autopsy report of Mr. Lindsey to suggest he was crushed by a moving truck. There is no mention of broken bones reported. It does mention though that the head and a large part of the thorax was missing. The autopsy reports on the boys do not state they were shot. It states there were circular perforations in the clothing, but not identifying them as a result of gunshots. The gunshot theory was factored in later.

There are many questions to answer, and again I repeat, in my view until such time as a sworn affadavit surfaces from Gabriel Cabot, it is going to be a tough sell. It is wrong to anticipate the decision that may come from the government inquiry just yet.

With respect to my own personal involvement in this case, my plans and goals have not changed. From day one, my objective has been, still is, and always will be to end this story with the exoneration of Wilbert Coffin. In my view, the main focus right now should be to prove that Wilbert Coffin was executed by a flawed process, and the reasons why it happened. In other words, I am in it for the long haul. I stand by what I have reported on this case.

I have not faltered with respect to my theory that these men were not shot, but stabbed. I am not saying that Mr. Cabot did not play a role, but when you read my accounting, you will see an altogether different picture than that being presented in the media. I received a telephone call yesterday from a major print media outlet in Toronto. I was asked by the reporter if I might make a statement for him about my views on the outcome of the case. I told him, sure I would be happy to. I told him to keep reading the web page, and he would get the statement at exactly the same time as the rest of Canada gets it. My first responsibility is to my readers, and to the families of Wilbert Coffin and others touched by this horrendous saga.

Now to get back to the business of solving this affair. On Friday, I shall be posting the commencement of the trial, how it was set up, the players involved, and the presentation of the crown's case leading to Wilbert Coffin's conviction. At the conclusion of the trial, this is where you will all learn the exact reason that Wilbert Coffin was allowed to finally hang and the documented sequence of events that provided the mechanism for the execution.

Lew Stoddard
Posted to site November 21, 2006