MONTREAL — A Quebec man who was ultimately acquitted in 2024 of a double murder dating to the 1970s has reached a settlement with the city of Montreal and the provincial government, his lawyers confirmed Friday.
Long-running legal battle ends with undisclosed settlement
The settlement, announced in a joint news release by the city and the province, resolves the Superior Court civil action the man launched last year alleging that police and justice system representatives had known for decades that his 1983 conviction was founded on unreliable evidence. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed.
He was convicted for the 1978 killings of Ronald Bourgouin and Sylvie Revah, and spent years moving through Canada’s criminal justice system before being freed in 2024 when federal authorities determined that a new trial should be ordered.
The civil suit argued that the accused endured what his lawyers called the longest unjustified deprivation of liberty ever documented in Quebec. Court filings described a chain of state errors and alleged that the primary witness against him had changed his account and had been given money and favourable treatment in exchange for testimony.
“The Plaintiff holds the grim record for the longest unjustified deprivation of liberty ever documented in Quebec,”
The 2024 decision to free him followed a review by the federal justice department, which concluded that a miscarriage of justice was likely and ordered a new trial. The Crown later declined to retry the case, and the man — who was in his eighties at the time of acquittal — was formally acquitted.
How decades unfolded
Court documents and statements from advocacy groups laid out the contours of a legal odyssey that spanned generations:
- 1978 — The two murders occurred.
- 1983 — The man was convicted in connection with the killings.
- Detention and supervision — He served 18 years in custody and spent more than 23 years on parole under strict conditions.
- 2024 — A federal review ordered a new trial and the Crown ultimately declined to proceed; he was acquitted.
- 2025 — He launched a civil suit alleging state misconduct.
- 2026 — The city and province reached an undisclosed settlement.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1978 | Murders of Ronald Bourgouin and Sylvie Revah |
| 1983 | Conviction |
| 18 years | Time in detention |
| 23+ years | Time on parole |
| 2024 | Federal review orders new trial; Crown declines to retry |
| 2026 | Settlement with city and province |
Advocates for wrongful-conviction clients say the case illustrates how long-lasting the effects of a flawed prosecution can be, affecting not only the years of incarceration but decades spent under supervision and social stigma.
Evidence and the path to acquittal
Legal representatives for innocence advocacy groups previously told reporters that evidence not presented at the original trial played a major role in prompting the federal review. Among the issues raised were the recantation and changed statements of an informant who had testified against the accused and allegations that the informant received money and favours in exchange for his testimony. Defence lawyers also flagged testimony from another witness suggesting the accused was not involved and raised questions about how the crime scene had been handled.
The federal justice department’s decision to order a new trial in 2024 was premised on the identification of significant new information that had not been before the courts at the time of the original proceedings. The Crown ultimately chose not to proceed, and the accused was acquitted at age 81, by which point he had spent more than half his life deprived of liberty or subject to strict supervision.
Institutional response and next steps
In their release, the city of Montreal and the Quebec government said they hoped the settlement would help the man "turn the page" on a painful chapter. The civil action had sought to hold public institutions to account for what the plaintiff described in court documents as a series of grave state errors.
Neither municipality nor province released the financial terms of the agreement. The settlement closes the civil litigation, but leaves broader questions about policy, oversight and the mechanisms used to review potential miscarriages of justice in Quebec.
For now, the settlement brings legal closure to a matter that has drawn attention from innocence advocates and raised renewed scrutiny of past investigative and prosecutorial practices in the province.
Geneviève Tremblay is the Quebec correspondent for WE NEWS.
