Editing Coffin affair (section)

==Trial and execution==
The main [[suspect]] in the case was Wilbert Coffin, who was found to have many items belonging to the men in his possession. Coffin was sent to [[trial (law)|trial]] in July 1954 and though the [[evidence]] against him was mostly [[circumstantial evidence|circumstantial]], he was convicted with one count of murder (as the [[penal code]] prohibited multiple convictions of [[murder]] in the same trial). On August 5 he was sentenced to [[hanging|hang]].

An [[appeal]] to the [[Quebec Court of Appeal|Quebec Court of Queen's Bench]] was dismissed. Coffin's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada was turned down but the federal Cabinet submitted a [[reference question]] to that Court asking: "If the application made by Wilbert Coffin for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada had been granted on any of the grounds alleged on the said application, what disposition of the appeal would now be made by the court?"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/hist/dcer/details-en.asp?intRefid=1470|accessdate=2006-08-24|work=Documents on Canadian External Relations|title=Volume 21 - 409}}{{dead link|date=June 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>''[http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/2004/2004scc79/2004scc79.html Reference re Same-Sex Marriage] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213171235/http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/2004/2004scc79/2004scc79.html |date=December 13, 2007 }}'', [2004] 3 S.C.R. 698, 2004 SCC 79, at para. 68</ref>

The federal government's decision to take the question to the Supreme Court of Canada caused tension with the government of the province of Quebec.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.international.gc.ca/department/history/dcer/details-en.asp?intRefid=1471|accessdate=2006-08-26|work=Documents on Canadian External Relations|title=Volume 21 - 410}}{{dead link|date=June 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The Supreme Court answered that it would have upheld the conviction of Coffin: ''Reference re Regina v. Coffin'', [1956] S.C.R. 191.

Coffin was hanged at [[Montreal]]'s [[Bordeaux Prison]] on February 10, 1956 at 12:01 AM.

But the story did not end with Coffin's death. [[Jacques Hébert (Canadian politician)|Jacques Hébert]], a [[reporter]] during the trial and later a [[Senate of Canada|senator]], published two books on the matter: {{lang|fr|Coffin était innocent}} (1958) and ''J'accuse les assassins de Coffin'' (1963). Hébert's 1963 book caused such [[controversy]] that the provincial government established a [[Royal Commission|Commission of Inquiry]] into the case. Headed by judge Roger Brossard with [[Jules Deschênes]] as Counsel to the Commission, over 200 [[witness]]es were interviewed. The commission found that Coffin did receive a fair trial.

In 1979, filmmaker [[Jean-Claude Labrecque]] made a feature film on the matter entitled {{lang|fr|[[The Coffin Affair|L'Affaire Coffin]]}}. It was released on September 10, 1980. Other documents inspired by the Coffin case include Dale Boyle's song "The Wilbert Coffin Story" and the Alton Price book, ''To Build A Noose'', which reflects Price's intensive research on the case.