A Quebec man exonerated of a double murder more than 40 years ago has reached an out-of-court settlement after suing the province and the City of Montreal for his wrongful conviction. Claude Paquin, 83, was acquitted on Nov. 6, 2024, after being convicted in 1983 on charges of first-degree murder following the deaths of two people in 1978. He served 18 years in prison and 23 years on parole. After being granted parole, he reached out to Project Innocence Quebec, which offers legal support for the wrongfully convicted, and later found several red flags in his case. Two years ago, Quebec’s Crown prosecution office, known as the DPCP, declined to try him a second time after the federal justice minister concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe that a miscarriage of justice had probably occurred. In November 2025, Paquin filed a civil lawsuit seeking $64 million in damages after spending “the longest unjustified deprivation of liberty ever documented in Quebec.” He is also believed to be the oldest exoneree to be acquitted in Canada. He alleged the Montreal police service conducted a “botched investigation” and the DPCP “subsequently acted negligently, abusively, and maliciously in the judicial process that led to his deprivation of liberty.” The City of Montreal and the Attorney General of Quebec were named as defendants in the suit. However, on Friday, the law firm that was representing Paquin announced that a settlement had been reached. “The City of Montreal and the Attorney General of Quebec hope that this settlement, which allows all parties to avoid a lengthy trial this fall, will help Mr. Paquin to put this difficult chapter of his life behind him,” the Woods law firm said in a statement. Both parties declined to disclose the settlement amount, which is confidential.
