In the summer of 1953, in the Gaspé woods of Quebec, three American hunters from Pennsylvania went missing, and later turned up dead.  Wilbert Coffin was a local prospector and jack-of-all trades who was quickly targeted for their murder, as he was the last known person to have seen the hunters alive. In three short years, Wilbert Coffin would hang for the murder of one of those hunters. More than sixty-five years later, there are still lingering questions as to whether the criminal justice system got it right.

The Coffin Affair is a six-episode podcast that explores the arrest, conviction and execution of Wilbert Coffin, for the murder of Richard Lindsey. Relying on archival materials, historical research, case law, articles and books as well as interviews with several Gaspesians and interested others, these six episodes investigate every stage of the case. What becomes evident is that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred all those years ago.

Host and researcher Kathryn M. Campbell is a lawyer and professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa. Professor Campbell is also the faculty director of Innocence Ottawa, a body that assists prisoners with claims of wrongful conviction seeking review thought the Criminal Conviction Review Group of the Department of Justice. Her background and research brought her to the study of Wilbert Coffin’s case, where she is convinced grave errors were made and an innocent man was put to death for a murder he did not commit.

For more information on the Coffin case and the sources used for this podcast, please go to www.wilbertcoffinaffair.com