Simon Marshall

Case Summary

By 1997, Ste-Foy, Quebec police had long been searching for a man known as the “Ste-Foy Rapist”, who had committed a string of sexual assaults in the area. The attacker’s modus operandi was to grab the victim from behind, place an item of clothing over their head so that he could not be identified, and force them to engage in sexual acts.1 These serial sexual assaults were widely publicized in the Ste-Foy area and of course caused significant distress to local residents, especially young women, the perpetrator’s target demographic.2

In the early morning of January 3rd, 1997, police arrested Simon Marshall, a 23-year-old man who had been caught peeping in the women’s washroom at a local Subway restaurant. Marshall was easy to locate since he was lingering nearby after being “roughed up” by Subway patrons.3

Marshall, who had an intellectual disability, had completed his junior year of high school at age 20. In 1992 he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, for which he was taking antipsychotic medication. His mother would later state that Marshall “made a good patsy.”4 Shortly after police arrived, Marshall asked what the lawyer they had mentioned could do for his bloodstained hat. An officer responded, “No, no, the lawyer is for you, not for your clothing.”5

En route to the station, police were taken aback when Marshall was able to identify a wooded area they were driving past as the site of one of the serial sexual assaults, and said that the incident there was consensual. Officers then questioned him extensively at the station in regards to these offences. Marshall confessed that he was the perpetrator, and gave details of the assaults that—according to police—were not public knowledge, lending credibility to his confession. In fact, much of this information had been published in various newspapers. Police also gave him “hints” when at first he did not “remember.”6

Marshall was charged with 15 counts of sexual assault. It seemed that the Ste-Foy Rapist had finally been caught.7

Despite Marshall’s mental illness and intellectual disability, a psychiatrist deemed him fit to stand trial after a brief, 10-minute assessment.8 A probation officer would later observe that Marshall would say whatever he thought would please people, and would contradict his own story within a span of 15 minutes. It was almost like he could be made to say anything.9

Marshall pled guilty to 13 counts of sexual assault.10 The Crown had stayed the proceedings on the other two charges, which pertained to a seven-year-old girl, after the investigating officer informed him that police work on these charges was not complete. A DNA sample taken in connection with the assault had not yet been tested. Moreover, the officer, Det. Sgt. Matte, doubted Marshall’s guilt even though he had confessed; Marshall’s account of the assault was not consistent with the victim’s.11

At Marshall’s sentencing hearing, the prosecutor read out a statement of facts, asserting that Marshall had assaulted nine girls and women between age 17 and 25, generally in wooded areas of residential neighbourhoods or on the Ste-Foy university campus.12 The judge stated that Marshall had “waited and spied on his victims” like “a beast on the lookout for his prey.”13 He added that Marshall’s serial offending had created a “collective psychosis of fear in the citizens of an entire city.”14

On November 28, 1997, Marshall was sentenced to 62 months’ imprisonment. The Ste-Foy Rapist’s crimes continued while he was incarcerated.15

Though the judge had recommended that Marshall serve his sentence in a psychiatric facility, he was sent instead to a federal penitentiary, where he became an easy target for other inmates to torment. He was sexually assaulted, beaten, and scalded with boiling water. At times, he would spend up to 23 hours per day in his cell so as to escape the constant violence and verbal abuse.16 

Marshall served the full 62 months to which he had been sentenced, since his parole applications were rejected.17 His mental health deteriorated greatly over the 6 years (including 11 months before he was sentenced) that he had spent in prison. Marshall’s mother described him as “catatonic” after his release; he was placed in a psychiatric hospital, barely speaking and hearing voices.18

Just months after his release, Marshall told a social worker that he had committed two further sexual assaults. He was arrested, and on December 18, 2003, pled guilty to these charges.19 Prior to his sentencing hearing, however, the Crown received DNA testing results in connection with one of the assaults. Marshall’s DNA did not match the perpetrator’s. Furthermore, it emerged that both victims and a witness doubted that Marshall was the assailant. One of the victims swore a declaration stating that police had put pressure on her to identify Marshall. On January 13, 2004, the Crown stayed the proceedings against Marshall and he was acquitted on the new charges.20

This development prompted the Crown to reopen its file on Marshall's 1997 convictions. DNA testing was finally performed on the sample that pertained to the assault on the little girl. Again, the perpetrator’s DNA did not match Marshall’s.21 Police reopened their investigation and concluded that there was no evidence linking Marshall to the Ste-Foy Rapist’s serial offences, other than his confession, which in hindsight was clearly untrue.22

On September 23, 2005, the Quebec Court of Appeal heard Marshall’s appeal of his conviction on the thirteen counts of sexual assault from 1997. The Crown joined Marshall’s counsel in requesting that he be acquitted. Finding that the fresh DNA evidence exonerated Marshall and that he had falsely confessed, the court acquitted him on all charges.23

In August 2005, the Quebec Ministry of Public Security requested that the Police Ethics Commissioner investigate the police involved in Marshall’s wrongful conviction.24 The Commissioner cited three officers for several forms of unethical conduct, including: abusing their authority to improperly obtain Marshall’s false confession, despite his disabilities, and to pressure witnesses to implicate him; knowingly laying charges against him that lacked a proper foundation; and conducting an insufficient investigation.25

The officers were brought before the Police Ethics Committee to determine if they should be disciplined.  However, the Committee agreed with only one of the many citations. Specifically, it found that despite not believing in Marshall’s guilt, Det. Sgt. Matte had knowingly laid baseless charges against him regarding the little girl (notwithstanding that he later convinced the Crown not to proceed on those charges).26 Det. Sgt. Matte had already retired when this decision was released in April 2008.27

Meanwhile, in December 2006, the Quebec government had announced that Marshall would receive $2.3 million in compensation for his wrongful conviction: the largest sum that the province had ever awarded regarding a miscarriage of justice.28


[1] R c Marshall, 1997 CanLII 6836 (QC CQ) at paras 1, 3-4 [Marshall 1997]; Marshall c R, 2005 QCCA 852 at paras 3, 5-9 [Marshall 2005]; Marianne White, “Quebec justice system slammed” (30 April 2008), The Windsor Star: B.1; Tu Thanh Ha, “Quebec man spent five years in jail after” (24 September 2005), The Globe and Mail, online: <https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/quebec-man-spent-five-years-in-jail-after/article4120969/> (accessed 31 December 2022) [Ha].
[2] Helena Katz, Justice Miscarried: Inside Wrongful Convictions in Canada (Canada: Dundurn Press, 2011) at p. 84 [Katz]; Ha, supra note 1; Marshall 1997, supra note 1 at para 14.
[3] Ha, supra note 1.
[4] Ibid.; Department of Justice (Canada), Applications for Ministerial Review — Miscarriages of Justice: Annual Report 2007 (Ottawa: Department of Justice Communications Branch, 2007) at p. 11 [Miscarriages of Justice: Annual Report 2007].
[5] Commissaire à la déontologie policière c Matte, 2008 CanLII 18644 (QC CDP) at para 80 [Commissaire c Matte].
[6] Ibid. at para 82; Ha, supra note 1.
[7] Marshall 1997, supra note 1 at paras 1, 4; Commissaire c Matte, supra note 5 at para 198; Ha, supra note 1; “Quebec police inquiry into wrongfully convicted man flawed, ethics board told” (16 January 2007), Canadian Press NewsWire: n/a.
[8] Ha, supra note 1; Katz, supra note 2 at p. 84.
[9] Ha, supra note 1. 
[10] Marshall 1997, supra note 1 at para 1.
[11] Commissaire c Matte, supra note 5 at paras 189-190, 196, 208, 219-221, 483, 506-507, 589, 620, 622.
[12] Marshall 1997, supra note 1 at paras 1-3, 6, 14.
[13] Ibid. at para 6.
[14] Ibid. at para 14.
[15] Ibid. at para 57; Commissaire c Matte, supra note 5 at para 41; Ha, supra note 1.
[16] Marshall 1997, supra note 1 at para 61; Katz, supra note 2 at pp. 85-86; Ha, supra note 1.
[17] Marshall 1997, supra note 1 at para 57; Ha, supra note 1.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Marshall 2005, supra note 1 at para 5; Ha, supra note 1.
[20] Marshall 2005, supra note 1 paras 5-6;  Commissaire c Matte, supra note 5 at paras 8, 29, 33.
[21] Marshall 2005, supra note 1 paras 7-9.
[22] Ibid. at para 10.
[23] Ibid. at paras 1, 11-15.
[24] Commissaire c Matte, supra note 5 at para 42.
[25] Ibid. at paras 45-48, 52-56, 61-64.
[26] Commissaire c. Matte, supra note 5 at paras 43, 618-625, 661-671.
[27] Marianne White, “Blaming one police officer for failed justice system ‘a scandal’; Group says entire system wrongfully convicted mentally disabled man” (30 April 2008), The Ottawa Citizen: A.7.
[28] Miscarriages of Justice: Annual Report 2007, supra note 4 at p. 11; Rhéal Séguin, “Mentally handicapped Quebec man receives millions for injustice” (21 December 2006), The Globe and Mail, online: <https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/mentally-handicapped-quebec-man-receives-millions-for-injustice/article20418207> (accessed 31 December 2022).

 

 

Case Details

  • Full name:

    Simon Marshall

  • Gender identity:

    Male

  • Race/ethnicity:

    Unknown

  • Age - at the time of conviction:

    24

  • Charges - specific offences:

    Other; Sexual assault; Assault

  • Date of conviction:

    1997-06-27

  • Date wrongful conviction was overturned:

    2005-09-23

  • Sentence - total time served:

    06 years, 01 months, 00 days

  • Legal mechanism by which wrongful conviction was overturned:

    New evidence and appeal out of time allowed

  • Status of alleged crime:

    Unsolved

  • Compensation Received?

    Yes

  • Guilty plea?

    Yes

  • Cause(s) of wrongful conviction:

    Marshall was wrongfully convicted of sex crimes committed by a serial perpetrator, the “Ste-Foy Rapist.” Marshall, who had an intellectual disability and a diagnosis of schizophrenia, falsely confessed in an extensive police interrogation. Years later, he was exonerated with DNA evidence, some of which was available—but not tested—prior to his conviction.