Thomas Bernard Brigham

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Thomas Bernard Brigham {d.1993} was an elderly American war veteran[1] convicted of planting a bomb in Central Station in Montréal, Canada on September 3 1984, killing three French tourists and injuring 30–47 other people.[2]

A divorced father of 11 children,[3] he was widely believed to be protesting Pope John Paul II's impending visit to Canada later that week.[4]

A native of Rochester, New York who had served as an Air Force navigator during the Second World War,[5] the 65-year old Brigham had placed the pipebomb, consisting of gunpowder, dynamite and possibly gasoline, in a locker #132,[6][7] and it exploded at 10:22 am,[8] killing Marcelle Leblond, 25, Eric Nicolas, 24, and Michel Dubois, 24.[5]

Witnesses later testified that someone shouted "Le pape est mort!" ("The Pope is dead!") just before the explosions, although Brigham did not speak French.[9][10] Brigham later telephoned the station to announce that a second bomb had been planted in the building, but a search turned up no such evidence.[11]

[edit] After the bombing

Brigham was arrested by Sûreté du Québec officers that evening, and admitted writing two letters threatening the Pope, one of which had been received by Amtrak three days prior to the bombing,[11] and one of which was found in a local hotel room that included comments such as "Time Bomb Set For 10:30 Prox" and "Papacy ended with a bang Sept. 3".[2][6]

In November 1984, fellow prisoner Raymond Kircoff, a drug addict serving time for theft of a VCR, allegedly had discussions with Brigham about bomb construction while the two were being driven to court together from the detention facility. He subsequently stated that it was so simple "a 12-year old could do it", but during closing statements at Brigham's trial it was argued that the design of a bomb that Kirkcoff claimed Brigham had shown him was completely unlike the bomb used in the station.[1]

In January 1985, the prosecution requested a hearing by sessions judge Claude Joncas into Brigham's mental competence to see if he was fit to stand trial, a move that was resisted by the defence who felt it unfairly villainized Brigham.[10][1] [12]

At trial, VIA Rail clerk Marc Bellevile testified how police had been called a week before the bombing when a man speaking in broken French, a language Brigham did not speak,[9] had phoned to say "be careful, it's going to blow", but that a search had failed to turn up any evidence.

Brigham's son Paul, a priest in St. Louis, said that his father was mentally disturbed but not violent,[13] and at trial it emerged that he had spent time in American mental institutions four times, having had delusions believing he was Jesus.[7][12]

During the trial at the Quebec Superior Court, prosecutor Claude Parent called twenty witnesses, while attorney Pierre Poupart called nine including Brigham's ex-wife. During the course of the trial, the key to the locker was lost at the crime laboratory before it could be tested for fingerprints.[7]

On April 19, the court took a bus to the station accompanied by Brigham, who quoted that it was "nice to be a star", referring to the rampant media attention later dismissed by overseeing judge Kenneth Mackay.[14]

Summations wrapped up on May 1 1985[7], and a jury of six men and six women deliberated for nine hours on May 3 before retiring for the night, and then eight more hours the following day before returning a verdict of guilty on all three counts of first degree murder.[15] In a statement after the verdict, Brigham spoke for 30 minutes referring to "cosmic forces" and stating that Our Lady of Fatima was due to appear in Montreal, and asking "If I were a bomber, would I have gone back to help people?"[5]

Brigham was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Pinel Institute for the Criminally Insane with no parole for 25 years. In May 1985, shortly after his sentencing, it was announced that immigration officials were obtaining a deportation order that would be served in 2009 upon his release from prison.[12]

A successful appeal in 1989 led to a new trial in front of Justice Charles Phelan after it was determined that Justice Kenneth MacKay had made four errors in his handling of the case. The verdict and sentencing of the second trial were identical, but led to another successful appeal request by attorney Jay Rumanek, arguing that an earlier defence attorney, Michael Kastner, had committed errors after learning Brigham could not testify to the jury.

Brigham died of a heart attack in 1993, at the age of 73, only days after determining with his attorney that his death between trials would mean that he would be presumed innocent.

v • d • e
Domestic Terrorism in Canada
Front de libération du Québec
Air India Bombing
Ripudaman Singh Malik, Ajaib Singh Bagri, Talwinder Singh Parmar, Inderjit Singh Reyat, Surjan Singh Gill, Hardial Singh Johal, Manmohan Singh, Daljit Sandhu
Squamish Five
Ann Hansen, Brent Taylor, Juliet Caroline Belmas, Doug Stewart and Gerry Hannah.
Other
Michelle Duclos, Thomas Bernard Brigham

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Globe and Mail, "Brigham described fatal bomb design, prisoner testifies" January 11 1985
  2. ^ a b New York Times "American Held as Witness in Montreal Bombing", September 5 1984
  3. ^ Globe and Mail, "Man convicted again in rail station deaths" February 8 1989
  4. ^ Martin, Lawrence. Globe and Mail, "QUEBEC Crime, tragedy cast a pall", January 3 1985
  5. ^ a b c Globe and Mail, "'Wouldn't hurt squirrel,' convicted murderer says.", May 6 1985
  6. ^ a b Globe and Mail, Brigham talked of cosmic forces, witness recounts, April 23 1985.
  7. ^ a b c d Globe and Mail, "Lawyers give summations in bomb case", May 1 1985.
  8. ^ Terrorism and Counterterrorism Research Group
  9. ^ a b Globe and Mail, "OBITUARY "Thomas Brigham Drifter convicted in bombing deaths", February 17 1993.
  10. ^ a b Canadian Press, "Montreal bomber arrested"
  11. ^ a b Norman Y. Mineta Institute for Surface Transportation Policy Studies, Protecting Surface Transportation Systems and Patrons from Terrorist Activities page 137, 1991.
  12. ^ a b c Globe and Mail, "Brigham probed by Immigration", May 9 1985
  13. ^ Rather, Dan and Renee Ferguson. CBS Evening News, September 4, 1984
  14. ^ Globe and Mail, "'Nice to be star,' suspect jokes on tour of bombed rail station", April 20 1985.
  15. ^ Globe and Mail, "No result yet in Brigham case", May 4 1985