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Joseph-Albert Guay (most commonly known as Albert Guay) was a resident of Quebec City who was responsible for the in-flight airplane bombing of a passenger airplane on September 9, 1949, killing all on board including his wife Rita (née Morel). Motto: « Don de Dieu feray valoir » (I shall put Gods gift to good use) Site in the province of Quebec Official logo Provincial region Province Country Capitale-Nationale Quebec Canada Gentilé Québécois, Québécoise Mayor Term Andrée P. Boucher 2005-2009 federal Members of Parliament...
September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ...
1949 (MCMXLIX) is a common year starting on Saturday. ...
The incident and subsequent trials of Guay and his accomplices were notorious in Quebec and received very wide newspaper coverage. Motto: Je me souviens (French: I remember) Official languages French Capital Quebec City Largest city Montreal Lieutenant-Governor Lise Thibault Premier Jean Charest (PLQ) Parliamentary representation - House seat - Senate seats 75 24 Area Total • Land • Water (% of total) Ranked 1st 1,542,056 km² 1,183,128 km² 176,928...
The flight
The plane was a Canadian Pacific Airlines DC-3 aircraft (registry CF-CUA S/N: 4518) flying from Montreal to Baie-Comeau with a stopover at L'Ancienne-Lorette, a suburb of Quebec City; it was at Quebec City that Rita Morel (Mrs. Guay) and the bomb came on board. Canadian Pacific Airlines, also called CP Air, was a Canadian airline that operated from 1942 to 1987. ...
Douglas DC-3 VH-AES at Avalon in 2003. ...
City motto: Concordia Salus (Latin: Well-being through harmony) Province Quebec Mayor Gérald Tremblay Area - % water 366. ...
Baie-Comeau, Québec is the hometown of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. ...
LAncienne-Lorette is a former city in central Quebec, Canada. ...
Motto: « Don de Dieu feray valoir » (I shall put Gods gift to good use) Site in the province of Quebec Official logo Provincial region Province Country Capitale-Nationale Quebec Canada Gentilé Québécois, Québécoise Mayor Term Andrée P. Boucher 2005-2009 federal Members of Parliament...
The bomb was made of dynamite and an alarm clock and stashed in the forward baggage compartment. It exploded near a small locality named Sault-au-Cochon (sometimes incorrectly given as "Sault-aux-Cochons") near Saint-Joachim in the Charlevoix region, causing the plane to crash and killing all 4 crew and 19 passengers. Apart from Rita Morel, the victims included four children and three American executives from the Kennecott Copper Corporation including the company president. Dynamite recovered in a mine in Eastern Oregon. ...
The Charlevoix region, located in Quebec, includes parts of the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River and the Laurentian mountains region of the Canadian Shield. ...
Kennecott Copper Corporation had its start when Enos A. Wall realized the potential of copper deposits in Bingham Canyon in Utah in 1887 and acquired claims to the land. ...
The airline involved is sometimes stated to be "Quebec Airways", but this was simply a name used for some Canadian Pacific Airlines flights in Quebec. Apparently the flight did not have a flight number (although the French-language Wikipedia article states it was flight 108, other sources including airline disaster databases do not confirm this).
This is sometimes incorrectly stated to be the first in-flight airplane bombing incident in history; in fact, there had been at least two earlier incidents, including one (apparently with a similar motive) in the Philippines in May of that same year [1], a fact which was duly noted in contemporary Quebec press accounts. A later incident, the bombing of United Airlines Flight 629 on November 1, 1955 (by a man wishing to kill his mother for insurance) was apparently inspired by the Albert Guay affair. United Airlines Flight 629 was a flight that flew from Stapleton Airport in Denver, Colorado to Portland, Oregon. ...
November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ...
1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The flight was delayed five minutes at takeoff; this apparently thwarted Guay's desire to have the explosion take place over the Saint Lawrence River, which would have made forensic examination of the crash impossible with the technology of the day. The Saint Lawrence River (French: fleuve Saint-Laurent) is a large west-to-east flowing river in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. ...
Plot and aftermath Albert Guay, born in 1917, described himself as a jeweller and watchmaker, although at his trial it was suggested that he was more of a watch and jewellery salesman. His marriage to Rita Morel was stormy and he became enamoured of 19-year-old waitress Marie-Ange Robitaille. In those days Quebec was strictly Catholic and divorce was almost impossible. Guay first considered poison but later decided on the airplane bombing. The day of the flight he took out a $CAD10,000 insurance policy on his wife, a considerable sum at that time, which he attempted to collect three days later; there was also a prior $5000 policy dating from 1942. 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ...
The dollar (currency code CAD) has been the currency of Canada since 1858. ...
This article is about the year. ...
He asked clockmaker Généreux Ruest to manufacture a bomb using dynamite, batteries and an alarm clock. The dynamite had been purchased at a hardware store by Ruest's sister Marguerite Pitre (also called Ruest-Pitre, wife of Arthur Pitre), supposedly to be used in clearing a field. Pitre also delivered the package containing the bomb to the plane, for mail delivery. She had also been the one who had arranged secret meetings between Guay and his mistress Robitaille. She made a failed suicide attempt in the days following the crash.
Ruest and Pitre both later maintained their innocence. Pitre claimed that Guay had told her that the package she was transporting contained a statue. Ruest also claimed that he thought the bomb was to be used to clear tree stumps from a field.
Guay was arrested two weeks after the crash and put on trial in February 1950; he was tried and convicted and sentenced to hang, and was executed on January 12, 1951 at the age of 33. His last words were Au moins, je meurs célèbre (At least I die famous). January 12 is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ...
After his conviction Guay issued a statement saying that Ruest and Pitre acted knowingly to help him. As a result, Ruest was arrested on June 6, 1950 and tried in November of that year and convicted, and was hanged on July 25, 1952, aged 54. Suffering from osseous tuberculosis, he had to be taken to the gallows in a wheelchair. Marguerite Pitre was also arrested on June 14, 1950 and tried separately beginning March 6, 1951 and convicted, and she was hanged on January 9, 1953; she was the thirteenth and last woman to be hanged in Canada. June 6 is the 157th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (158th in leap years), with 208 days remaining. ...
1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...
July 25 is the 206th day (207th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 159 days remaining. ...
1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Tuberculosis (commonly shortened to TB) is an infection caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can also affect the central nervous system (meningitis), lymphatic system, circulatory system (Miliary tuberculosis), genitourinary system, bones and joints. ...
June 14 is the 165th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (166th in leap years), with 200 days remaining. ...
1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...
March 6 is the 65th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (66th in Leap years). ...
1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ...
January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1953 calendar). ...
Dollard Dansereau, author of Causes célèbres du Québec, studied the case and concluded that Ruest may not have known of Guay's intentions when the latter asked him to make the bomb; he also concluded that Pitre may have been innocent. Some speculated that Guay's motive in denouncing his accomplices was to buy time to delay his own execution, believing that he would be called to testify at their trials. In the event, he testified at Ruest's trial but was hanged soon after and thus did not testify at Pitre's trial.
The incident in fiction The incident and subsequent trial and hanging of Guay and his accomplices was notorious in Quebec and served as the inspiration for Le crime d'Ovide Plouffe, a 1982 novel by Roger Lemelin and 1984 film of the same name by Denys Arcand. In 1949 Lemelin had been a friend and neighbor of Guay, as well as being the Quebec correspondent for Time magazine. Motto: Je me souviens (French: I remember) Official languages French Capital Quebec City Largest city Montreal Lieutenant-Governor Lise Thibault Premier Jean Charest (PLQ) Parliamentary representation - House seat - Senate seats 75 24 Area Total • Land • Water (% of total) Ranked 1st 1,542,056 km² 1,183,128 km² 176,928...
1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Roger Lemelin (born April 7, 1919 - March 16, 1992) was a Canadian novelist, television writer, and essayist. ...
1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Denys Arcand recieving the Order of Canada from Governor General Adrienne Clarkson in a ceremony performed at Rideau Hall on Friday, June 10, 2005. ...
(Clockwise from upper left) Notable Time magazine covers from the dates May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ...
References - Causes célèbres du Québec, Dollard Dansereau, Editions Leméac, Montréal, 1974
External links - List of victims (in French)
- Le Soleil (January 12 1951): The execution of Albert Guay (in French)
- Le Soleil (July 25 1952): The execution of Généreux Ruest (in French)
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