What was the evidence given at the trial of Valentine Shortis?

Valentine Shortis, a young Irish immigrant, was convicted of murder in
Quebec in 1895. His insanity defense was unsuccessful in spite of
psychiatric evidence given by the leading psychiatrists in Canada.
Shortis spent the next 42 years in custody.

Dear emilyrn-ga,

I'll add my two cents to tlspiegel-ga's comment. Dr CK Clarke
(considered by many to be the father of Canadian psychiatry) was one
of the key defense counsels in this case. Since many leading
psychiatrists in Canada came forward in defense of Valentine Shortis,
this case became very high profile. For over a century, this case is
used as a benchmark for exploring a number of aspects of the history
of psychiatry, the insanity defence, and the treatment of the
criminally insane in Canada. Even today, comparisons are made with the
insanity defence and the treatment of the criminally insane.

Unfornately, you are likely to find very little information about this
topic on the web. The best and most definitive source of information
in this case is a book written by Martin Friedland, Faculty of Law and
Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto ( m.friedland@utoronto.ca
).

The book is titled "The Case of Valentine Shortis : A True Story of
Crime and Politics in Canada" University of Toronto Press, c1986,
ISBN:  080206728X

The amazon.com link for this book is as follows:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/080206728X/qid%3D1097409074/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/104-3168702-1109534

As I type this comment, 7 new and used books are available for sale on
the above link.

Good luck in your research.

bestsearcher-ga