Convicted Murderer, Folk Figure. Her crimes, real and imagined, have been the stuff of Canadian legend for more than 200 years. Marie-Josephte Corriveau, the daughter of Joseph Corriveau and Marie Françoise Bolduc, married her first husband Charles Bouchard on November 17, 1749 at Saint Vallier. She was 16. Charles died in 1760, leaving a widow and three children. Marie Josephte married her second husband Louis Dodier on July 20, 1761, also at Saint Vallier. On the morning of January 27, 1763, his body was discovered in their barn. Louis had sustained severe head trauma. He was interred the same day at Saint Vallier cemetery, dead at age 28. Rumors swirled, and Marie-Josephte and her father were accused of murder. The trial held by British authorities, which started on the 29th of March and ended on the 9th of April, resulted in Joseph Corriveau receiving a death sentence for murder and Marie-Josephte receiving a lighter sentence for lesser charges. However, shortly thereafter, Joseph allegedly confessed to his priest that his daughter had actually killed her husband. At the second trial held on April 15th, Marie-Josephte is said to have confessed to the murder, indicating that she had been the victim of physical abuse by her husband. That same day, she was found guilty and sentenced to hang, with her corpse to be displayed in an iron cage (gibbet). The sentence was carried out on April 18, 1763 in the city of Québec. Her body was displayed at Pointe Lévy (Lauzon) until at least the 25th of May, after which it was taken down due to the complaints of residents. This "hanging in chains" had never been used in the province of Québec, although it had been a British punishment in earlier times. Marie-Josephte Corriveau was buried in her cage in the cemetery at Lauzon (Saint Joseph de la Pointe Lévy). In the mid 1800's, the cage was dug up from the cemetery. It was later acquired by the American P T Barnum and put on display. There are reports that the cage may have been lost in a museum fire years later. The story of "La Corriveau" has been the inspiration of numerous works of literature and art.