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First Biker War

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First Biker War
Date1977–1984
Location
Quebec and Ontario, Canada
Caused byNarcotics trade, territorial & criminal disputes
GoalsBoth clubs attempt to consolidate their control over territory in Quebec and Ontario
Resulted inHells Angels Victory
  • Hells Angels consolidate power in Quebec and begin to expand across Canada
  • Ontario remains in control of the Outlaws until 2000
Parties

Hells Angels

  • Wild Ones MC
Support:
Lead figures

Garnet McEwen

  • John Galipeau †
  • Gilles Cadorette †
Casualties
Death(s)62-72[1]
Injuries+100[1]
Arrested+50

From 1977 to 1984, the Hells Angels and the Outlaws Motorcycle Club fought what came to be known in Canada as the First Biker War. The Angels emerged victorious. As the Outlaws retreated into their Ontario stronghold, the Angels began consolidating their activities and expanding, moving into port cities Halifax, Nova Scotia and Vancouver, British Columbia. The misleadingly named conflict is known in Canada as the "First Biker War", but the first large conflict between bikers in Canada, was the Satan's Choice-Popeyes War which occurred from 1974 to 1976.

Prelude to war

The Outlaws allied themselves with the largest motorcycle club in Canada, Satan's choice in 1974, gaining a way to challenge the supremacy of the Hells Angels influence in Quebec through access to the Montreal chapter of Satan's Choice. This led the Montreal chapter and their Outlaw allies into open conflict with the Hells Angels-backed Popeye Moto Club, resulting in a number of casualties on both sides in what would come to be known as the Satan's Choice-Popeyes War. Both clubs sought to expand into Canada, with the Outlaws arriving a few months before the Hell's Angels in 1977.

1977

In 1976, the leader of the Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club Bernie Guindon was sent to prison for narcotics charges. In 1977, the Outlaws expanded into Canada and the arrest of Guindon led to the fracturing of Satan's Choice when, on 1 July 1977, the Ottawa, St. Catharines, Windsor, and Montreal chapters left Satan's Choice in favour of the Outlaws. Garnet McEwen called a secret meeting on 1 July 1977 with most of the chapter presidents being present where he called for "patching over" to the Outlaws, arguing that being members of an American-based club would add to their power, saying that the St. Catherine's and Windsor chapters had already decided to join the Outlaws.[2] The chapter presidents known to be loyal to Guindon were not invited to the meeting.[2]

The Hells Angels would also expand into Canada in 1977, when in December they Patched-over the second largest Motorcycle Club in Canada, the Popeye Moto Club which they had been scouting for years as it was known as the most notorious and violent motorcycle club in Canada. Tensions between the two groups in Ontario and Quebec began almost immediately with small scuffles and incidents at the end of 1977.

1978

In February 1978. A chapter of the Montreal Rockers MC becomes the second Quebec chapter of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. In the same month on February 15, Hells Angels member Yves "Apache" Trudeau shoots and kills a member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, Robert Côté and wounds another at the Joey brewery in Montreal Quebec; it is the beginning of the war between the Angels and the Outlaws in the province.[3]

On March 21, 1978. A bomb placed under the car of Gilles Cadorette, Outlaws MC Montreal chapter president, the vehicle exploded in front of a bar on Bordeaux Street in Montreal; Cadorette is killed instantly and several others are injured by the debris from the explosion. On 25 April 1978, Denis "Le Cure" Kennedy and another Hells Angel were able to enter the Outlaw clubhouse at 144 rue Saint-Ferdinand and went on a shooting rampage.[3] Although no-one was killed, a number of Outlaws were wounded.[3] On April 26 of the same year, Athanase "Tom Thumb" Markopoulos, a member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, is murdered by 2 members of the Hells Angels. On 27 April 1978, Kennedy shot and badly wounded an Outlaw, François Poliseno and his girlfriend, Suzanne Harvey, while the two were drinking at the Industrial Brasserie bar.[4] Witnesses described the gunman who shot Poliseno and Harvey as leaving in a green car, which the police found parked outside of the Angels' clubhouse.[4] Ballistic tests showed that the bullets fired in the Industrial Brasserie shooting were from the same handgun used in the attack at the Outlaws' clubhouse.[4] As a result, Buteau changed the rules, ordering that henceforward Angels were to leave their guns at the scene of the crime in order to reduce the chances of the police being able to tie together crimes.[4]

On 12 May 1978, the Outlaws struck back when a Hells Angel, René "Canisse" Hébert was wounded when his arm was grazed in a drive-by shooting as he was leaving the Angels Montreal clubhouse.[4] On May 26, 1978. Jean Gonthier, an associate of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, is beaten to death by Paul Ringuette, a associate of the Hells Angels, they were both arrested and sent to the penitentiary of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul in Laval when the murder occurred. In October Walter Stadnick,{{sfn|Langton|2010|p=61 then President of the Wild Ones MC in Hamilton Ontario travelled to Montreal to make contact with Yves Buteau, the national president of Hells Angels Canada to discuss having the Wild Ones "patch over" to become the first Hells Angels chapter in Ontario.[5] On October 12, 1978. The members of the Hells Angels, Georges Mousseau and Jean Brochu, as well as Guy "Gator" Davies, a member of the Wild Ones, were assassinated at the Tourbillon café on rue Beaubien, in Montreal, when the Outlaws MC attacked the meeting, Hells Angels members Louis “Ti-Oui” Lapierre and Bruno Coulombe were also injured during the Le Tourbillion massacre.[6]

Le Tourbillion massacre

The Outlaws saw the possibility of a Hells Angel chapter being established in Ontario by way of the Wild Ones as a threat.[7] On October 12, 1978. Two American Outlaws, one from Miami and the other from Detroit, had entered Le Tourbillion after following the Angels around.[8] One Angel, Louis "Ti-Oui" Lapierre, rose to confront the two American Outlaws, only to be gunned down when one of the Outlaws pulled out his handgun while the other Outlaw pulled out a sawed-off shotgun and opened fire on the party in the booth.[6] One of the Angels, Jean Brochu, was killed while Lapierre and another Angel Bruno Coulombe were badly wounded.[7] Of the Wild Ones, George "Chico" Mousseau and Gary "Gator" Davies were killed.[7] Stadnick survived by hiding under the table.[7] Buteau learned that the man who hired the two American Outlaws was Roland "Roxy" Dutemple of the Outlaw Montreal chapter, he would send ace assassin Yves "Apache" Trudeau to kill him, however it wouldn't be until March 29, 1979, when Dutemple was killed with a car bomb.[9]

Conflict leaks into Ontario

These events would cause the conflict would spread into the province of Ontario with the Hamilton chapter of the Outlaws for their contribution to the conflict, started killing the Wild Ones, after 5 members of the Wild Ones were killed, the club disbanded themselves.[10] When Stadnick returned from Montreal, he found his gang had voted themselves out of existence, but Stadnick chose to continue as a Hells Angel, operating in Montreal and alone in Hamilton.[11]

On November 10, Yves "Apache" Trudeau shoots down Brian Powers, former president of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, at the latter's home in West Montreal. On November 25 of 1978. Montreal Police kill Jean-Marc Patenaude, a member of the Outlaws, guarding the body of "Ziggy" Wiseman, at the "King of massage parlors'. In December , Yves Trudeau guns down the biker William Weichold, whom he accidentally mistakes for an Outlaw.[12]

1979

On March 29, 1979, Yves "Apache" Trudeau destroys the car of Roland Dutemple, an Outlaws informant with explosives in Longueuil, Quebec. On April 3 of the same year Yves Trudeau kills Robert Labelle, clothing importer, narcotics trafficker and former president of the Huns motorcycle club who "Patched-over" to the Outlaws, at his home in Fabreville, Quebec. On May 9, 1978. Three members of the Hells Angels, Yves "Le Boss" Buteau, Jean-Pierre Mathieu and Yves "Apache" Trudeau murdered Donald McLean, a member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, and his girlfriend, Carmen Piché. They are killed by an explosive that is attached to McLean's motorcycle.

In September 1979, Trudeau and others gained permission from the Montreal chapter to form the Montreal North chapter, based in Laval, most commonly referred to as the Laval chapter. The group would become known for its violent and reckless behaviour and excessive drug use.[12] The North chapter were mostly former Popeyes, and still retained Popeye attitudes, in marked contrast to the Montreal South chapter headed by Réjean "Zig Zig" Lessard, which consisted of men who joined the Angels after 1977 and were more disciplined. This notorious behavior would come to haunt the chapter during a future event known as the Lennoxville massacre.[13]

1980

Media attention for 1980 was relatively low in comparison to previous years, However several brawls and attacks using Molotov cocktails and explosives had occurred throughout the year costing both clubs "significant loss in property and income" By late 1980, it was estimated that by authorities that Angels–Outlaw biker war had caused 20-30 murders in Quebec and Ontario, while between 1981 and 1984 another 42 were killed.[1]

1981

On the 14th of March, 1981. Yves “Apache” Trudeau places a bomb in the vehicle of an associate of the Outlaws, Robert Morin, the explosion kills him. This year would see a slight rest in the conflict as both sides regained their footing.

1982

Due to blowback from the West End Gang. In January 1982, Trudeau killed Charlie Hachez, a member of the Laval Chapter and another Angel, because they had heavy drug problems, had conspired to kidnap Frank Ryan's kids and owed Ryan $150,000 in drug money, specifically Hachez. When Ryan learned about the kidnapping plot, he informed the Hells Angels that they either liquidate those involved or be cut off from the cocaine that he sold them. Hachez was lured to a meeting, killed, and his body dumped in the St. Lawrence River. The year come to an end with the groups exchanging back and forthresulting in several more dead and more injured.[1]

1983

On 15 July 1983. Trudeau kills Michel Desormiers at his home located in the town of Deux-Montagnes. Desormiers was the brother-in-law of Cotroni crime family mob boss Frank Cotroni. In September 1983 Yves Buteau along with his friend and fellow Hells Angels MC member Rene Lamoureaux are at the Le Petit Bourg bar, located in the suburb of Longueuil, Quebec. The pair are hosting Guy Gilbert, aka. “Frenchie”, a member of Satan's Choice MC who has travelled from Ontario. Waiting outside of the bar on his bike was Gino Goudreau, a 22 year old narcotics dealer with a brother who belonged to Outlaws MC in Quebec, along with his girlfriend. When Buteau, Lamoureaux and Gilbert exited the bar, Gino Goudreau left his girlfriend on the bike and approached the men, removing a .38 pistol and emptying the magazine on the three men. Yves Buteau is hit twice in the chest and dies immediately, Guy “Frenchie” Gilbert dies shortly after. Rene Lamoureaux survives the shooting with serious injuries.[14]

Although Gino Goudreau goes into hiding he is located and arrested by police only a few months later where he is charged with two counts of murder in the second degree. In the trial that followed Goudreau claims that Yves Buteau had threatened him on many occasions and on the night of the shooting Yves Buteau also pulled a gun, however Gino Goudreau was able to fire off shots first. The self defence claim is successful and Goudreau is acquitted of the murder.[14]

On 17 July 1983, while riding through northern Ontario, Mario Parente happened to see two Hells Angels from Montreal, Michel "Jinx" Genest and Jean-Marc Nadeau, on the bus to Vancouver to attend the ceremony.[15] Enraged, Parente and the other Outlaws proceeded to shoot up the bus when it stopped at the Mr. Mugs coffee and doughnut shop in Wawa in an attempt to kill the two Hells Angels.[16] Through no one was killed, the Wawa incident showed strongly Parente felt about Hells Angels moving into Ontario which was considered to be Outlaws territory since 1977.[16]

On September 12, 1983. A funeral for Yves Buteau was held at a church in the town of Sorel. It is estimated that there were over 2,000 supporters and 150 members of the Hells Angels from Canada, the United States, England and elsewhere who rode in procession from Sorel to Drummondville where he was buried, a journey covering a distance of approximately 40 miles. He shares a gravestone with Hells Angels member Adrien Fleury, aka “Pistache”.

A day after Buteau's funeral, a young boy discovered a bomb on the route in which the funeral procession, consisting of Hells Angels bikers had gone past.[17] Police theorized that it had been placed and camouflaged the night before the funeral.[17]

1984

Buteau's murder did not change the fortunes of the Outlaws. In March 1984, Bernard Savoie, the brother and right-hand man of the Outlaw Montreal chapter president Daniel Savoie was killed by a bomb planted in his car.[18] In May 1984 Daniel Savoie and John Galipeau, both members of the Outlaws, were assassinated while riding their motorcycles down a highway by gunmen riding motorcycles.[18] By 1984, the Hells Angels had dealt major damage to the Montreal chapters of the Outlaws, the conflict came to an end with the Outlaws pulling back to their power base in Ontario.[19]

A year later when Yves Trudeau turned Crown Informant, he admitted to killing 43 people from September 1973 to July 1985. He was the first Canadian Hells Angel to earn the "Filthy Few" patch, awarded to members who have killed for the club. During a biker war between the Hells Angels and the Outlaws for control of Montreal's drug trade between 1978 and 1983, Trudeau killed 18 out of the 23 Outlaws slain during the conflict.[12] Langton called Trudeau a "psychopathic killer" and a "killing machine" par excellence, who was the Angels' most dangerous killer.[20]

Violence reignites & Aftermath

In 1985. Construction of a bunker in Danville, Quebec by the Outlaws Motorcycle Club is started. On September 15, 1989, the Outlaws bunker is attacked by an explosion. In April 1990. The municipality of Danville destroys the Outlaws Motorcycle Club bunker it purchase from them. September of the same year, Claude Meunier, the leader of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, is assassinated when he is struck multiple times by a man firing from a moving automobile in the Côte-Saint-Paul district of Montreal; the police find the murder weapon in a storm sewer near the location. In October 1990. Tony Mentore, a friend of Claude Meunier, leader of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club murdered the previous month, is in turn murdered in front of the shop family kitchen equipment, in the Park Extension district of Montreal.

In 1991, on February 20. Darquis Leblanc, a former member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club who became an associate of the Hells-Angels, is assassinated along with his right-hand man and brother-in-law, Yvan Martel; their corpses were discovered in an alley near Boulevard Taschereau in Longueuil. On March 26, 1992. Saw the foundation of the Montreal Rockers, a Hells-Angels school club sponsored by Maurice "Mom" Boucher (these Rockers are not to be mistaken for those who became the Outlaws in 1978). [21]

On January 29, 1997. In the midst of the Quebec Biker War which saw the Hells Angels engage with the Canadian-based Rock Machine for territorial supremacy in Quebec. The Hells Angels, Outlaws and Bandidos agree to an international peace treaty to end the war between the three major transnational criminal organizations. On May 28, 2008. The Outlaws Roy "Capone" Haynes Jr, aged 34, alleged leader of the Outlaws operating in the Downtown area and in the Pointe-Saint-Charles, Verdun and Saint-Henri neighborhoods of Montreal. Six members of the Outlaws are arrested following Operation Satellites undertaken 2 years previously; the gang was selling 1 to 2 kg of cocaine and crack per month, in addition to the drug trafficking and charges of gangsterism, the leader of the Outlaws in Quebec is charged with procuring, he allegedly used the income from the work of his prostitutes to buy drugs.

See Also

List of outlaw motorcycle club conflicts

References

  • Edwards, Peter; Auger, Michel (2012). The Encyclopedia of Canadian Organized Crime: From Captain Kidd to Mom Boucher. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 978-0771030499..
  • Schneider, Stephen (2009). Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada. Toronto: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-83500-5.
  • Cherry, Paul (2005). The Biker Trials: Bringing Down the Hells Angels. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-55490-250-7.
  • Langton, Jerry (2010). Showdown: How the Outlaws, Hells Angels and Cops Fought for Control of the Streets. Toronto: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0470678787.
  • O'Connor, D'Arcy (2011). Montreal's Irish Mafia: The True Story of the Infamous West End Gang. Toronto: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0470676158.
  1. ^ a b c d Schneider 2009, p. 395.
  2. ^ a b Lowe 2013, p. 116.
  3. ^ a b c Langton 2010, p. 59.
  4. ^ a b c d e Langton 2010, p. 60.
  5. ^ Sher & Marsden 2003, p. 25-26.
  6. ^ a b Langton 2010, p. 61-62.
  7. ^ a b c d Langton 2010, p. 62.
  8. ^ Langton 2010, p. 61.
  9. ^ Langton 2010, p. 63.
  10. ^ Sher & Marsden 2003, p. 26.
  11. ^ Langton 2010, p. 73.
  12. ^ a b c Langton 2010, p. 58.
  13. ^ Langton 2010, p. 85-86.
  14. ^ a b Langton 2010, p. 81.
  15. ^ Langton 2006, p. 70-71.
  16. ^ a b Langton 2006, p. 71.
  17. ^ a b Cherry 2005, p. 7.
  18. ^ a b Schneider 2009, p. 396.
  19. ^ Langton 2010, p. 84.
  20. ^ Langton 2010, p. 81 & 133.
  21. ^ Langton 2010.
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