Shedden massacre

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The Shedden massacre , which killed eight people, happened on April 8, 2006. The bodies were found in a field about three miles from Shedden , a small town in Ontario , Canada . Four vehicles with the bodies were found there by a farmer. Five members of the Bandidos were arrested the next day , with three more arrests in June.

Victim

On April 10, it was announced that all victims had been shot. The individual victims were:

  • George Jessome, 52
  • George Kriarakis, 28
  • Luis Manny Raposo, 41, (all three from Toronto )
  • Francesco Salerno, 43, from Oakville
  • John Muscedere, 48, of Chatham
  • Paul Sinopoli, 30, from Sutton
  • Jamie Flanz, 37, from Keswick
  • Michael Trotta, 31, from Mississauga

All victims except Flanz and Trotta were full members of the Bandidos; Muscedere is said to have been the national president of the Bandidos in Canada at the time of the crime. The mass killing was investigated for a few weeks. The road the vehicles with the bodies were on wasn't far from Highway 401 . The vehicles were a 2001's silver Volkswagen Golf , a gray 2003s Infiniti SUV , a gray Pontiac Grand Prix and a green tow truck brand Chevrolet Silverado , of a towing company in Etobicoke was admitted. Large amounts of blood and scraps of skin were found at the scene. There were also some beer bottles lying around. On one wall were Confederate - and Nazi flags attached.

killer

Wayne Kellestine at a demonstration against a gay parade in London in 2005

Wayne Kellestine (56 years old at the time of the crime), Frank Mather, 32, both from Dutton , and Brett Gardiner, 21, were convicted of murder. Kellestine was a full member of the Bandidos. He and four other people were arrested at his home, which was just a few kilometers from the crime scene.

In Elgin County , it has previously been Outlaw Motorcycle Gang activities, but there was no particularly serious incidents. Just a few days after the murders and the arrest of the main perpetrators, the London Free Press reported that further arrests were imminent.

On June 16, Winnipeg police arrested Dwight Mushey, Marcello Aravena and Michael Sandham, who were linked to the killings. Police announced that Sandham and Mushey were full members of the Bandidos. Sandham, who was believed to be the head of the Winnipeg chapter , was a former police officer. In 2002 he was released from service and gave up his job. CBC News said there were photos showing him at a Bandidos gathering while on duty. This ultimately led to his dismissal.

The three suspects were arrested and taken to St. Thomas , where they were questioned that afternoon. All three were charged with murder. Another woman was also arrested but later released.

Journalist Peter Edwards, a journalist for the Toronto Sun , named Kellestine as the main culprit and generally described the culprits as failures:

“They were at the very bottom of biker gangs. Some were in their 40s but still lived with their parents. They were not making any money, many of them had been rejected by the Hells Angels and half of them didn't even own a motorbike. "

“They were right at the bottom of the ranking of the biker gangs. Some were in their 40s but still lived with their parents. They didn't make any money, many of them were turned down by the Hells Angels and half didn't even own their own motorcycle. "

- Peter Edwards : BBC News

Convictions

Eric Niessen and his then-wife, Kerry Morris of Monkton , Ontario, were charged first, but acquitted of the murder on May 6th. Instead, they were charged with eight complicity.

On January 9, 2007, the eight suspects began a hearing in the Court of London, Ontario. The process took place under the strictest security controls. On the first day of the trial, Kellestine showed the journalists the finger and cursed a bailiff. The journalists present were banned from speaking about the evidence shown.

The hearing should initially last three months. On June 21, 2007, Judge Ross Webster passed charges against all eight suspects. The criminal defense requested lower sentences for their clients based on the evidence. They also requested a revision, which delayed the opening of the proceedings.

The trial of Aravena, Gardiner, Kellestine, Mather, Mushey and Sandham began on March 31, 2009 in London Ontario. All six defendants pleaded "not guilty".

The jury gave its verdict on October 29, 2009. Wayne Kellestine, Michael Sandham and Dwight Mushey were found guilty of eight murders, Frank Mather and Marcelo Aravena of seven murders and single manslaughter. Brett Gardiner has been convicted of seven murders and two manslaughters. In total, the accused were found guilty of 44 murder and four manslaughter. This was the highest number of convictions a Canadian jury had ever pronounced in a single trial.

Reception of the case

Court reporter Peter Edwards penned the case in The Bandido Massacre: A True Story of Bikers, Brotherhood and Betrayal in 2010. The case caused quite a stir in Canada and ultimately led to the dissolution of the Bandidos in Canada. The Rock Machine club , which was weakened in 2000 by years of conflicts with the Canadian Hells Angels and which joined the Bandidos in 2000, announced its re-establishment in April 2008 in the course of the trial against their "brothers" at the time. The Bandidos themselves have not appeared in Canada since then.

literature

  • Peter Edwards: The Bandido Massacre: A True Story of Bikers, Brotherhood and Betrayal . HarperCollins Publishers, 2010, ISBN 978-1-55468-044-3 .
  • Edward Winterhalder, Wil De Clercq: The Assimilation: Bikers United Against The Hells Angels . ECW Press, 2008, ISBN 978-3-937745-06-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b April Kemick: Despite Their was the crime that committed by outsiders, area residents are nervous. In: London Free Press. (Ontario) April 9, 2006.
  2. ↑ 8 bodies found on Ontario farm's field. In: CBC News. April 8, 2006.
  3. ↑ a b c Five charged in biker gang killings. In: CBC News. April 10, 2006.
  4. ↑ a b Ontario mass murder: a timeline. In: CBC News. April 10, 2006.
  5. ↑ Nicolaas Van Rijn et al: Bikers linked to murders. In: Toronto Star. April 10, 2006.
  6. ↑ a b Chris Summers: Blood, bullets and motorcycle oil . In: BBC News , October 30, 2009. 
  7. ↑ Trial dates to be set for those accused in Bandidos massacre , CBC News . July 11, 2007. Retrieved November 28, 2007. 
  8. ↑ Victims in multiple slaying came from Toronto area. In: CBC News. April 9, 2006.
  9. ↑ Jack Boland: More arrests? In: London Free Press. (Ontario) April 14, 2006.
  10. ↑ a b c 3 Winnipeg men charged in Bandidos massacre. In: CBC News. June 6, 2006.
  11. ↑ Ex-chief has no regrets over murder suspect's reference . In: CBC News , June 26, 2006. 
  12. ↑ Bandidos massacre suspect Behaves badly in court , CBC News . January 9, 2007. Retrieved November 28, 2007. 
  13. ^ Accused in Bandidos massacre to head to trial , CBC News . June 21, 2007. Retrieved November 28, 2007. 
  14. ↑ Guilty verdicts at Bandidos murder trial , CBC News . October 29, 2009. 
  15. ^ Six Bandidos guilty of first-degree murder . In: CBC News , October 29, 2009. 
  16. ^ Six Bandidos guilty of first-degree murder . In: The Globe and Mail , October 29, 2009.