Australasian biker news

U.S. biker denies link to 'horrible' gangland slayings
'We don't do that kind of thing,' Houston-based Bandido chief says
JULIAN SHER

Special to The Globe and Mail

The Texas-based president of the international Bandidos biker club says he was as "shocked as anybody else" by the deaths of eight of his members last weekend in Ontario and denied his organization had anything to do with the slaying.

"The only people that really know what happened are the eight people killed and maybe the people in jail," Jeff Pike said in an exclusive interview with The Globe and Mail from his home outside Houston. "Whatever happened . . . what a mess!"

Mr. Pike took over the leadership of the 2,400-strong biker gang -- second only to the Hells Angels worldwide -- when the long-serving Bandido chieftain, George Wegers, was arrested last June along with 19 other bikers and charged, under tough U.S. anti-racketeering laws, with conspiracies to commit murder, kidnapping, extortion and methamphetamine distribution .

"We're no stranger to funerals," said the new leader of the biker gang known for its ferocity. "But this was a shock. I really feel sorry for their families. It was a horrible thing, no matter how you look at it."

Mr. Pike angrily dismissed as a "stupid story" reports in some newspapers of a hit squad being sent from Chicago to deal with troublesome Canadian members. "We don't do that kind of stuff."

The biker leader's denials got an unusual endorsement from Detective Gary Georgia of the Albuquerque police special investigations department, which has been tracking the Bandidos since 1985.

"That story makes no sense," he said, noting that the Bandidos do not have a presence in Chicago or anywhere else in the Midwest or eastern United States.

Det. Georgia, though no fan of the Bandidos, said Mr. Pike is seen as a "capable and respected" biker leader. "Sometimes he's a straight shooter," he said.

He confirmed there have been tensions between the Texas-based gang and their poor-performing Canadian franchise, which has not held its own against the Hells Angels' monopoly of the outlaw biker scene in Canada.

Mr. Pike himself admitted he was "disappointed" so many Bandidos in Canada in recent years have switched allegiances and joined their hated rivals, the Hells Angels. "If someone could so easily change, it shows their heart is not in the right place in the first place."

But Mr. Pike vehemently denied the Bandidos made any deals with the Hells Angels to cede any territory or drug turf in Canada. "We don't buy and sell people," he said.

He said the Ontario killings -- which wiped out the only official chapter the Bandidos had left in Canada -- meant "there's going to be a hard road back" to rebuilding the club here.

"It would take years," he said. "A Bandidos patch is earned. It's not something you buy on eBay."

But the Bandidos leader felt in the long term the massacre would have little impact on the growth of his organization, which has 170 chapters in 14 countries.

"The Hells Angels damn near did the same thing," he said, referring to the massacre of five Hells Angels in Lennoxville, Que., in 1985, which did not stop the club from expanding. "I don't think it will effect us."

Mr. Pike -- who at the age of 50 has carried the Bandidos patch for 27 years -- echoed the oft-repeated refrain that his gang was not engaged in any illegal activity.

"We don't condone it and we damn sure don't require it," he said. "What a member does for himself is his own business."

Asked about the Bandidos' reputation for law-breaking, Mr. Pike replied: "We get speeding tickets all the time."

Det. Georgia said police statistics show that between 70 per cent and 80 per cent of Bandidos members have criminal records for drugs, weapons or other violent offences.

Perhaps because police wiretaps played such a big role in the mass arrest of Bandidos in Washington State last June, the greeting message on Mr. Pike's voicemail says: "This phone is bugged. Don't say nothing."

Mr. Pike said he is used to police criticism and negative media coverage and expressed confidence his biker gang would ride out the storm generated by the largest mass murder in Ontario history.

"If I worried what others thought," said the American Bandido, "I would have joined the Boy Scouts."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060413.BIKERS13/TPStory/TPNational/

Woman in court over Bandidos slayings
Appears confused as she makes appearance to face eight charges of first-degree murder
Apr. 13, 2006. 02:04 PM
PETER EDWARDS
STAFF REPORTER

ST. THOMAS, Ont. – The only woman charged in the worst mass murder in Ontario history appeared confused today as she made a brief court appearance, charged with helping four men slay eight members of the Bandidos motorcycle gang.
Kerry Morris, 46, of the town of Mitchell, near Stratford, told justice of the peace Jan Levitt that she hadn’t as yet retained a lawyer after being charged on Monday with the first-degree murders of "full-patch" Bandidos George Jesso, 52, George (the Greek) Kriarakis, 28, and Luis Manny Raposo, 41, all of Toronto; Francesco Salerno, 43, of Oakville; John (the Boxer) Muscedere, 48, of Chatham; and Paul (Big Paulie) Sinopoli, 30, of Sutton.

Muscedere was national president of the Bandidos.

Also killed were Jamie Franz, 37, of Keswick, described as a "prospect" member of the gang, and Michael Trotta, 31, of Milton, an associate member.

Their bodies were found stuffed into four vehicles in a secluded woodlot near the village of Shedden, about a half hour’s drive west of London.

Also charged with the murders are Wayne Kellestine, 56, who lives on a farm north of the town of Dutton and who’s a full member of the Bandidos; Eric Niessen, 45, of Monkton, northwest of Stratford; Frank Mather, 32, who lived with Kellestine; and Brett Gardiner, 21, of no fixed address.

Kellestine didn’t appear for a video remand hearing today, as he'd said earlier this week that he needed until April 24 to consult with a lawyer.

His co-accused all appeared on a video hookup from the detetention centre in London. They all wore prison-issue orange jumpsuits.

Morris and Niessen were remanded until April 20, while Mather and Gardiner will appear before the justice of the peace via video hookup on April 24.

Morris, a slightly heavy woman with a shock of bleached blonde hair, appeared dazed when asked whether she has talked to a lawyer since her arrest on Sunday.

She said that she'd spoken with someone from legal aid and that she’d need until April 20 to secure a lawyer and discuss her case.

“I hope by then I’ll be able to sit down with my lawyer and figure out what I’m doing,” she said in a faltering voice.

“Do you want to speak to duty counsel?” Levitt asked, referring to the on-duty lawyer available to counsel accused.

“No,” Morris replied.

Mather, a former inmate of Dorchester Penitentiary who has eight break and enter convictions on his record, also appeared confused.

“Do you wish to speak with duty counsel today?” Levitt asked.

“Nope,” replied Mather, who has short, reddish hair and tired eyes.

“Have you spoken with duty counsel yet?” the justice of the peace continued.

“Nope.”

“Do you intend to do so?”

“Yup.”

Niessen appeared mildly amused by the brief court appearance via video hookup. His hair was parted in the middle and reached far down onto his shoulders. He also had a full Fu Manchu moustache.

When the justice of the peace said he would make his next appearance on April 20, Niessen nodded, smiled slightly, and said. “Okay.”

Gardiner’s jailhouse jumpsuit hid the tattoos on his arms.

A husky man with short black hair, a moustache and the tuft of a beard on his chin, he politely responded the Levitt’s comment that he would make his next appearance on April 24.

“Thank you very much your honour,” he replied.

Kellestine: The 'king' of EMDC

By PATRICK MALONEY, FREE PRESS REPORTER

Behind bars, Wayne Kellestine is king of the hill.

That's the word from within Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre, where Kellestine, charged along with four others in last weekend's Bandidos massacre, is jailed.

"He runs the show in there," said a source within the Correctional Services Ministry. "Amongst the inmates, he's the wheel. If he wants it quiet, he keeps it quiet. If he wants (the TV) on a certain channel, he keeps it on a certain channel. If he wants a riot, they'll riot for him."

Kellestine and the four others face eight counts of first-degree murder.

Kellestine, Eric Niessen, 45, Kerry Morris, 56, Frank Mather, 32, and Brett Gardiner, 21 -- are not in protective custody, though they have enemies there, the source said.

"Right now, you don't know who their enemies are."

They're all being kept apart within the EMDC's different ranges, the source added.

"They all want to be together, in the same range, but for obvious security measures you want to keep them split."

This rare view into life behind bars also revealed Kellestine as a quiet, physically unassuming inmate who's comfortable in the EMDC system, but usually causes trouble for female guards.

He's well-known in the prison ranks and his reputation has others in the rough-and-tumble prison culture cutting him a wide berth.

"They know who (Kellestine) is . . . they won't do anything to him," the source said. "He's done so much time in there. It's his second home, for God's sake."

The other four inmates likely also will be untouched.

"A lot of the inmates, they're terrified of these guys to begin with. He'll be fine. They'll be fine, too."

Shortly after the bodies of eight Bandidos members and associates were found near Shedden last Saturday, police keyed in on Kellestine's nearby home. The arrests and charges were announced by OPP investigators Monday.

Four of the five will make a video appearance in St. Thomas court today. Kellestine, who has already secured legal counsel, is to return to court April 24

~Road Scholars~

Massacre a drug ripoff
The night started with the transfer of $400,000 worth of cocaine to Wayne Kellestine's farmhouse and it ended with Ontario's largest mass murder
Apr. 12, 2006. 05:36 AM
JOHN DUNCANSON, DALE BRAZAO AND PETER EDWARDS
IN SHEDDEN, ONT.

Hours before Ontario's largest mass murder, Durham Region police officers followed three of eight Bandidos from the Toronto area to a southwestern Ontario farmhouse belonging to the man now charged with killing them, sources have told the Toronto Star.

Suspecting a major drug deal could be in the works, investigators tailed the trio west along Highway 401. But they were unaware the men were transporting a cargo of 200 kilograms of cocaine that night to fellow Bandido Wayne (Weiner) Kellestine's London-area farm, law enforcement sources say.

After watching the three men enter the farmhouse, the officers left, assuming the bikers were there for a party, the source said.

What transpired was a deadly drug ripoff that left the three Bandidos shot dead, their bodies stuffed into cars that were driven into a field. It's believed five other Bandidos arrived separately later that night, only to be systematically killed and their bodies similarly disposed of.

It's unclear whether the ripoff of $400,000 worth of cocaine was planned. It's believed the killings were going to be justified to fellow bikers as punishment for refusing to participate in a national "run," an outlaw motorcycle tradition involving members riding in formation according to club hierarchy.

Four others, including a woman, were each charged with eight counts of first-degree murder. They were to appear in a St. Thomas courtroom today.

More details, meanwhile, are emerging about Kellestine, who relished playing the role of a dangerous man.

The 56-year-old loved to pose in front of his collection of Nazi memorabilia in his rundown farmhouse, near Dutton, about a 20-minute drive from where police discovered the bodies of eight Toronto-area members of the Bandidos motorcycle gang on the weekend.

"His reputation is being an absolute renegade," said someone from the area who knows him well. "A dangerous, dangerous guy. He's always had that reputation."

Michael Simmons, who worked undercover for the Mounties and the OPP against motorcycle gangs 15 years ago, said he purchased cocaine and guns from Kellestine on several occasions and that his work helped put away 18 bikers, including his own brother, Andrew "Teach" Simmons — onetime president of the Outlaws.

"I witnessed him shoot his girlfriend in the back with an air pistol just for a joke," said Simmons, who entered the witness protection program in 1992. "He pointed a .45-calibre at my big toe and asked me if I could blow it off, when I was trying to buy some cocaine off him."

On another occasion, Simmons said he witnessed Kellestine "come flying down the stairs" in a combat arctic suit, armed with an Uzi, after a motion detector was set off on his rural property during a party.

"There was a big party and he freaked out, went upstairs, and he was down and ready for full combat, and that scared the s--- out of me," Simmons recalled.

Before Kellestine was sentenced to two years in prison in 2000 for weapons offences and running a marijuana operation, the court was shown photos of him posing with his personal arsenal, which included machine guns and Luger pistols like those the Nazis used.

"He always had lots and lots and lots of guns," the person who knows him well said. "He had quite an arsenal of guns."

Kellestine loved to dress the part of a dirty biker, with lots of leather. But in court, he tried to dress like former New York City mobster John (the Dapper Don) Gotti.

"He always wore a three-piece suit to court," said the person who knows him well. "When he came to court, he presented himself as a professional gangster."

Kellestine was president of his own local bike gang, the Annihilators, which evolved into the Loners and was affiliated with Toronto-area Loners.

That group eventually evolved into the Bandidos, and Kellestine remained a member.

While considered a dangerous force in southwestern Ontario, he wasn't on the level of those in bigger bike gangs such as the Outlaws and Hells Angels, the person who knows him well said.

"He was never in with them," the person said. "He stuck with his own crowd. ... He's always been a renegade kind of guy."

Billy Miller, who was once part of the Loners with Kellestine, went on to become president of the London Hells Angels.

Kellestine's houseguest, Frank Mather, 32, is a far different man. He has a lengthy criminal record that includes eight break-and-enters but no violence. He served a three-year term in prison in his native New Brunswick and was on parole for possession of break-and-enter tools when arrested while trying to steal a truck.

He has never been a biker, and his consistent record of arrest suggests he would be a liability to any organized-crime group.

"He'd be a follower, not a leader," said someone from the area who knows him.

He did land a six-month sentence in 2002 for growing marijuana near London, and was convicted again in 2005 for possession of break-and-enter tools.

The person who knows Mather's criminal activity well said he can't see him taking the lead in any kind of organized-crime hit.

"It's not his play," the person said. "Frank Mather is no biker."

Guy Ouellette, a retired Quebec Provincial Police biker expert, said the Bandidos were irritating for the Hells Angels in southwestern Ontario.

He said it's too easy to pronounce the Bandidos dead, even though they have only a dozen members in Toronto — who meet in a Parkdale social club — and five members in Manitoba with a puppet club called Los Montoneros.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1144793429763&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154

~Road Scholars~

Reports say cops tailed trio before bloodbath
By CP

TORONTO -- Three of eight Bandidos slain in Ontario's largest mass murder were under police surveillance in the hours before the bikers were shot to death on the weekend, according to news reports today.

Durham regional police, which is responsible for an area east of Toronto, followed the three to a Ontario farmhouse on a drive west that usually takes about three hours, said the reports.

Quoting sources, one Toronto newspaper said detectives suspected a big drug deal was about to take place, but they weren't aware the men were transporting a cargo of 200 kg of cocaine.

After watching the three men enter the farmhouse, the police officers left, assuming the bikers were attending a party.

They'd had the men under surveillance for weeks, according to reports.

The bikers were then killed in a deadly drug ripoff, their bodies stuffed into cars and driven into a field, said one report.

It also said it's believed five other members of the Bandidos arrived later, before also being killed.

The fact that the men were under surveillance may help to explain why police were able to solve the case so quickly.

Eight Bandidos gang members were slain after Wayne Kellestine -- one of five people now charged in the slayings -- was tipped about plots to take his life or snatch his biker's colours, or patch, sources say.

Kellestine, 56, whose Iona Station farm is now under the forensic microscope as a suspected human slaughterhouse, had become such an embarrassment to the Bandidos that he was to be eliminated -- one way or the other, sources say.

One ex-Bandido, who did not want to be named, said police claims of "internal cleansing" being behind the slayings are "an insult."

He said Kellestine's failed ventures and a pile of biker debts had annoyed the Bandidos organization.

In a more basic sin, Kellestine "wasn't paying his dues."

And in another shocker yesterday (April 11), sources say drug cops from a local police force had three of the Bandidos under surveillance for weeks.

Police followed their targets to Kellestine's farm on the weekend. But the clandestine team called off the surveillance when they realized the bikers were at Kellestine's house for what they thought would be a party.

Some police and biker sources say the massacre came just as a four-man Bandidos hit squad was about to leave Chicago for Canada.

And an ex-Bandidos biker said the eight men went to Kellestine's farm to "kick him out of the club."

"The guys went down to pick up (Kellestine's) patch and his bike," the ex-member said yesterday.

"He wasn't getting hit," he said. "People say we're murderous . . . but that's not the way it is."

Kellestine wouldn't like being stripped of his patch, he said.

Kellestine, the ex-biker says, was tipped to the impending demand for his patch by an ex-member of the St. Thomas-based Annihilators, the gang he belonged to before he joined the Loners and after that the Bandidos.

Biker sources say if Kellestine was not under a Bandidos death threat before, he will be now.

The loose-lipped tipster -- one of three Bandidos who haven't been seen since the murders -- is also in peril.

The plots against Kellestine were apparently hatched only months after the Texas-based Bandidos organization told their disorganized Canadian arm that their Bandidos charter was being "pulled. Effective immediately."

Bandidos leaders were angry at a void in Canada's leadership.

The Canadians, frustrated at demands they still visit America despite five failed attempts, asked European members to help them stay in the gang.

"As a whole, we still wholeheartedly believe as the No Surrender Crew that it is better to die on our feet than live on our knees," the Canadians said.

The eight Bandidos may well have died on their knees.

The test for first-degree murder necessitates either planning and deliberation or forceable confinement.

Eric "Ratkiller" Nadeau, a Quebec police informant whose evidence in Project Amigo led to charges against 62 Bandidos four years ago, said the massacre is bizarre because most of the slaying victims were "the ones who wanted the Bandidos to stay alive in Toronto."

Today, four days after the eight butchered Bandidos were found with three cars and a tow truck on a gravel road about 20 kilometres away from Kellestine's Shedden-area farm, OPP forensic experts and Ontario coroner's officials are still trying to piece together the killing spree.

OPP also expanded their search yesterday to a seven- kilometre stretch of the Highway 401. More possible crime scenes were not ruled out.

Nadeau, who rubbed shoulders with most of the dead Bandidos for eight months, said the murders are "bizarre." It does not make sense that Kellestine would have killed "his own people," nor that he'd dump the bodies so close to his farm.

Sources say Kellestine, who had risen high in the biker ranks because of his drug connections, was also known to have close contacts with some of Ontario's largest crystal methamphetamine suppliers.

Nadeau said "crystal meth" and a gun are "dangerous."

The ex-Bandido, who talked to Sun Media, said any de-patching would have to be "sanctioned" by the international arm of the bikers' club.

Failure to seek permission would bring retaliation.

The ex-biker said four Bandidos from Australia and two from Germany have arrived in Canada on a fact-finding mission and to comfort the dead men's families.

Wayne Kellestine: Charged with murders of eight fellow Bandido gang members.

Forensics investigators

search for evidence at the Kellestine farm. The farmhouse belonged to Bandidos member Wayne Kellestine.

The home of known Bandidos biker gang member Wayne Kellestine was surrounded by OPP yesterday. (Sue Reeve, Sun Media

Frank (Bam Bam) Salerno, 43, of Oakville, was one of three missing tow truck drivers, who was killed in the massacre.

Victim John Muscedere, 48, of Chatham, Ont.

One of the eight bodies is visible in the rear of a minivan in this aerial shot.

J

John Muscedere, 48, of Chatham, a full-patch member of Bandidos was killed.

Five Charged in Mass Murder

Toronto Star File Photo
Frank (Bam Bam) Salerno, 43, of Oakville, was one of three missing tow truck drivers, who was killed in the massacre.

Peter Power, Toronto Star
Forensics investigators search for evidence at the Kellestine farm. The farmhouse belonged to Bandidos member Wayne Kellestine.

Kaz Novak, the Hamilton Spectator
Detective Inspector Paul Beesley told reporters the killing took place near the Kellestine property.

John Muscedere, 48, of Chatham, a full-patch member of Bandidos was killed.

Wayne Kellestine: Charged with murders of eight fellow Bandido gang members.

Gang slayings called 'internal purging'
By Dana Borcea
The Hamilton Spectator
ST. THOMAS (Apr 11, 2006)
A high profile outlaw biker is among five people charged in the shooting deaths of eight fellow gang members in what appears to be an internal purging of the Bandidos motorcycle club.

Wayne Kellestine, 56, faces eight charges of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of eight men whose bodies were found in and around four abandoned vehicles at a farmer's field.

The farm is located about 10 kilometres from the one time gang leader's rural property in Dutton-Dunwich Township near London.

Three other men and a woman face the same charges in the largest mass murder in Ontario history.

The announcement of the arrests, made yesterday at a packed news conference in London, laid to rest fears of a looming bike gang war.

Police described the killings as an "internal cleansing" among the Bandidos' own ranks.

Until yesterday's announcement the dead men's rumoured gang links sparked fears of retaliation and more bloodshed.

But police now say the public have little to fear.

"This is an isolated incident with ties to the Bandidos," Detective Superintendent Ross Bingley said at the press conference.

On Sunday afternoon, police set up a perimeter around Kellestine's long-time property in preparation of a raid.

Later that evening, an OPP tactical unit moved in and arrested Kellestine and the four other accused.

Also charged are: Eric Neissen, 45, of Monkton, Frank Mather, 32, of Dutton-Dunwich, and Brett Gardiner, 21, of no fixed addressed and Kerry Morris, a 56-year-old Monkton woman.

Lead investigator Detective Inspector Paul Beesley would not confirm whether the slain men were killed on Kellestine's property and moved saying only that they were killed "somewhere in the vicinity of the property."

Asked how police made the link to Kellestine so quickly, Beesley said it was not a difficult connection to make.

"We've got eight dead Bandidos in four cars and we've got a full-patch member living a few kilometres away. That was something we thought of pretty quickly."

Yesterday afternoon all five accused appeared briefly at a courthouse in St. Thomas, south of London.

Dressed in prison jumpsuits, one by one was escorted into the courtroom, in cuffs and shackles.

Kellestine, whose long hair and moustache are grey, wore glasses and a large hoop earing.

He is the only person arrested who police have identified as a full-patch Bandido member.

"I'm not quite sure what I'm charged with," he said.

When the judge asked him if he would like the charges read to him, he answered, "Read them if you have the time, your honour."

His next court appearance was scheduled for April 24.

The other four accused were slated to return Thursday.

In the sleepy town of Dutton Dunwich, a few kilometres from Kellestine's home, residents reacted with surprise to his arrest.

At the Goal Post Sports Bar on Main Street, patrons and staff all had stories to share about their neighbour who has lived in the area for about 20 years.

"Everyone's had a beer with Wayne at some point or another," said Bruce Smith, who found it hard to believe Kellestine would be foolish enough to commit a crime so close to home.

"It would really surprise me to know that he would bring up all these guys from the GTA and dump them on his doorstep.

"He's not a stupid guy at all."

Another bar regular and lifelong Dutton resident said he couldn't match the gruesome crime to Kellestine.

"I've never looked at Wayne as someone who would do something like this," said Robert Simms, 76.

While residents are well aware of Kellestine checkered past, almost all said he was generally easy to get along with.

Bartender Linda Williston, who used to live on a nearby property, recalled the time Kellestine rescued her husband whose car was stranded in a snowstorm.

"He came out of his house in his truck and blade and plowed a path home (for my husband) to our front door."

Another woman, who did not want to be named, described him as "a little rough around the edges."

Dead are: George Jesso, 52, of Etobicoke; George Kriarakis, 28, of Toronto; John Muscedere, 48, of Chatham; Luis Manny Raposo, 41, of Toronto; Francesco Salerno, 43, of Oakville; Paul Sinopoli, 30, of Sutton; Jamie Flanz, 37, of Keswick and Michael Trotta, 31, of Milton.

Five charged in murders of eight Bandidos bikers
Updated Tue. Apr. 11 2006 6:31 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Police have charged five people with first-degree murder in connection with the killings of eight Bandidos motorcycle gang members or associates in rural southwest Ontario.

"The victims of this crime have been positively identified and are associated or belong to the Bandidos motorcycle gang," OPP Det.-Supt. Ross Bingley told reporters Monday afternoon. "This is an isolated incident with ties to the Bandidos.''

Det.-Insp. Don Bell described the shootings as an "internal cleansing" within the gang, and that the general public had little to fear.

The victims died of gunshot wounds, Bingley said.

The details come the day after witnesses reported seeing police march four people out of a house in Iona Station, Ont., according to The Canadian Press. The house is located about five kilometres from where the bodies were found Saturday near Shedden, Ont.

On Sunday, police raided a home believed to belong to Wayne Kellestine, the former leader of the St. Thomas Annihilators and now-defunct St. Thomas Loners biker gangs.

Kellestine is one of the five people -- four men and one woman -- arrested, Bingley said. However, he is the only formally recognized member of the Bandidos arrested, police said Monday.

The others arrested are:

Erick Niessen, 45, and Kerry Morris, 56, both of Monkton, Ont.
Frank Mather, 32, Dutton-Dunwich Township, Ont., and
Brett Gardiner, 21, no fixed address
They appeared in court in St. Thomas, Ont. Kellestine loudly thanked the judge.

Victims knew each other

The full-patch Bandidos among the dead are:

George Jesso, 52, of Etobicoke;
George Kriarakis, 28, Luis Manny Raposo, 41, and Francesco Salerno, 43, of Toronto;
John Muscedere, 48, of Chatham, Ont.; and
Paul Sinopoli, 30, of Sutton, Ont.
Also killed:

Jamie Flanz, 37, of Keswick, Ont., a "prospect" member, and
Michael Trotta, 31, of Mississauga, Ont., an associate member.
Three members of the Bandidos motorcycle club were reported missing by relatives Friday, according to a report published Monday in The Globe and Mail.

One of the men worked for Superior Towing, the Toronto-based company whose truck was found abandoned on a side road south of London, Ont.

The area where the bodies were found, in Elgin County, west of London, has a history of violent confrontations between rival motorcycle clubs.

In October 1999, Kellestine himself was wounded in a shootout near Highway 401, in what is believed to be the result of a rift inside one of the gangs, CP reported.

The murder scene

Investigators believe the killings took place sometime within a 24- to 48-hour period from the time the victims were found.

The men were found in four vehicles: a grey Pontiac Grand Prix, a silver Infinity SUV, a green Silverado tow truck and a Volkswagen Golf.

Police escorted members of the media beyond barricades for a closer look at the area where the cars were found, but there was little left to see. The bodies and vehicles were removed overnight.

An aerial view of the crime scene Saturday showed the vehicles parked within 200 metres of each other, with the bodies still inside.

Police will keep the crime scene off-limits for at least several days while investigators comb the area for clues.

"Clothing, identification, any evidence that may help us ascertain who they are," OPP Cst. Doug Graham said.

"We wouldn't want the farm owner to encounter (evidence), or anyone from the public," Graham said.

The Bandidos

The Bandidos are a Texas-based group of about 800 members. It is smaller than the Hells Angels, which is the world's largest biker gang, but author Julian Sher says the Bandidos have always been more "in your face."

"Their slogan on their Canadian website is: 'We are the people your parents warned you about.'

"Very tough, but never able to take a foothold in Canada because the Hells Angels -- through a combination of bribes, bluster and often bullets -- have always crushed them," said Sher.

There are about 600 full-patch Hells Angels in Canada. Prior to the killings, the numbers of full-patch Bandidos were estimated to be in the dozens, with most of those in Western Canada

~Road Scholars~

Bandidos in Canada are done — for now
Apr. 11, 2006. 01:00 AM
JERRY LANGTON
SPECIAL TO THE STAR

The eight bodies dumped in Shedden, Ont., were all Bandidos. The primary suspect for their murder is also a Bandido. Although the murders appear to be the result of an internal conflict within the U.S.-based gang, the implications in this country go much further.

With most of its manpower in the morgue or in jail, the Canadian Bandidos have effectively ceased to exist. Although there may officially be some members still lurking in the province, they are unlikely to be able to form any coherent chapter. And, although the Bandidos are the world's second-biggest biker gang, it's going to be very difficult for them to rebuild in Canada. Gangs rely on their credibility to recruit new members and the image of Bandidos killing their own kind won't attract many worthwhile prospects. When the memory of the Shedden massacre fades, the Bandidos may return. But for now, they are gone.

The result is that Ontario — the most lucrative market for drugs, prostitution and other vice in the country — now has no effective biker crime organizations other than the Hells Angels. The Bandidos have now joined the Rock Machine, Satan's Choice, Para-Dice Riders, Loners, Vagabonds and dozens of others that have tried to hold onto a piece of the action and either been recruited, pushed out of the way, exterminated or imploded on their own.

Although the virtual elimination of the Bandidos' only Canadian chapter by its own hand may seem nonsensical, it's not unprecedented. To understand why eight bodies showed up in Shedden, it's necessary to understand how bikers work. While being a biker may seem like a glamorous life of freedom and brotherhood to some, it is actually a tortuous life of hard work, rigid obedience and never knowing when or why your own "brothers" will kill you.

On March 24, 1985, the members of the Hells Angels' first Canadian chapter were invited to a party by their brothers-in-arms from the other side of Montreal. As is biker custom, the guests surrendered their weapons as they entered the clubhouse. A few minutes later, most of them were dead. According to police, the chapter in the Montreal suburb of Sorel massacred the chapter from nearby Laval because they were snorting cocaine instead of selling it, costing the entire organization money.

But they missed the man they wanted most. Yves "Apache" Trudeau had served the gang well by murdering 41 people on their behalf. He was the gang's primary weapon in their battle with the upstart Outlaws, but was targeted for death because of his drug use, constant boasting and increasingly random violence. But he didn't attend the party because he was in rehab.

The Sorel bikers made him a deal — all he had to do was murder two more people and he was free to go. He did, but was arrested on an unrelated weapons charge. In jail, he realized he was still a target and agreed to testify against the gang in exchange for a drastically reduced sentence and government protection. Most of them went to prison.

Years later when prominent Hells Angel Louis "Melou" Roy dared to defy his superiors and sell cocaine for less than their set price, he attended a party and was never seen again.

With the Outlaws out of the way, the Hells Angels declared war on their last remaining rivals in Quebec, the Rock Machine. In a protracted conflict that left more than 160 people dead — including a few bystanders, two prison guards and an 11-year-old boy — the Rock Machine were virtually wiped out. The few remaining veterans relocated to Ontario and joined gangs not aligned with the Hells Angels. But when the Hells Angels, under the charismatic leadership of Walter Stadnick, moved in and patched over the majority of Ontario bikers, the desperate remnants of the Rock Machine teamed with a few other independents and joined the Bandidos.

Based in Texas and widespread throughout the southern and western United States as well as Scandinavia, the Bandidos welcomed a chance to establish a beachhead in Ontario's lucrative drug market. It never really took off. With a loose-knit chapter based in Kingston and made up of assorted bikers from all over the province, the Bandidos never wielded much clout here.

But they were, like the Outlaws and Rock Machine before them, an annoyance to the Hells Angels and that made them a target. The primary suspect in the murder, Wayne "Weiner" Kellestine, is a longtime biker who formed his own gang, the Annihilators, in nearby St. Thomas in the 1970s. Later, as most Ontario bikers were choosing sides between the Outlaws and Hells Angels, Kellestine opted for the non-aligned, Toronto-based Loners. While on his way to a friend's wedding in 1999, he was shot at by two Hells Angels prospects but survived. In 2001, when the Hells Angels took over the Loners, Kellestine joined the fledgling Bandidos.

Now he is in jail awaiting trial for the murder of eight men — six full-patch Bandidos, another a Bandidos prospect and the other a known associate. According to police, this isn't the first time the Bandidos have cleaned house by killing off undesirable members, nor is it something the Hells Angels are above.

But the few Bandidos were the last remaining obstacle to Hell Angels' hegemony in Ontario. While the Hells Angels — who hastened to proclaim their innocence — may not have blood on their hands, they can't be too upset about the elimination of what little competition they had left.

Jerry Langton is the author of Fallen Angel: The Unlikely Rise of Walter Stadnick in the Canadian Hells Angels

'You don't get 8 dead bikers unless someone they trusted set them up,' says a member of the rival Hells Angels
By MARK BONOKOSKI

Despite having all the earmarks of a turf war between rival biker gangs, the worst mass murder in Ontario's history had the outlawed Hells Angels lying in the shade at the outer fringes of the spotlight -- comfortable that their fingerprints would not be tied to the crime.

But they also knew speculation would draw them in.

"The police tell us that they know we don't start these kind of wars, but they also like to believe that we're good at finishing them. But this one had nothing to do with us," said a longtime member of the Hells familiar with the southwestern Ontario territory where eight bodies linked to the Bandidos biker gang were found Saturday.

"But we are sensitive to what went down and what is being said. We could be in danger, too, for all we know," he said, his words coming prior to the police showing some of their cards yesterday, first with the naming of the dead, and then trumping it with the making of arrests.

"If there is going to be a war, it's something we all have to think about," the biker said.

"But, truth of the matter, at this point in time our guys are scratching their heads just like everyone else -- trying to figure this one out, even if we do have our suspicions.

"As for the cops, they'll play the mushroom game of keeping everyone in the dark and feeding them bull----.

"But we're in the clear on this one. It's not our doing," he reiterated, echoing a stance of denial that went up on the Hells Angels' website so quickly that the bodies found shot outside the town of Shedden on Saturday were barely cold.

While there is no question the Hells and the Bandidos are locked in a battle for supremacy in the international drug trade -- the Hells being No. 1 in the world, and the Bandidos logging in at No. 3 -- another charter member of the Hells saw the carnage near Snedden as being an "internal situation" that pointed to either a Bandido support gang turning on its master, or strife within the pecking order that was deemed in need of drastic measures.

"It had to have been a setup," he said. "Who goes to a meeting dragging a car behind a tow truck if he suspects something is wrong? Let's face it, whatever happened, and wherever it happened, everyone's guard was down.

"Eight people are dead. You don't get eight dead bikers unless someone they trusted set them up.

"It just doesn't happen."

The possibility that the Hells Angels were involved in the mass slaying was high in the equation, of course. Not only do the Hells have a clubhouse in nearby London, Ont., they have more than simply a passing knowledge of Wayne Kellestine, the well-known area Bandido who once led the Loners, based out of St. Thomas, as well as another outlaw bike gang called the Annihilators.

Kellestine, who lives in an old farmhouse in Iona Station, some 15 km from the dirt-road dumping ground of the eight victims, had his home raided by heavily armed and camouflaged police officers on Sunday, leading to at least five occupants being taken in for questioning.

"If you want to point a finger at anyone, it should be Kellestine," said one of the Hells. "The man is a psycho.

"He's got a history of violence. He's a career criminal, and he's also a wealthy guy who has spent a lot of his life in jail.

"And that should tell you something," he said. "Along with the fact that 'persons unknown,' quote, unquote, have already tried to off him -- unsuccessfully.

"He's never had a lot of respect in the biker fraternity."

A few hours after those conversations, OPP Deputy Supt. Ross Bingley, a one-time member of the OPP's biker squad, told a press conference that all eight of the dead were connected with the Bandido motorcycle gang -- six of them being "full patch" members -- and that all had been shot to death in what he called an "isolated incident."

'A COMPLETE NUTBAR'

And it was then he announced that Wayne Kellestine, 56, as well as four others arrested at his farmhouse, had been charged with eight counts of first-degree murder.

Following that press conference, another call was made to the Hells member who had speculated as to the 5-foot-6 and rail-thin Kellestine's connection to the gun play in Snedden, particularly since it was offered before Kellestine's farmhouse was raided by the police.

"How's that for prophecy?" he said. "Kellestine is a complete nutbar -- the kind of guy who wields more power in jail than he wields on the street, strictly because of reputation. Prison, to him, is like a second home.

"He's a crippled-up, little, old man. He walks with a cane.

"But it doesn't mean he's not psycho crazy."