Jerry Langton Three-Book Bundle (51 page)

About 90 minutes later, more bikers showed up. This time they brought a small pickup truck along with the bikes. They backed it up over the curb and onto Augustin's lawn and dropped the tailgate. “They all looked the same with their black leather jackets and their beards and their long hair,” said a witness. “They were all scruffy-looking guys and they kept going in and out of the house; they were taking things out and throwing them into the truck.” After they were satisfied that there was no important evidence left in the house, they left.

When the police searched the house, they found a lot to link Mailloux to the Hells Angels, including his colors, which they reluctantly returned when a judge declared them inadmissible as evidence, but no drugs.

Stadnick returned to Montreal and was welcomed with open arms. Although Mailloux had totally fucked up, the Hells Angels didn't hold it against Nurget. The boys from Sorel were used to watching guys taking too much cocaine and going nuts. What impressed them was that Stadnick had shown the courage, intelligence and resourcefulness to make sure that Mailloux would go down alone and that the cops would never find any connection that would jeopardize the club. They had wanted Stadnick to succeed, and when a crisis arose, he handled it with aplomb and efficiency.

His stock rose even further when the Hells Angels learned that his presence in Ontario had thrown some fear into the local Outlaws. While former Hamilton Outlaws president Richard Williams was being tried for alleged possession of eight handguns and four sticks of dynamite, his lawyers convinced Crown Attorney Laverne Urban and Judge Walter Stayshyn that he should be allowed to carry a gun after his release from prison because of the danger posed to his life by the “Hells Angels presence” in town. Smart, good in a crisis and certified by the courts as a major threat to the Outlaws, Stadnick was clearly the man the Sorel chapter wanted to lead the club's charge into the rest of Canada.

Although his translator was gone, Stadnick got by. His French never evolved beyond a pidgin level, but many of the other members of the chapter had improved their English for the express purpose of communicating better with him and with the East regional office in Manhattan. Before long, Stadnick found himself riding farther and farther forward in the lineup of bikes.

From the way he handled himself—his confidence, charm, bonhomie and ability to resolve disputes—many of the guys at Sorel began talking about how much Stadnick reminded them of Yves Buteau, who had since become the chapter's president. It was strong praise. A close friend of Sonny Barger's, the big, blonde Buteau was the only Canadian with his permission to wear the “Hells Angels International” patch. A former Popeye, Buteau is generally considered responsible for bringing them into the Hells Angels family by making them the dominant gang in Montreal. Brutal when he needed to be, as when he fueled the murderous war between the rival Atomes and Gitans to ensure the Popeyes' success or when he, Mathieu and Trudeau put the bomb on McLean's bike, Buteau's real talent was tact. When he heard that ten Popeyes had walked out on a lavish bill at a biker-friendly restaurant, he leapt onto his bike, rode to the bistro and paid their tab in full. Unlike many bikers, particularly among the free-spirited Popeyes, Buteau showed a restraint and a knack for public relations that earned him the chapter's presidency and the nickname “Le Boss.”

Like Barger before him, Buteau knew that if the Hells Angels were to succeed as a business they would have to clean up their act. He encouraged members to shave and wash their clothes every once in a while and consider cutting their hair. He wanted to present a less relaxed look to clients and suppliers and discourage police harassment. Under Buteau, Hells Angels were instructed to keep a low profile, avoid petty crimes when possible and avoid confrontations with police, even backing down when necessary. All of Buteau's rules were breakable except for one. Any Montreal Hells Angel caught using cocaine would receive an instant death penalty with no excuses and no appeals. Buteau had seen what excessive and even recreational use of the drug could do as many of his friends in the Popeyes went crazy or were crushed under mounting debts. With his wild past behind him and the ambitious dream of a coast-to-coast Canadian Hells Angels, Buteau knew that cocaine use was bad for business. “It's like he [Buteau] always used to say: ‘Letting an addict sell drugs is like having a dog run a butcher shop,'” said Vincent, who knew Buteau when he was a Popeye and a Hells Angel.

As good a manager as Buteau was, he was an even better diplomat. He'd gone to British Columbia to scout a gang called the Satan's Angels. With three chapters, the Satan's Angels had done a very good job dominating the drug trade in the Vancouver area. Modeling themselves after the American Hells Angels, the Satan's Angels formed alliances with and supplied drugs to lesser B.C. gangs like the Coffin Cheaters of suburban Vancouver and the Devil's Escorts of Kamloops. After a hugely successful police crackdown on heroin in 1981 crippled the industry, the Satan's Angels successfully shifted their business interests to cocaine and prostitution. Impressed with their efficiency, reach and willingness to use violence, Buteau offered them membership in the Hells Angels. Thrilled that their heroes would accept them, the Satan's Angels jumped at the chance to became the third, fourth and fifth chapters of the Canadian Hells Angels.

Many of the top Canadian Hells Angels flew to British Columbia for the patching-over ceremony; some rode cross-country, but Laval's Michel “Jinx” Genest and Jean-Marc Nadeau decided to take the bus. Eight hours into their trip, Genest fell asleep with his back to the window. Four Outlaws, including vicious Hamilton boy Mario “the Wop” Parente, who happened to pass the bus on Highway 17 just outside North Bay, Ontario, were shocked by what they saw. Although Genest's face couldn't be seen, his winged-skull Hells Angels logo was clearly pressed up against the window. Knowing how harshly the Hells Angels dealt with non-members who wear their logo, the Outlaws realized that one of the enemy had blundered into their midst. While one biker was left to tail the bus, Parente and the others sped to Sault Ste. Marie to pick up some weapons and an inconspicuous car. When they finally caught up with the bus again, it was heading north along the eastern edge of Lake Superior. They followed it at a discreet distance until it turned off on Highway 101 to Wawa. An old mining town of about 3,500, Wawa didn't have an actual bus terminal. Instead, the bus stopped in front of Mr. Muggs, a 24-hour coffee shop that specializes in chocolate fudge doughnuts. Genest, Nadeau and a 17-year-old girl who was traveling with them got off the bus to eat.

Fifteen minutes later, as the passengers were getting back on the bus in the dark, a car drove by with the windows open. With no target more specific than the bus itself, the men in the car, later described as having long hair, beards and leather jackets, opened fire. In the ten seconds or so of shooting, screaming and glass shattering, startled bus riders dove to the ground and instinctively covered their heads. Nobody was seriously injured, but the bus was a mess. All the passengers could do was sit in Mr. Muggs and wait for the police to come. In their investigation, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) found 56 hits of PCP hidden in a cigarette box in a trash can. Genest, Nadeau and the girl were interviewed separately and exhaustively about the shooting and the drugs. Unable to get them to crack, the police released them. Genest and Nadeau waited in Mr. Muggs for the next bus back to Montreal and the girl accepted a ride with police back to Sault Ste. Marie. No fewer than 20 witnesses noticed the “Support Your Local Outlaws” bumper sticker on the back of Parente's car.

The party went on without Genest and Nadeau, and on July 23, 1983, the Hells Angels had expanded to the Pacific Coast as chapters from Vancouver, Nanaimo and White Rock received their patches. With the westward expansion Buteau, always a respected biker and leader, established himself as something of a statesman.

At the opposite end of the underworld spectrum lurked Gino Goudreau. Nervous and small, the 22-year-old Goudreau was a minor league criminal who sold stolen goods and drugs, including cocaine when he could get his hands on it. He worked very hard to fly under the Hells Angels' radar. On the few occasions he encountered them, he slunk away, chastened, claiming that he was just hanging out. They thought he was comical and never took him seriously.

Perhaps they should have. Ever ambitious, Buteau was always meeting with representatives from other clubs, hoping to forge alliances. On the night of September 8, he and René Lamoureaux, a Montreal Hells Angel with strong ties to the Eastern headquarters in Manhattan and the best English-language skills in the chapter, were entertaining an important visitor in a Sorel strip bar called Le Petit Bourg. Guy “Frenchy” Gilbert was in town representing the Kitchener chapter of the Satan's Choice, one of three chapters that hadn't patched over to the Outlaws, and they were discussing setting up the first Hells Angels outpost in Ontario.

Goudreau and his girlfriend rode up on his motorcycle and parked out front. His older brother was an Outlaw and he'd always wanted to be one, too. He waited until a few minutes after 1:00 a.m. when Buteau, Lamoureaux and Gilbert emerged. The three friends were laughing and sipping their rum-and-Cokes on the sidewalk. They were clearly enjoying each other's company and the warm late summer weather. Gilbert lit up a joint and the others started laughing. They scanned the street and didn't see anything important. “Watch this!” Goudreau told his girlfriend as he leapt off the bike and pulled a .38 from under his jacket. He put two bullets into Buteau's chest, another in Gilbert's stomach, one in Lamoureaux's stomach and another through his scalp. The patrons inside Le Petit Bourg hid under their tables and the girl on stage crawled nude into the men's washroom. Buteau fell face forward and was dead before he hit the pavement. Gilbert managed to stumble into the bar, leaving a trail of blood before he died clutching a stool. Lamoureaux collapsed on the sidewalk and waited, holding his stomach and rocking, until an ambulance came. He survived. Goudreau hopped on his bike and fled. He got his Outlaws membership the next day.

With Buteau out of the picture, Sorel had to be rescued from disarray. Réjean “Zig-Zag” Lessard was elected chapter president and Michel “Sky” Langlois took over as national president, overseeing Sorel, Laval and the three isolated and independent Pacific Coast chapters that Buteau had patched over in July.

Although Langlois had a more impressive title, Lessard had the real power. He got his start with the Maraudeurs, a particularly violent gang from the dying mining town of Asbestos who were notorious for dealing drugs to children, raping girls and selling cars they didn't own. Because the Maraudeurs often partied with the Popeyes, Lessard had known and trusted Buteau for many years and when the Popeyes became the Hells Angels, Lessard joined.

A consummate Eastern Townships tough guy, the tattoo-covered Lessard fit right in with the rowdy members of the Laval chapter. Before long he became known as a vicious fighter and a big-time seller and user of huge amounts of cocaine. His excessive drug use caught up to him in the spring of 1983 when he suffered a series of psychotic episodes that culminated in epileptic seizures. He immediately swore off cocaine and found himself rapidly returning to health. As he recovered, he saw how stupid, reckless and violent his friends in Laval could be. They were wasting money and wasting their lives on the white powder when they could be selling it and getting rich. Disgusted with the chapter, he and his friends Luc “Sam” Michaud and Robert “Ti-Maigre” Richard defected to the more businesslike Sorel chapter that summer. A close association with Buteau guaranteed immediate credibility for Lessard and before long he was acting as his Number 2. So when Buteau was assassinated in September, it was hardly surprising that Lessard was chosen to fill his spot.