Murdered men 'knew each other'

2006-04-10 07:53

By Rob Gillies

Toronto - Police investigating the deaths of eight men found stuffed inside abandoned vehicles in a remote wooded area near the United States border descended on a farmhouse a few kilometres down the road on Sunday, blocking traffic to and from the area.

Police refused to discuss what was happening beyond the roadblock, which was set up about five kilometres from where the bodies were found inside four vehicles deserted in a farmer's field on Saturday morning. The farm in Shedden, Ontario, is about 145km northeast of the US city Detroit.

"We're in the middle of an active investigation right now," said Ontario police Constable Dennis Harwood, refusing to reveal any more details.

The eight victims knew each other and were all from the Toronto area, said police, who characterised the deaths as homicides.

The bodies await autopsies. Ross Bingley of the Ontario Provincial Police declined to comment on the cause of death.

Link to gangs

Police found the bodies after a call from the property owner, who is not considered a suspect. No details about the victims were released.

But a former member of the Bandidos motorcycle gang said he had talked to current members in the area who recognised the vehicles from the media coverage.

"I can tell you that it's Bandidos that got killed," said Edward Winterhalder, who left the gang in 2003 and wrote Out in Bad Standings, a book on his time inside the gang.

The owner of the farmhouse where police descended was affiliated with the Bandidos, Winterhalder said.

An aerial view late on Saturday showed the vehicles parked within metres of each other, with the bodies still inside.

A minivan was discovered in a field about 20m off a dirt road. About 100m away a tow truck was found parked on the shoulder with a small silver hooked to the back. The fourth car, its hatch open, was parked in a clearing about 100m along the dirt road.

Both the bodies and the vehicles were removed overnight.

Mary and Russell Steele, who own the property around which the cars were parked, told Global News that the vehicles were not there when they took the road home the night before.

They said they called police on Saturday morning after looking inside one of the vehicles and not being able to see anything because of a blanket covering the back window.

The area has been home to several motorcycle clubs, including the Bandidos, Loners and the Hell's Angels. It has witnessed several violent incidents, including the discoveries of two bodies dumped in county fields in separate incidents in 1994 and 1998.

Both were beaten to death. Neither murder has been solved.

- AP