Murdered men 'part of gang'

2006-04-11 08:11

London - Canadian police arrested five people on murder charges on Monday and said that eight men found dead inside cars parked on an isolated farm were affiliated with a biker gang.

Police called the killings "an internal cleansing" of the Bandidos motorcycle gang and said the eight victims were killed by gun shots. The eight bodies were found on Saturday on a farm in Shedden, Ontario, about 145km northeast of Detroit.

"This is an isolated incident with ties to the Bandidos," Detective Ross Bingley of the Ontario Provincial Police told a news conference, adding that investigators do not believe a gang war is imminent. "This appears to be an internal cleansing."

Police arrested the five suspects at a modest, two-storey farmhouse about 10km from where the bodies were found in four vehicles Saturday morning.

The gangland-style killings are the biggest mass murder in Canada since spurned husband Mark Chahal went on a shooting rampage in Vernon, British Columbia, killing nine people, including his estranged wife and himself in 1996.

'Criminals'

Police named Wayne Kellestine, 56, as a "full-patch" member of the Bandidos and said he would be charged with eight counts of first-degree murder. Also arrested at his farmhouse were Eric Niessen, 45; Kerry Morris, 56; Frank Mather, 32; and Brett Gardiner, 21. All were either from Moncton, Ontario, or Dutton-Dunwich Township, although Gardiner had no fixed address, police said.

The victims - all designated either as "full-patch" or associated members of the gang - were George Jesso, 52; George Kriarakis, 28; John Muscedere, 48; Luis Manny Raposo, 41; Francesco Salerajno, 43; Paul Sinopoli, 30; and Michael Trotta, 31. Jamie Flanz, 37, was named by police as a "prospective" member. All the men were from Ontario.

"It should be noted that these men are criminals," Ontario Police Detective Don Bell said. "They are not the motorcycle enthusiasts they portray themselves to be."

A crime expert said the Bandidos were not that big or influential in Canada, but they are the major competitor of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang in the United States.

"If it is confirmed that the eight bodies were all members of the Bandidos you could say that someone decided to erase the Bandidos from the biker map," Nicaso said.

"This is how they deal with disputes. They don't go to court. They don't print snotty lawyers' letters. This is what happens," law enforcement consultant Chris Mathers told the AP.

"It is shocking for it to happen all at one time," Mathers said. "The fact that they were all killed at one time is significant. ... It certainly sends a message."

- AP