Despite crackdowns by authorities, the club still maintained a membership of over 350 in 1977, across thirteen chapters in Ontario and Quebec. [195] After Cunningham was arrested, he promptly turned Crown's evidence in exchange for immunity. [101], The Golden Hawk Riders of Port Hope were a small club of seven members, and were considering "patching over" to join the Outlaws. [29] Cecil Kirby stated about Berry: "There are guys who would start fights and then they'd say 'Come and help me'. Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app. [122] The fact that none of the accused took the stand did not help their case as juries tend to be very suspicious of defendants who excised their right not to testify. The club was involved in the first major outlaw biker conflict in Canadian history, when it engaged the country's second largest club, the Popeyes, from 1974 to 1976. [97] The Montreal chapter of Satan's Choice who had "patched over" to join the Outlaws in 1977, believing that this would improve their status within the underworld, had been "virtually exterminated" by the Hells Angels by 1984. [170] The decision to open a chapter was regarded as an insult to Mario Parente, the president of the Outlaws' Hamilton chapter. [51] The drug network for selling the PCP ranged as far as Florida, and the police estimated Guindon was making at least $60 million per month in sales. [18]That Guindon and his followers were rigidly conforming to the code of outlaw biker subculture that originated in California in the late 1940s apparently escaped them. They folded briefly in the early 1960s and then re-emerged under former international boxer Bernie Guindon of Oshawa. [103] Several members of Satan' Choice warned the Golden Hawk Riders, including their sergeant-at-arms, Bill "Heavy" Matiyek, who had a reputation as a hothead, not to go through with the planned "patch over", a demand that Matiyek rejected. [168] As the Kitchener chapter was the most powerful and wealthiest chapter, Wattel had an oversized say in the running of Satan's Choice. TV Shows. Sudbury Olympian-turned-Hells Angel biker shot on his motorcycle . [150][151] Hawkins saw a stripper named Cherie Graham perform at the Breslau Hotel in Breslau in March 1984 and fell in love with her, abandoning his wife later that spring to move in with Graham. [169] In 1995, a third attempt was made to set up a Satan's Choice chapter in Hamilton. Once one of Ontario 's strongest English speaking motorcycle gangs, the Satan's Choice MC became part of the Hells Angels ' 2000-2001 expansion into Ontario, Canada (although some members had defected into the Hells Angels rivals' the Outlaws MC ). [165], Campbell, after his release from prison in March 1993, recalled that Satan's Choice was "making money hand over fist". [150] The case was chronicled in the 1998 book The Biker, the Stripper and the Cop by Eugene McCarthy. [132], The Port Hope case became the subject of a best-selling 1988 book, Conspiracy of Brothers by the American journalist Mick Lowe, and the 1990 protest song "Justice in Ontario" by the American singer Steve Earle. [182] As a result of Project Dismantle, the level of screening for new members fell off, and the Oshawa chapter accepted Steven "Hannibal" Gault. [85] O'Reilly and Arksey both agreed to McEwen's plans to have Satan's Choice "patch over" to the Outlaws, while Lacombe remained non-committal for a time. For aiding in the new beginning, I was presented with a new set of colors". Satan's choice mc. [171] However, Croitoru's career in professional wrestling made him a local celebrity in Hamilton and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Ontario. [161] Campbell recalled about the visit: "They listened to us. [179] The controversy is believed to have been a factor in Hall's defeat in her 1997 reelection bid as the media took to calling Hall "Biker Barb". [120] People in Port Hope were so outraged by Mayiyek's murder that it was deemed impossible to find an impartial jury in that town, so the trial was held in London, Ontario. [112] Sauv sat down with Matiyek and quickly learned that he did not want to see him as he instead flashed his gun and said he had "nine friends", which was interpreted to mean that he had nine bullets in his gun. [7] Ever since a brawl in 1962 known as the "Battle of Pebblestone" that saw the Black Diamond Riders defeat the Golden Hawk Riders that Guindon belonged to at the time, it has been his mission to seek vengeance on the Black Diamond Riders. [48] The decision to use Satan's Choice members in the film had been approved by "Big" Jack Olliffe, who had replaced McEwen as the interim president. : The bomb caused $133,000 in damages to the Sudbury, Ontario police station and a nearby bank and injured a police officer. [138] Satan's Choice ambushed three Loners in Woodbridge, shooting three of them, who all survived their wounds. [13] The outlaw biker subculture came to be seen as a symbol of rebellion and freedom with many of the younger people having a very romantic and idealized image of the bikers, who were admired for their "authenticity". [118] Hall's investigative methods were heterodox and contrary to accepted standards, but what mattered to him was providing the evidence to convict as many Satan's Choice bikers as possible. [206] The Satan's Choice chapters in Kitchener, Oshawa, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Keswick, Simcoe County and Toronto all became Hells Angels chapters. The Loners were always Stadnick's favorites". Guindon took the name from another disbanded club in Toronto,. [104] Matiyek, who was drunk and high on marijuana and amphetamines, was talking about shooting the Satan's Choice members in the Queen's Hotel bar-room, causing Lorne Campbell of the Choice's Toronto chapter to come to their aid. After being kicked out of a strip club for wearing the Satan's Choice gang colors, he and several friends toyed with bombing the club, but instead bombed a police station in Sudbury, Ontario, causing over $100,000 in damage. [23] Outlaw biker clubs tended to shun non-white applicants, and Guindon was highly unusual in allowing a black man to lead a chapter. : [51] At times, the fugitive hiding program caused tensions. [9] In 1965, a documentary film about the newly founded club, directed by Donald Shebib and titled Satan's Choice, appeared, making the club famous in Toronto. [182] Making matters worse, Satan's Choice the same year was targeted by a major police operation dubbed Project Dismantle, which involved almost 300 officers from the OPP, as well as the municipal police forces of Halton, Durham, HamiltonWentworth, Waterloo, Sudbury, and Metropolitan Toronto. [150] However, Hawkins then married Graham on 31 March 1989, and at subsequent preliminary inquiry hearings she claimed she had committed perjury at the instigation of the detectives and Crown Attorneys at the first preliminary inquiry hearings in 1988. [173] Several businesses belonging to members of both clubs, such a tattoo parlor, a motorcycle repair shop and a bar, were bombed. [221] A spokesman for the group stated that they were considering disbanding. [125] The journalist Jerry Langton wrote that the trial was "comical" as some of the witnesses for the Crown "changed their testimony three or even four times Much of the Crown's evidence contradicted itself". [37] By the end of the 1960s, Guindon had emerged as something of a folk hero in Toronto while Satan's Choice had become the most best known and largest outlaw biker club in Canada. 178 likes. [194] The cellmate turned out to be Gordie Cunningham of Satan's Choice Hamilton chapter, who had been arrested for drug possession in Barrie. [197] The national leadership had the Hamilton chapter disbanded, while Croitoru was expelled as a "loose cannon". Please try again. Thanks you Lorne. He is considered to be a very manipulative and potentially dangerous person". An associate of Satan's Choice, Petahtegoose claimed protection had been promised in exchange for his testimony against Dube in the 1988 murder of 26-year-old Claude Briere of Sudbury. [131] Hoffmann was indicted for murder as a way to pressure him to turn Crown's evidence and testify against his club. [133] The "Port Hope 8" case became a cause clbre in the 1980s1990s, attracting even international attention. [106] Brideau sought revenge by calling Satan's Choice's Peterborough chapter from the phone booth outside the Queen's Hotel. [172] Satan's Choice agreed to sell drugs to the Diablos and offered the possibility of joining Satan's Choice, which angered the Loners, who were buying their drugs from the Hells Angels. [47] Guindon was an ardent Canadian nationalist and rejected the offer, saying he did not want his club absorbed into an American club. [18] Shebib's documentary, with its sympathetic picture of Satan's Choice as "rebels" against "Toronto the Good" values, gave them an immense amount of publicity in 1960s Toronto. offers that would have allowed them to re-establish their lives. [208], However, many former members of Satan's Choice would remain active criminals after the club was dismantled, such as the former president of the Hamilton chapter Ion Croitoru, who would be charged but not convicted of the murder of Lynn and Fred Gilbank in January 2005. [210] One of the Satan's Choice members who "patched over" to the Hells Angels on 29 December 2000 was Steven Gault, who continued to work as a police informer within the Angels. [211] Gault, who became the treasurer of the Hells Angels' Oshawa chapter, played a key role in the OPP's Project Tandem of 20052006 that led to numerous Angels being convicted of various offenses. [89] Lorne Campbell stated: "The split never would have gone down if Bernie was still out. Marie, Windsor, London, Ottawa, and Kingston to the Outlaws. [159] Although the media often described Satan's Choice as public enemy one, Campbell disagreed, arguing that the low intelligence of most Satan's Choice members led them to engage in asinine antics that made it very easy for the police to arrest them. Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them. [142] In 1984, a Satan's Choice member was killed in Kitchener while riding his motorcycle by a gunman in a car that drove up next to him. [81] After a disagreement, Foote hit Harvey with a pool cue, resulting in Harvey, who was heavily under the influence of drugs, returning with a gun and shooting him dead. [46] Melcher wrote there was an element of self-interest to Guindon's strategy since Satan's Choice was the largest club and his strategy for peace by mutual respect for each other's territories enshrined the dominance of his club by preventing challenges into his territories. [73] Berry was arrested after he was caught trying to steal a tank from a U.S. Army base. [46] Melcher further noted that as a business strategy, Guindon's peace strategy was quite rational as the lack of a police crackdown allowed Satan's Choice to make greater profits than would be the case if the police were cracking down. Try again. "[49], As the group moved from a motorcycle club into organized crime, many of the original members dropped out. Choice Forever Forever Choice! [45] This success emboldened elements of Satan's Choice, in particular their Toronto chapter, into sparking a gang war with two rival biker gangs in the city, the Black Diamond Riders MC and the Vagabonds MC. [215], Campbell claimed that "Pigpen" Berry had retired and was running a "charming" bed and breakfast resort in the Ontario countryside. [86], Satan's Choice lost the chapters in Montreal, Hamilton, St. Catherine's, Sault Ste. [190] In early December 1996, Croitoru visited Sudbury to see Dub with his followers "Jimmy Rich" (a court-ordered pseudonym), Garry Noble, Gordie Cunningham and a man known as "Lebanese Joe". [191] When the bikers continued to try to enter the Solid Gold, the police were called. [135] In 1988, the Oshawa chapter president Campbell served as a guest lecturer at the University of Ottawa law school class, where he spoke about the Port Hope case as a miscarriage of justice, becoming the first and only Satan's Choice chapter president to ever give a university lecture. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 28, 2020. [211] Guindon joined the Hells Angels at the "patch over" in 2000, and remained a member of the Angels' Oshawa chapter until April 2006, when he retired out of the belief that Gault was an informer who setting him up to be arrested. [45] On 6 August 1975, the undercover officers raided a shack located on an island in Oba Lake and found Guindon and Templain with some PCP tablets worth $6 million Canadian dollars together with PCP-manufacturing equipment. [194] Isnor had "Ed" arrested and thrown into the "Barrie Bucket" jail in Barrie. [221] The group seems to have disbanded as nothing have been heard of the gang since 2017. [113] Several of the Satan's Choice members who fled the Queen's Hotel such as Comeau, Blaker and Sauv drove to Kitchener to contact David "Tee Hee" Hoffmann of the Kitchener chapter because he was considered intelligent and was felt to be capable of treating Comeau's wound. Police say about 12 members of the Golden Hawk Riders and Satan's Choice were out to get even with a musician after he fought with a Golden Hawk Friday and kicked over his motorcycle". The club operated a number of drug labs out of remote cabins in northern Ontario, with production focusing especially on PCP and methamphetamines, better known in the area as "Canadian Blue". [173] On 1 August 1995, the Toronto clubhouse of Satan's Choice on Kintyre Avenue which was backing the Diablos was hit by a rocket fired from a military rocket launcher by the Loners. Alex. [56] During his time as an Outlaw enforcer and hitman in Florida, Berry customarily rode around in his motorcycle with a machine gun strapped to the front, as much for his own protection as for intimidation. [60] The Popeyes, who acted as "muscle" for the Dubois brothers, killed 15 members of the Devil's Disciples between 1974 and 1976, causing the latter gang to disband themselves in January 1976. [162] Furthermore, the style of the Hells Angels were much to the taste of both Guindon and Campbell, who admired the type of men that the Hells Angels attracted. [11] Prior to the 1960s, Toronto had a very staid image of "Toronto the Good", a city whose people were mostly hard-working, conservative God-fearing Protestants of British descent, a bastion of Victorian values that was prosperous, safe and well run, but also rather boring and conventional. In his time he's seen club life slip further into the criminal underworld and be transformed by cocaine dealing. [188] Martin told Isnor that he had been ordered to kill Davies, an order that he found himself incapable of obeying. [46] Guindon argued the outlaw biker clubs should respect each other's territories and avoid violence. [205] Satan's Choice, along with most of the other major Ontario biker gangs, including the Loners, Lobos, and Para-Dice Riders, "patched over" to the Hells Angels on December 29, 2000. [107] Sauv choose to accept the challenge, but unwilling to face Matiyek with only Merv "Indian" Blaker of the Peterborough chapter as an ally, Sauv called the other chapters for help. [94] On 15 February 1978, Trudeau, who was now with the Hells Angels, shot two Outlaws outside of a Montreal bar, killing one of them, Robert Ct. [35] Arrested together with Guindon at the barn were his second wife Barbara Ann and his right-hand man Howard Berry. [151] The police allege that Hawkins told Morin about a police raid planned in Hamilton and based on the information he is said to have provided, Morin was able to deduce the identity of the informer, whom he promptly had killed. He was convicted of assault, trafficking cocaine, and bombing a police station. Croitoru and two friends were arrested and charged, but the trial did not begin until almost two years later. When he eventually made bail, Mark eagerly jumped at the centre's offer. [2] To mark the change, a ceremony was performed at Crystal Beach where the Satan's Choice chapter presidents burned their jackets with the Satan's Choice patches while putting on new jackets with the Outlaw patch. [4] The split of 1977 caused Satan's Choice to favor the Angels against the Outlaws. They'd come and go so fast". 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