The Shedden massacre involved the gang-related killing of eight men, whose bodies were found in a field five kilometres northKemick, April, "Despite their belief the crime was committed by outsiders, area residents are nervous." , London Free Press (Ontario), April 9, 2009 of Shedden, a small village in the Canadian province of Ontario, on April 8, 2006. Four vehicles, with the bodies inside, were first discovered by a farmer."8 bodies found on Ontario farm's field", CBC News, April 8, 2009. The day after the bodies were discovered, five people, including one member of the Bandidos motorcycle gang, were arrested for the murders, and three more people were arrested in June 2006. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said the killings were an isolated event and there were no fears for the safety of local residents. The name Shedden massacre is a misnomer. The killings took place at a farm outside of Iona Station and Shedden was the hamlet closest to where the bodies were discovered in a farmer's field.
Background
"Patching over": consolidation in the outlaw biker world Unable to stand on their own against the Hells Angels, the Chatham chapter of the Loners joined the Bandidos on 22 May 2001 as probationary members, becoming full members on 1 December 2001. Wayne Kellestine and Giovanni Muscedere were two of the Loners that joined the Bandidos. On 5 June 2002, after a series of police raids led to the arrest of several Bandidos in Ontario and Quebec, Giovanni Muscedere became the group's new president. After the arrests, the remaining Canadian Bandidos consisted of 15 members in Ontario spread over three chapters who were consolidated into a single chapter based in Toronto, although its members were actually scattered across southern Ontario. Muscedere became president as the only senior Bandido not in prison or facing charges.
The new chapter In July 2004, Muscedere opened a new Bandido chapter in Winnipeg, whose members were only probationary members. The leader of the new chapter was Michael "Taz" Sandham, an ambitious former policeman who resigned rather than be fired for associating with outlaw bikers, and who worked hard to keep his past as a policeman secret.
In August 2004, after being released from prison following his conviction on gun and drug charges, Kellestine became the sargento de armas of the Canadian Bandidos, and was displeased at the way his former protégé Muscedere now overshadowed him. Journalist Peter Edwards wrote that outlaw biker clubs claim that they are all about freedom, but in reality they are rigid, rule-bound organizations run in a quasi-militaristic fashion with a strict hierarchy and rules governing every aspect of the members' existence. It was a great source of resentment that Kellestine now answered to president Muscedere, a man to whom he used to give orders when he was the Annihilators' president. When Sandham indicated he wanted to join the Bandidos, one of the Bandido leaders, Frank "Cisco" Lenti, was highly suspicious of him, saying he kept hearing rumours that Sandham used to be a policeman and that he had been rejected by the Outlaws for that reason. He assigned Kellestine to investigate him, and Kellestine reported that the rumours were not true, and that Sandham had never been a policeman.
On 25 June 2005, Sandham visited Kellestine's farm to complain about the unwillingness of the Toronto chapter to make the Winnipeg chapter full members, asking for his support. The principal reason why the Winnipeg chapter were not granted full patches was that the treasurer of the Toronto Bandidos, Luis "Chopper" Raposo, accused Sandham of not paying the monthly membership dues that were owed to Toronto, with Sandham insisting that he had paid the dues.
Edwards wrote that Sandham had "a talent for ruthless politicking and manipulation" as his goal was to take over the entire outlaw biker scene in all of Canada. Sandham had behaved in a very sycophantic manner towards Muscedere, Luis Raposo and Frank Salerno when he wanted to join the Bandidos in 2004, but turned on them when they stood in his ambitions' way. Sandham began writing emails to the Bandidos' mother chapter in Houston denouncing Muscedere's leadership and accusing Raposo of embezzlement.
Rift in the Bandidos: Houston vs. the "No Surrender Crew" On 6 December 2005, drug dealer Shawn Douse was murdered. He had last been seen alive that day visiting the apartment of Bandido Jamie "Goldberg" Flanz in Keswick. Four Bandidos were charged with his murder. A Bandido, Cameron Acorn, was unhappy with Douse and decided to kill him for selling cocaine to Acorn's girlfriend's sister despite orders to stop, and possibly for sleeping with her. Douse was a worker at the Chrysler factory in Bramalea, a drug dealer and father of two. Flanz was only a "prospect" with the Bandidos. He agreed to let the full patch Bandidos use his apartment in the hope that he might become a full patch Bandido. Bandido Robert Quinn had his girlfriend call Douse from her cell phone, saying that she was at a party at Flanz's apartment and wanted to buy some cocaine right away. The all-white Bandidos hated Douse, who was of Black Jamaican descent, and Quinn's girlfriend later testified in court Douse was often described as a "nigger". Outlaw bikers are often white supremacists, and in some circles it is considered honourable for them to slay non-whites.
Douse arrived at Flanz's apartment by taxi. Acorn and his fellow Bandidos Pierre Aragon, Rudolph Brown, Paul Sinopoli, and Robert Quinn fell on Douse, stuffed a gag into his mouth and beat him to death. Douse screamed repeatedly as he was beaten to death in Flanz's basement, saying "I'm sorry", but no mercy was granted as he was considered to be just a "nigger" by the Bandidos. Later that night, Flanz came home from work as a bouncer at a bar. He was shocked to discover that his fellow Bandidos had killed Douse in his apartment, saying this was extremely "stupid" as Douse had arrived via taxi, meaning the police would connect the murder to him. However, Flanz was desperate to be promoted and become a "full patch" Bandido, and so declined to report the murder and helped clean up the crime scene. On 8 December 2005, Douse's burnt body was found. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) suspected Flanz had been involved in the murder and tapped his phone. As part of the investigation into Douse's death, the OPP ultimately brought not only Flanz, but the rest of the Toronto Bandido chapter under surveillance, tapping all of their phones.
On 28 December 2005, the American leadership of the Bandidos, which had grown increasingly unhappy with Muscedere's leadership, expelled him and his followers, charging that they were failing to make money, not paying their monthly membership dues because they did not have the money, and were going about business in a "sloppy" manner, leaving them wide open to prosecution. An officer with the Texas Department of Public Safety told the journalist Julien Sher of The Globe and Mail in 2006: "Because their numbers were so low in Canada, the U.S. Bandidos had tried to separate themselves from Canada. When you get to the point when you're not even breaking even – on drugs, like any other trade – you decide to close the business. If you're not bringing anything into the pot, you're a liability instead of an asset".
Muscedere took the expulsions very badly. After being ordered to return their Bandido patches and property, Muscedere sent out an email to Bandidos chapters around the world calling for a vote to allow him and his followers to stay. Jeff Pike, the world leader of the Bandidos, emailed Muscedere back that "Bandidos don't vote, they do what the fuck they're told".
Muscedere and his followers took to calling themselves the "no surrender crew", after an ultra-violent faction of the Irish Republican Army opposed to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, because they refused the orders from the Bandidos' 'Mother chapter' in Houston to surrender their patches, saying they were going to stay on as Bandidos despite Pike's decision to expel them. Outlaw bikers attach enormous symbolic importance to their patches, which show which club they belong to and what their position is. The patches belong to the club, not to the men wearing them, and must be returned at once if a member is expelled or resigns. It is considered extremely offensive for someone to wear the patch of a club that they do not belong to, which often results in violence against anyone who does so.
Pike was greatly displeased by the refusal of the "no surrender crew" to return their patches, together with Muscedere's call for a vote to allow the Toronto chapter to stay, bluntly announcing the "Bandido Nation" was not a democracy. At the same time, Sandham was writing emails to Houston disavowing Muscedere and the rest of the "no surrender crew", proclaiming in highly obsequious language that he was with Houston against the "no surrender crew". Sandham had also told Kellestine at this time that the "no surrender crew" were planning to "patch over" to join the Outlaws without him. Kellestine believed what Sandham had told him, and this bit of misinformation turned Kellestine against the "no surrender crew".
The "farm crew" assembles On 7 March 2006, Sandham, Kellestine and the younger Weiche travelled to British Columbia to visit the Peace Arch Park on the American-Canadian border. American bikers generally cannot enter Canada, as most of them have criminal records. The Peace Arch Park, where it is possible to hold a conversation without crossing the border, is a popular meeting place for Canadian and American bikers. An American Bandido, Peter "Mongo" Price, told Sandham and Kellestine that Houston was furious that the "no surrender crew" were still wearing Bandido patches despite being expelled in December 2005. Price was the national sergeant-at-arms of Bandidos USA, making him in charge of discipline, and accompanying him were Keinard "Hawaiian Ken" Post and Brian Bentley of the Washington state Bandidos. The fact that Price had flown from Houston to meet Kellestine and Sandham in the Peace Arch Park suggested he had something especially important to say, that he could not say on the phone or write in an email.
Price further informed Kellestine that he would become the new Canadian Bandido president if he succeeded in "pulling the patches" of the "no surrender crew", while the Winnipeg chapter would be granted "full patches", making them into full members. Price concluded by stating that both Kellestine and Sandham would be expelled as well if they failed with removing the patches being worn by the rogue Toronto chapter. At his trial in 2009, Sandham testified that Price who was representing Pike had told him that Muscedere and the rest of the "no surrender crew" were to be killed, and Kellestine would become the new leader of the Canadian Bandidos as the reward. After the meeting in the Peace Arch Park, Weiche chose to remain in Vancouver, though he regularly exchanged phone calls with Sandham. In his emails to his enemy Raposo after the meeting in the Peace Arch Park, Sandham adopted a mocking, condescending tone of superiority, as he was secure in the knowledge that Houston was on his side. Between 20 and 22 March, Sandham again went to Vancouver to meet with American Bandidos in the Peace Arch Park. The Winnipeg crew claimed that Sandham received a phone call from an American Bandido, Keinard "Hawaiian Ken" Post, asking why the "no surrender crew" were still wearing Bandido patches five months after being expelled and accused them all of incompetence in allowing this situation to persist.