Hugh "Hughie" McGurnaghan
West End Gang
    Hugh Patrick McGurnaghan, known  as "Hughie" on  Montreal's west end streets, was born  in  the 1930s. The  McGurnaghan brothers built  a solid  reputation  in the  underworld  and were rumoured  to be  involved with the West End Gang.

     McGurnaghan, whose criminal  record dates back to 1956, was  well known  to  police. He  was  reputedly  associated  with  West  End Gang kingpin Peter "Dunie" Ryan  and, according to  a newspaper  article, was allegedly involved in drug trafficking.

     On October 27, 1981, McGurnaghan  and Joseph Frankel, a one-time bookie  with  reputed  links  to  the West End Gang  and William Obront, were driving  along Melville Avenue in Westmount when the 1977 yellow Mercedes Benz they were in blew up.

     The explosion shattered the windows of  a nearby  apartment building and  the vehicle  continued to roll for  about 200 feet before coming to  a stop in Westmount Park.
    McGurnaghan's left leg was blown off and he had  a severe wound on one of his arms. He died in a  police  ambulance on the way to the hospital, bleeding to death because  the  ambulance  apparently did not have the necessary equipment for the doctor to stop the bleeding.

     Frankel was  rushed  to  hospital  and  treated  for several cuts  and  perforated eardrums. He was released the next day, after a night under police protection.

     "Things could really pop," a  Montreal detective reportedly told the Gazette about  McGurnaghan's death. "It all depends on who's behind the bombing. If his own people gave the order than that will be that."

     On  March 18, 1991, Richard McGurnaghan, Hughie's brother, was shot in the  head in his  Point St. Charles tavern.

     Almost five years  after  Hughie McGurnaghan's death, Yves "Apache" Trudeau, a  member of the feared Hells Angels North Chapter based in Laval, was marked for the  death  by  his  associates  and  cooperated with  police. Trudeau, a hitman with 43 hits under  his belt, claimed to  have  been behind McGurnaghan's murder. The former Hells Angel said that he  had  been  hired by Peter "Dunie" Ryan, to whom McGurnaghan allegedly owed a lot of money and drugs.