| Réjean "Zig-Zag" Lessard |
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| Réjean Lessard grew up in the Eastern Townships and was among the original members of the Marauders biker gang in Asbestos. Called "Zig-Zag" by his biker buddies, the gang sold drugs, held drag races, assaulted citizens and partied. In 1979, the Marauders disbanded and many members, including Lessard and Michel Mayrand, joined the Hells Angels. As a member of the club's North chapter, Lessard's stock rose drastically. He began making a lot more money and spent much of that money on partying and cocaine. Lessard's drug abuse finally caught up to him in 1983, when he suffered repeated epileptic seizures. He stopped using cocaine and began to focus his attention on business. |
Frustrated by the North chapter's constant partying and reckless behaviour, Lessard, Luc "Sam" Michaud, and Robert "Tiny" Richard, quit and joined the Montreal chapter in the summer of 1983. When Yves "Le Boss" Buteau was murdered on September 8, Lessard became the chapter's new president. Lessard continued to be unhappy with the North chapter, whom he felt had grown too reckless. A meeting was set up at the Sherbrooke chapter's clubhouse in Lennoxville on March 24, 1985. Five members of the North chapter were shot to death, wrapped in sleeping bags, and dumped in the St. Lawrence River. The others were absorbed into the Montreal chapter. The next day, Lessard called a meeting of all Hells Angels in Quebec, as well as the members of the Halifax chapter, at the Montreal chapter's bunker in Sorel. He explained the murders and the reasons behind them and sent members to British Columbia to explain the situation to that province's chapters. After police fished out the bodies of the five Hells Angels from the St. Lawrence, a warrant was put out for Lessard and fellow Hells Angels Robert "Tiny" Richard, Jacques "La Pelle" Pelletier, and Luc "Sam" Michaud on charges of first-degree murder. Police officer Jacques Ghilbault pulled over Lessard and Richard "Dick" Mayrand on September 1, 1985 after stolen motorycle made an illegal left turn. Two stolen firearms and a silencer-equipped submachine gun on them. The four Hells Angels were kept behind a glass cage during the trial and observers were frisked and prodded with a metal detector before entering the court room. The evidence against the accused was overwhelming and, after sixteen days of deliberation, the jury convicted Lessard, Pelletier, and Michaud of first-degree murder. The three received life sentences. Richared was acquitted. |