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| Yves "Le Boss" Buteau |
| Yves "Le Boss" Buteau, born in 1951, would play a major role in establishing the Hells Angels as a major force in Montreal and across Canada. He started off as a member of the Montreal-based Popeyes biker gang. By the mid-1970s, he is president. On August 14, 1976, at the age of 25, Buteau was among the many arrested at a Hotel in Saint-Andre-Avellion when almost fifty Popeyes enter and trash the place. The Popeyes, Montreal's strongest biker club, become Canada's first Hells Angels chapter on December 5, 1977. Hells Angels legend Sonny Barger himself awards Buteau his colors and respects him so much that he is the only Canadian authorised to use the title of "Hells Angels International". |
According to Yves "Apache" Trudeau, a Hells Angel who would later turn informant, Buteau, Jean-Pierre "Matt le Crosseur" Mathieu and he were responsible for the deaths of Outlaw Daniel Mclean and his girlfriend Carmen Piché. The three bikers plant a bomb onto the Outlaw's bike in Verdun on May 9, 1979 and detonate it when the 30 year old and his girlfriend are on it. As president, Buteau established contacts with many biker gangs a cross the country. These clubs would eventually become Canada's other Hells Angels chapters. He supplied drugs to the Gitans and Atomes in Sherbrooke and expanded the club's drug networks. Intelligent and calm, Buteau changed the chapter from a group beer-swiggling brawlers to an organized criminal empire. He wanted members to appear clean-shaven, keep lower profiles, and avoid hassles. In the Spring of 1982, at a meeting of Quebec Hells Angels, he prohibited the use of cocaine by members, by penalty of death. After all, drug addicts are not reliable. Gino Goudreau, a small time drug dealer who would later become a member of the Outlaws, would end Buteau's reign on September 8, 1983. Buteau had spent the night at Le Petit Bourg bar with fellow Hells René Lamoureux and Satan's Choice member Guy "Frenchy" Gilbert. When the group exited the bar, Goudreau opened fire. Two bullets tore into the Hells Angels president's chest, killing him. He didn't have time to pull the gun that was tucked into his belt. Gilbert, struck in the stomach, would also die. Lamoureux was hit twice but survived. Over 2000 people gathered around a Sorel church on September 12, 1983 to watch Buteau's funeral. 150 gang members from across Canada, the United States, and England attended and rode from Sorel to Drummondville in a show of homage for the murdered biker leader. |