| Yves "Apache" Trudeau |
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| Yves Trudeau, known as “Apache” and “The Mad Bumper,” was born in the mid 1940s. Standing five-foot-six and weighing 135 pounds, Trudeau didn’t look like the prototypical biker, but that did not stop him from becoming the Hells Angels most prolific killer to date.
Trudeau became a founding member of the Hells Angels in Quebec in 1977, when the Popeyes became the official Montreal Chapter for the internationally renowned biker club. The Montreal Chapter eventually grew so large that Trudeau and others broke away in September 1979 to form the North Chapter, based in Laval. The group would become known for its violent and reckless behaviour and excessive drug use. |
Trudeau was no exception. In one three-week span, the biker spent $60,000 on cocaine. During another week, he wasted $25,000 on the drug. The biker has admitted to killing 43 people from September 73 to July 1985. His talent in the ruthless trade earned him the “filthy few” patch, awarded to members who have killed for the gang. He was the first Canadian Hells Angel to earn the decoration. Trudeau’s first victim was Jean-Marie Viel, shot to death in Trois-Rivieres in 1970 after he made the mistake of stealing a motorcycle from the Popeyes. Others soon followed. Among them were Donald McLean, a member of the rival Outlaws gang, and his girlfriend Carmen Piche, blown up in May 1980 when a bomb attached to McLean’s Harley Davidson exploded. Jeanne Desjardins, a grandmother, was killed in February 1980 for trying to help her son, ex-Hells Angel Andre Desjardins. Trudeau battered her to death and then killed her son and his girlfriend. The bodies of the latter two were dumped in the St. Lawrence River. Michel Desormiers, a brother-in-law of reputed mob boss Frank Cotroni, was gunned down in July 1983. He had reportedly been the driver in a hit carried out by the Hells Angels. The killing was supposedly cleared with members of the Montreal Mafia first. Reputed West End Gang member Hugh Patrick McGurnaghan was blown to shreds in Westmount in October 1981, when a bomb planted his Mercedes-Benz detonated. Trudeau later said West End Gang chieftain Frank Peter “Dunie” Ryan had hired him to commit the murder. Even fellow Hells Angels weren’t safe. Trudeau and other bikers killed Charlie Hachez, a member of the North Chapter, because he had a heavy drug problem and owed Dunie Ryan almost $150,000 in drug money. Hachez was lured to a meeting, killed, and his body dumped in the St. Lawrence River. And when Dunie Ryan was himself murdered, Trudeau was hired to take care of business. He and fellow Hells Angels hitman Michel Blass delivered a television set stuffed with explosives to the apartment where Ryan’s alleged killers were holed up. The thundering explosion ripped through the building. Four people died and eight others were injured. Trudeau claimed that Allan “The Weasel” Ross had offered to pay him $200,000 to eliminate Ryan’s killers. Afterward the murders though, Ross supposedly told Trudeau to collect the cash from the Hells Angels Montreal Chapter and the 13th Tribe of Halifax, who would become a Hells chapter shortly thereafter, both of whom had owed Ryan large sums of drug money. The Mad Bumper said he approached the Montreal Chapter about payment but they refused. This only added to the resentment many Hells Angels already felt towards members of the North Chapter. Other Hells Angels felt that the North Chapter bikers were too wild and uncontrollable. They often used drugs they were supposed to sell and were suspected of screwing other chapters out of dope profits. A meeting was scheduled at the Sherbrooke Chapter’s clubhouse. At that gathering, five members of the North Chapter were shot to death, wrapped in sleeping bags, and dumped in the St. Lawrence River. A few others were allowed to live and were absorbed into the Montreal Chapter. Trudeau was supposed to be at that meeting, but had enrolled in a detoxification program shortly before. He later said he wanted to clean himself up, because he knew what happened to members who were always stoned. News of the North Chapter slaughter soon reached Trudeau at the centre. He even received a visit from Normal “Biff” Hamel, a then-prospect with the Montreal Chapter. Trudeau was told that he was out of the gang and would have to have his gang tattoos removed. After being released from the detoxification program, Trudeau discovered that the Hells Angels had taken his motorcycle and $46,000 in cash that belonged to him from the North Chapter clubhouse. They said they would return the bike if he killed two people for the gang. Trudeau succeeded in bumping off one of the targets. Jean-Marc Deniger is killed in May 1985 and stuffed in his car. Satisfied, the Hells Angels gave Trudeau his motorcycle back. But Trudeau knew he was living on borrowed time. The Hells Angels had taken out a $50,000 contract on his head. He decided to switch sides and became a government witness. He wasn’t alone either: biker thugs Michel Blass, Gilles “Le Nez” Lachane, and Gerry “Le Chat" Coulombe also became informants. Trudeau pleaded guilty to 43 killings, and spilled the beans on 40 other murders and 15 attempted murders. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Under his deal, the government reportedly gave him $40,000 over the next four years and gave him about $35 a week for cigarettes. He was released after seven years in prison and has been resettled under a different name. |