Lennoxville massacre

Background and Rise of the Hells Angels in Quebec

The roots of the massacre lie in the violent biker conflicts of Quebec in the 1960s and 1970s. One of Montreal's most prominent gangs was the Popeyes Motorcycle Club, led by Yves "Le Boss" Buteau. The Popeyes fought brutal wars against rivals like the Devils Disciples and Satan's Choice. The Hells Angels, looking to expand into Canada, saw the Popeyes as a suitable partner. On December 5, 1977, the Popeyes formally patched over, becoming the first Hells Angels chapter in Canada. As the gang grew, the Montreal chapter was split in September 1979 into two separate entities. The Montreal North Chapter was based in Laval and consisted mostly of former Popeyes members. The Montreal South Chapter was based in Sorel and was considered more disciplined under the leadership of Réjean "Zig Zag" Lessard.

The leadership dynamic shifted on September 8, 1983, when founder Yves Buteau was assassinated by a prospect from the rival Outlaws gang while having lunch in Longueuil. Another Angel, René Lamoureaux, was wounded, and Guy "Frenchie" Gilbert, president of the Satan's Choice Kitchener chapter, was also killed. After Buteau's death, Michel "Sky" Langlois became the national president, while Lessard maintained operational control in Quebec. The North Chapter's leadership fell to Laurent "L'Anglais" Viau, whose tolerant attitude towards violence and personal drug abuse stood in contrast to Buteau's stricter rules. Under Viau, the North Chapter spiralled out of control, with members frequently using the cocaine they were supposed to sell and skimming profits. This behaviour created intense friction with the more business-oriented South Chapter and alienated criminal partners like the Rizzuto crime family and the West End Gang.

The Plot and the Ambush

By early 1985, tensions between the North and South chapters had reached a breaking point. The North Chapter's undisciplined actions, including the alleged theft of at least $60,000 in drug profits and frequent arrests for minor offences, were seen as a threat to the entire Hells Angels enterprise. Other organized crime groups pressured the Angels to control the North Chapter. The final catalyst came when David "Wolf" Carroll, leader of the Halifax chapter, discovered that assassin Yves "Apache" Trudeau had pocketed a $98,000 payment for a hit that should have been shared with the North Chapter. Carroll met with Réjean Lessard and Georges "Bo-Boy" Beaulieu of the Sherbrooke chapter, and the three leaders agreed the North Chapter had to be eliminated. In March 1985, at a secret meeting in Sorel, the Montreal North Chapter was declared in bad standing and a plan for its liquidation was formulated.

The plan called for a mandatory party at the Sherbrooke chapter clubhouse on March 23, 1985, which all eastern Canadian chapters were ordered to attend. The initial ambush plan failed when most North Chapter members did not show up. Lessard extended the party for a second day, March 24, and reiterated that attendance was compulsory. This time, five members of the North Chapter arrived: president Laurent "L'Anglais" Viau, Jean-Guy "Brutus" Geoffrion, Jean-Pierre "Matt le Crosseur" Mathieu, Michel "Willie" Mayrand, and Guy-Louis "Chop" Adam. Notably absent were Yves Trudeau, who was in drug rehabilitation in Oka, and Michel "Jinx" Genest, who was hospitalized. Upon arrival, the five men were surrounded by approximately 41 Hells Angels under Lessard's command, forced into the centre of a room, and shot dead.

Immediate Aftermath and Internal Purge

Following the executions, three North Chapter members who were present but not killed, Gilles "Le Nez" Lachance, Richard "Bert" Mayrand, and Yvon "Le Père" Bilodeau, were ordered to clean the scene. Mayrand and Bilodeau, the older brother of victim Michel Mayrand, were given the option to permanently retire from crime or be killed. Lachance was offered membership in the South Chapter, which he accepted. To prove his loyalty to the new order, Lachance, along with Jacques Pelletier and Robert Tremblay, visited the hospitalized Michel Genest. Genest was given the same ultimatum and chose to join the South Chapter, confirming his allegiance by murdering a North Chapter prospect named Claude "Coco" Roy and handing over Roy's cocaine. The Laval clubhouse was subsequently looted of all money, drugs, and six Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Although initially marked for death, Yves Trudeau was contacted in rehab and told he could rejoin the Angels if he carried out three more killings for Lessard, one of which was the North Chapter's accountant, Ginette "La Jument" Henri.

• Scene Cleanup: Gilles Lachance, Richard Mayrand, and Yvon Bilodeau removed bodies and washed away blood.
• Fates of Survivors: Mayrand and Bilodeau forced into retirement. Lachance recruited into South Chapter.
• Genest's Test: Michel Genest proved loyalty by killing prospect Claude Roy.
• Looting: Laval clubhouse stripped of cash, drugs, and six motorcycles.
• Trudeau's Deal: Offered reinstatement in exchange for committing three more murders.

Police Investigation and Discovery of Bodies

In the days following the massacre, police noticed the Laval chapter's clubhouse had been abruptly closed. When investigators approached the girlfriends of the missing men, they realized the bikers had vanished but had no evidence they were dead. The case broke open in June 1985 when a fisherman on the St. Lawrence River caught a piece of decomposing human tissue. Police divers searched the riverbed and discovered the weighted-down bodies of all five victims, each wrapped in sleeping bags and tied to weightlifting plates. Also found during the search was the skeleton of Berthe Desjardins, the wife of a Hells Angel killed by Yves Trudeau in 1980 as a suspected informant. Her murder had been intended to ensure her silence. The gruesome find confirmed the scale of the internal purge and launched a major homicide investigation.

Crown Witnesses and Judicial Outcomes

The investigation was propelled forward by key insiders who turned informant. Gilles Lachance, deeply troubled by the massacre, contacted the Sûreté du Québec and agreed to wear a wire. Another prospect, Gerry "Le Chat" Coulombe, also became a police informant. The most significant witness was Yves "Apache" Trudeau. After being arrested for weapons possession in July 1985 and fearing assassination in prison, Trudeau struck a controversial plea deal with the Crown. In exchange for testifying against the Hells Angels leadership, the Crown agreed to treat the 43 murders he confessed to committing between 1970 and 1985 as manslaughter. He served only seven years in prison, a sentence that sparked public outcry but resulted in convictions for 90 murders and the imprisonment of 19 Hells Angels members. Richard "Bert" Mayrand, the older brother of victim Michel Mayrand, refused to testify against his brother's killers, saying the Angels were his family.

Only four individuals were ultimately convicted of first-degree murder for their direct roles in the Lennoxville killings. Several others faced lesser charges. Robert "Ti-Maigre" Richard, who issued the party invitations, was acquitted of all charges and died of a heart attack in 1996. David "Wolf" Carroll, the Halifax chapter president present at the massacre, was charged with first-degree murder but was acquitted in 1987. He later became a prominent figure in the Quebec Biker War before fleeing Canada in March 2001 to escape an arrest warrant.

Parole and Later Incidents

The four men convicted of first-degree murder received life sentences with no chance of parole for 25 years. However, all were released earlier under the faint hope clause, serving between 17 and 22 years each. Their post-release lives and statements revealed varying degrees of remorse and transformation. Robert Tremblay was granted full parole in August 2004, expressing regret for taking a life. Luc Michaud was released on full parole in May 2005. He denied killing anyone but regretted his involvement and was expelled from the Angels in 1993 after returning to Catholicism. Réjean Lessard, the plot's mastermind, converted to Buddhism in prison, left the gang in 1989, and was granted full parole in August 2010. Jacques Pelletier's parole journey has been more turbulent. Granted full parole in May 2013, his release was suspended in 2014 for associating with Hells Angels. Following a motorcycle collision in October 2024 and an investigation into impaired driving allegations, his parole was suspended again. In a decision dated January 2025, the Parole Board of Canada reinstated Pelletier's full parole, citing insufficient evidence to prove a violation, though imposing strict conditions against visiting bars or associating with criminals.

Legacy: The Rock Machine and the Quebec Biker War

The brutality of the Lennoxville massacre had significant consequences for organized crime in Quebec. The event was considered an unforgivable breach of the outlaw code by Salvatore Cazzetta. Rather than join the Hells Angels, Cazzetta and his brother Giovanni formed their own gang, the Rock Machine, in 1986. For several years, the Angels and Rock Machine coexisted, partly due to the Cazzettas' connections to the Rizzuto crime family. This fragile peace shattered after Salvatore Cazzetta's arrest on cocaine trafficking charges in 1994. Under the leadership of Maurice Boucher, who had joined the Hells Angels in 1986 after a prison sentence for armed sexual assault, the gang began aggressively targeting the Rock Machine, igniting the bloody Quebec Biker War.

Demolition of the Lennoxville Bunker

The physical symbol of the massacre, the Hells Angels bunker in Lennoxville, met its end in 2024. Seized by police in 2009 during Operation SharQc, a massive sweep targeting 156 individuals, the compound sat empty for over 12 years. Authorities designated it an offence-related property for its use in drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit murder during the gang wars. In 2024, an excavator demolished the notorious red building, which had been outfitted with bulletproof windows and high fences. Retired police officers noted the site's dark history, recalling both the 1985 massacre and the gang's 1992 World Run held there. The demolition marked the destruction of the last standing Hells Angels bunker seized under Operation SharQc. The land, rezoned to prevent housing development, may become a park.

Questions about Lennoxville massacre

Who was convicted for the Lennoxville massacre?

Four Hells Angels were convicted of first-degree murder: Jacques Pelletier, Luc Michaud, Réjean Lessard, and Robert Tremblay. They received life sentences. Others like Robert Richard were acquitted, and David Carroll was acquitted of first-degree murder. The plot's mastermind was Réjean Lessard.

What happened to the Hells Angels bunker in Lennoxville?

The former Hells Angels bunker in Lennoxville was demolished in 2024. It had been seized in 2009 during Operation SharQc and declared an offence-related property. Its destruction marked the end of the last such bunker seized in that operation. The land may be turned into a park.

Is anyone from the Lennoxville massacre still in prison?

As of early 2025, none of the four men convicted of first-degree murder remain in prison. All were granted parole after serving between 17 and 22 years. Jacques Pelletier had his full parole reinstated in January 2025 after a suspension. He remains under strict conditions.

What was the Lennoxville massacre?

The Lennoxville massacre was a mass murder of five Hells Angels members from the Laval-based North Chapter on March 24, 1985. The killings occurred at the Hells Angels clubhouse in Sherbrooke, Quebec. The North Chapter was declared in bad standing for being undisciplined. A party was used as a ruse to lure the targets to an ambush.

Why did the Hells Angels kill their own members?

The Hells Angels leadership killed members of their own North Chapter because they were viewed as a major liability. The North Chapter members were accused of skimming at least $60,000 in drug profits and using the cocaine they were supposed to sell. Their frequent arrests put the entire Hells Angels enterprise in Quebec at risk. Other organized crime groups pressured the Angels to control them.

How did the massacre lead to the Quebec Biker War?

The massacre directly led to the Quebec Biker War by causing the formation of the Rock Machine motorcycle club in 1986. Salvatore Cazzetta considered the internal killings a severe breach of the outlaw code and formed the Rock Machine as a rival instead of joining the Hells Angels. The two groups coexisted for several years until 1994, when Salvatore Cazzetta was arrested for attempting to import eleven tons of cocaine. Following this arrest, Hells Angels leader Maurice Boucher increased pressure on the Rock Machine, which initiated the full-scale conflict known as the Quebec Biker War.

Sources and further reading

• Lennoxville massacre (Wikipedia)
• Hells Angels' bunker in Lennoxville, Que., demolished after ... (cbc.ca)
• Former Hells Angel involved in Lennoxville Purge was ... (montrealgazette.com)
• Sylvie Michaud / The Lennoxville Massacre WKT3 #5 (theresaallore.com)

Checked by the Nosy Mag desk. Last updated 2026-10-27.