Louis Roy

Early criminal career and rise in the biker world

Louis Roy was born and grew up in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. His entry into organized crime began with the Saint-Éloi-based Missiles outlaw biker gang, which later evolved into the Satan's Guard club based in the Saguenay region. Roy founded and led Satan's Guard alongside his second-in-command, Richard "Crow" Émond. Under his leadership, the club established dominance in the Saguenay, Lac-Saint-Jean region through violent means, including the elimination of rival gangs. A notable early act of violence occurred in October 1984 when Satan's Guard blew up the van of Omer Gagnon, the president of the rival El Conquatcheros gang in Chicoutimi. The club also targeted independent drug dealers, such as in a car bombing in Maria-Chapdelaine in October 1990. This aggressive consolidation of power set the stage for the club's formal absorption into a larger network. On 14 June 1991, Satan's Guard "patched over" to become a chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, a move that significantly increased Roy's status and reach within Quebec's criminal hierarchy.

Leadership within the Hells Angels and drug empire

Upon joining the Hells Angels, Roy became the president of the newly established Trois-Rivières chapter. He quickly forged critical alliances, most notably a close working relationship with the Rizzuto crime family of Montreal and a personal friendship with Maurice "Mom" Boucher, the Hells Angels' top leader in Quebec. Crime journalist André Cedilot described Roy as the second most powerful Hells Angel in the province after Boucher. Roy's financial power was legendary, earning him the reputation as the richest Hells Angel in Quebec. This wealth stemmed from his almost total control over the drug trade in Trois-Rivières and his extensive cocaine distribution network throughout the province. His operations were so significant that he was considered one of the most important drug dealers in Quebec. In November 1994, Roy demonstrated his authority by hiring a hitman, Serge Quesnel, through Quesnel's lawyer. Roy offered Quesnel a weekly salary plus commissions for murders, with payments scaling based on the difficulty of the target, including offers as high as $50,000 for well-guarded individuals. Quesnel later wrote that Roy carried a booklet with the names and details of dozens of targets, showing the scope of his power.

Murder conspiracy and trial

Roy's direct involvement in violent crime was exposed through the work of his hired hitman, Serge Quesnel. On Roy's orders, Quesnel carried out a series of murders targeting individuals connected to the Hells Angels' rivals, the Rock Machine. Quesnel killed chemist Jacques Ferland in Quebec City on 30 January 1995, Montreal drug dealer Claude "The Peak" Rivard on 27 February 1995, and another independent dealer, Richard "Chico" Delcourt, on 23 March 1995. Roy also offered Quesnel $50,000 to kill Gilles Lambert, a key Rock Machine leader, but Quesnel was arrested in April 1995 before attempting that hit. After Quesnel became a police informant, Roy was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder alongside Sylvain "Baptiste" Thiffault, the vice-president of the Trois-Rivières chapter. After his arrest, Roy was replaced as Trois-Rivières chapter president by Richard "Crow" Émond. Despite this, Roy's standing within the Hells Angels remained high. On 25 June 1995, while facing these charges, he became a founding member of the club's elite Nomad chapter, a clear signal of his value to the organization. The trial in 1997 was marked by Quesnel's poor performance as a witness for the Crown, leading to the acquittal of both Roy and Thiffault on all counts. During a transport to court on 4 April 1997, Roy and Thiffault took the opportunity to severely beat their rival, Rock Machine member Robert Hardy, in the back of an armored vehicle.

Post-acquittal violence and internal tensions

Following his acquittal, Roy returned to Trois-Rivières and resumed control of his criminal operations. His chapter controlled several puppet gangs, including the Jokers of Saint-Jean, the Blatnois of Mauricie, and the Rowdy Crew of Lanaudière. Soon after Roy's release, six members of these affiliated gangs vanished without a trace. The missing men were Ormand Dorant, Guy Mageanu, Benoît Lachance, Clermont Carrier, Edward Villiers, and Sylvain Bernard. Concurrently, Hells Angels were sent to search the homes of the vanished men, removing items over the protests of their families. Roy also became a target himself. On 23 August 1997, he survived an assassination attempt outside his parents' motel, the Motel Royal in Jonquière, by contract killer Gérald Gallant, who was paid $20,000 by Rock Machine member Marcel "Le Maire" Demers. Roy was wounded in the chest but refused to cooperate with police, whom he derisively called "pigs." More significantly, internal tensions arose over Roy's drug pricing. Informant Dany Kane reported that Hells Angel David Carroll stated Maurice Boucher and Vito Rizzuto had agreed to set the national price of cocaine at $50,000 per kilogram, with death as the penalty for undercutting it. A powerful internal committee called La Table, which included Boucher, Denis Houle, Michel Rose, Normand Robitaille and André Chouinard, enforced this policy. Carroll told Kane that Boucher wanted Roy to join La Table, but Roy refused, and he persistently sold cocaine below the set price, angering both Boucher and Rizzuto, which set the stage for a fatal confrontation.

Disappearance and presumed murder

Louis Roy disappeared on 23 June 2000 after leaving to attend a party at the house of Maurice Boucher's father, celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Nomad chapter's founding. His frequent defiance of the fixed cocaine price had reportedly angered Boucher, though Roy believed his status as a founding Nomad protected him. Testimony from underworld figures later revealed a grim fate. In July 2001, West End Gang member Elias Lekkas testified that Roy was taken from the Boucher household to a meat-processing plant owned by Gerald Matticks, where he was bound, gagged, and fed alive into a meat grinder. This account was corroborated years later by Rizzuto family member Andrea "Andrew" Scoppa in posthumously published interviews. Scoppa detailed a secret pact between Boucher and Vito Rizzuto where Boucher would have Roy killed in exchange for the Rizzuto family's full support against the Rock Machine and the killing of a pro-Rock Machine Rizzuto capo, Paolo Gervasi. Salvatore Gervasi, Paolo's son, was killed on 22 April 2000, setting the agreement in motion. Scoppa stated Roy went confidently to meet Matticks at the factory, where he was seized by his associates and executed. In the aftermath, all signs pointed to his death within the Hells Angels organization. His name was abruptly removed from membership lists in June 2000, unlike other missing members who remained listed. His account with the Nomad chapter's bank in Montreal was terminated on 12 December 2000, with the funds divided among other Nomads. His blue Mercedes-Benz was found parked near Boucher's father's house, covered in unpaid parking tickets. Roy was never seen again.

Aftermath and significance

The disappearance of Louis Roy had immediate repercussions within the Hells Angels' structure. Police noted that at the same time Roy vanished, Luc Bordeleau of the Hells Angels puppet gang, the Rockers Motor Club, was suddenly promoted to a "prospect" with the main club. Roy's girlfriend, Rosalba Guerrera, when questioned by the Sûreté du Québec on 3 August 2000, indicated her understanding of the criminal world's rules, stating she was going to try to rebuild her life. Crime correspondent Paul Cherry of The Montreal Gazette wrote that Roy's unexplained removal from Hells Angels membership lists was a clear indicator he was dead. Roy's case remains a stark example of the extreme violence and treachery within high-level organized crime in Canada. His rise from a local gang leader to a wealthy and powerful Hells Angel, followed by his brutal elimination for defying the syndicate's rules, illustrates the precarious nature of power in the underworld. The testimony and revelations from figures like Serge Quesnel, Dany Kane, and Andrew Scoppa have provided rare insights into the internal agreements, such as the pact between the Hells Angels and the Rizzuto family, that shaped Quebec's criminal landscape during the biker war era.

Key events in the criminal life of Louis Roy

Louis Roy founded and led the Satan's Guard outlaw biker gang, which became dominant in the Saguenay, Lac-Saint-Jean region by eliminating rivals. His club patched over to join the Hells Angels in June 1991, and Roy became president of the Trois-Rivières chapter. He was arrested for murder in 1995 but was acquitted in 1997. Roy disappeared on 23 June 2000 after departing for a party at Maurice Boucher's father's house, and he was never seen or heard from again.

• October 1984: Satan's Guard, led by Roy, bombs the van of rival gang president Omer Gagnon.
• 14 June 1991: Satan's Guard patches over to become the Hells Angels Trois-Rivières chapter, with Roy as president.
• November 1994: Roy hires hitman Serge Quesnel to carry out murders for the Hells Angels.
• 30 January 1995: Quesnel kills chemist Jacques Ferland on Roy's orders.
• 25 June 1995: Roy becomes a founding member of the Hells Angels Nomad chapter.
• 4 April 1997: Roy and associate beat rival Robert Hardy in an armored transport van.
• 23 August 1997: Roy survives an assassination attempt by contract killer Gérald Gallant.
• 23 June 2000: Roy disappears after a party at Maurice Boucher's father's house.

Individuals linked to Roy's case

Roy forged a close alliance with the Rizzuto family of Montreal and a close friendship with Hells Angel Maurice Boucher. He hired Serge Quesnel as a hitman to carry out murders on his orders. Informers like Dany Kane reported to police that Boucher and Vito Rizzuto were annoyed Roy sold cocaine below their set price. According to informant Andrew Scoppa, Boucher and Rizzuto made a secret deal for Roy to be killed in exchange for action against a rival faction.

• Maurice "Mom" Boucher: Hells Angels leader in Quebec and Roy's ally, later central to the plot against him.
• Richard "Crow" Émond: Roy's second-in-command in Satan's Guard who succeeded him as Trois-Rivières chapter president.
• Serge Quesnel: The hitman hired by Roy whose subsequent testimony led to murder charges.
• Vito Rizzuto: Head of the Montreal Mafia family that had a strategic alliance with the Hells Angels.
• Andrea "Andrew" Scoppa: Rizzuto family member whose posthumous interviews detailed the pact to kill Roy.
• Gérald Gallant: Contract killer paid by the Rock Machine who failed to assassinate Roy in 1997.
• Dany Kane: Hells Angels informant who reported on internal tensions over drug pricing.
• Paolo and Salvatore Gervasi: Rizzuto family capos whose murders were part of the exchange for Roy's execution.

Questions about Louis Roy

Who was Louis Roy and why was he significant?

Louis Roy, known as "Mélou," was a major Canadian outlaw biker and drug trafficker in Quebec during the 1990s. He was the president of the Hells Angels' Trois-Rivières chapter and a founding member of the club's elite Nomad chapter. His significance stemmed from his reputed status as the richest Hells Angel in Quebec, built on a near-monopoly of the drug trade in his region. His disappearance and presumed murder in 2000 exposed the brutal internal enforcement and complex alliances within organized crime.

What happened to Louis Roy?

Louis Roy disappeared on 23 June 2000 after attending a party celebrating the Hells Angels Nomad chapter. Based on testimony from informants and underworld figures, it is widely believed he was murdered on the orders of his own associates. Accounts from Elias Lekkas and Andrew Scoppa state he was taken to a meat-processing plant, bound, and fed alive into a meat grinder. This execution was allegedly the result of a secret pact between Hells Angels leader Maurice Boucher and Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto, triggered by Roy's defiance of a fixed cocaine price.

Why was Louis Roy killed by his own gang?

Roy was killed primarily for persistently selling cocaine below the price of $50,000 per kilogram, a price fixed by an agreement between the Hells Angels leadership and the Rizzuto crime family. This undercutting angered both Maurice Boucher and Vito Rizzuto. Informant testimony revealed Boucher wanted Roy to join the internal price-setting committee, La Table, but Roy refused. His elimination served as enforcement of the syndicate's rules and was part of a broader exchange where Boucher had Roy killed in return for Rizzuto's support against a rival faction.

What was the Nomad chapter of the Hells Angels?

The Nomad chapter was an elite, province-wide unit within the Hells Angels in Quebec, founded on 25 June 1995. It consisted of top members from various chapters, designed to oversee major criminal operations and coordinate strategy. Louis Roy was among its founding members, which also included Walter Stadnick, Maurice Boucher, Donald Stockford, and David Carroll. Membership signified high status and authority within the organization, though it did not ultimately protect Roy from internal punishment for his actions.

What evidence confirmed Roy's fate?

Direct forensic evidence of Roy's murder has never been found, as his body was reportedly destroyed. However, multiple credible underworld testimonies and subsequent actions by the Hells Angels strongly indicate his death. Key evidence includes the 2001 court testimony of Elias Lekkas, the detailed posthumous accounts of Andrew Scoppa in 2022, and the immediate removal of Roy's name from Hells Angels membership lists in June 2000. The termination of his financial account with the Nomad chapter and the division of his assets among other members in December 2000 were also treated by police and journalists as conclusive signs he was dead.

How did Roy's case impact the Quebec biker war?

Roy's murder was a significant event in the latter stages of the conflict between the Hells Angels and the Rock Machine. It demonstrated the consolidation of power within the Hells Angels alliance and the enforcement of strict syndicate rules over independent operators. The pact behind his killing, which involved the Rizzuto family moving against its own pro-Rock Machine members, effectively removed a key source of support for the Rock Machine. This contributed to the weakening of the Rock Machine, as it lost both a financial conduit and a strategic ally within the Mafia, aiding the Hells Angels' eventual dominance.

Sources: Wikipedia and current public reporting, checked by the Nosy Mag desk. Last updated 2026-10-29.