Shedden massacre

[7] In August 2004, after being released from prison following his conviction on gun and drug charges, Kellestine became the sargento de armas of the Canadian Bandidos, and was displeased at the way his former protégé Muscedere now overshadowed him.

[4] Journalist Peter Edwards wrote that outlaw biker clubs claim that they are all about freedom, but in reality they are rigid, rule-bound organizations run in a quasi-militaristic fashion with a strict hierarchy and rules governing every aspect of the members' existence.

[13] Sandham had behaved in a very sycophantic manner towards Muscedere, Luis Raposo and Frank Salerno when he wanted to join the Bandidos in 2004, but turned on them when they stood in his ambitions' way.

Acorn and his fellow Bandidos Pierre Aragon, Rudolph Brown, Paul Sinopoli, and Robert Quinn fell on Douse, stuffed a gag into his mouth and beat him to death.

[31] Pike was greatly displeased by the refusal of the "no surrender crew" to return their patches, together with Muscedere's call for a vote to allow the Toronto chapter to stay, bluntly announcing the "Bandido Nation" was not a democracy.

[35] At his trial in 2009, Sandham testified that Price who was representing Pike had told him that Muscedere and the rest of the "no surrender crew" were to be killed, and Kellestine would become the new leader of the Canadian Bandidos as the reward.

[40] In his emails to his enemy Raposo after the meeting in the Peace Arch Park, Sandham adopted a mocking, condescending tone of superiority, as he was secure in the knowledge that Houston was on his side.

[43] On 25 March 2006, Sandham announced to his followers that he had received orders from Houston to act against the "no surrender crew", so they were departing for Kellestine's farm without telling him that they were coming.

[44] While stopping in Dryden in northern Ontario, Sandham received a phone call from his common-law wife Kathleen saying that Pierre "Carlitto" Aragon had arrived in Winnipeg and was looking for him.

[63] The barn was full of rusting machinery, old furniture, and children's toys while its walls were decorated with pornographic photographs of buxom young women sitting atop Harley-Davidson motorcycles or half-dressed as construction workers together with "Kellestine's usual Nazi propaganda".

[67] Two of the "no surrender crew", Paul "Big Paulie" Sinopoli and George "Crash" Kriarakis attempted to flee, but were shot down and wounded by Kellestine who was armed with a handgun.

[68] Over the next two hours, Kellestine frequently changed his mind about whether he was going to "pull the patches" or execute the "no surrender crew", and at one point allowed Muscedere to call his girlfriend, Nina Lee, on his cell phone provided he "didn't say anything fucking stupid".

"[71][69] Kriarakis, who was wounded in the thigh, prayed to God and asked that his captors to spare him as his family would miss him and he had a wife he loved back at home, but was told to shut up.

[72] As Kriarakis prayed in Greek while Sinopoli cried, saying he never wanted to come to Kellestine's farm, which led to both men being told by another prisoner, Francesco "Frank the Bammer" Salerno: "We're bikers.

[63] At about midnight, Constable Perry Graham of the OPP doing his nightly patrol around the countryside in his cruiser, ran into the surveillance team, sitting in the wooded lane in the dark, to ask them what they were doing, and learned that they were investigating the murder of Douse.

[78] Mushey speaking to M.H some weeks later and unaware that the latter was wearing a wire, said he was surprised by how much Kriarakis cried as he was marched out to be shot, saying he expected a fellow outlaw biker to be tougher.

[81] Gardiner removed the children's toys from the back of Trotta's Grand Prix to make room for Flanz while M.H, Aravena, Mushey, and Mather watched.

[63] Mushey who drove Trotta's Pontiac Grand Prix, complained his car was full of toys belonging to his daughter, which had to be cleared away to make room for the corpses.

[100] The same day the bodies were found, Detective Inspector Paul Beesley of the OPP, who was in charge of the investigation, had asked a judge for a search warrant for Kellestine's farm.

[100] At about 3:05 pm, two of Kellestine's friends, Kerry Morris and Eric Niessen, arrived at his farm to help him destroy the evidence and to discuss the alibi they were planning on giving him.

[104] Upon returning to Winnipeg, Sandham, who as ambitious as ever, started sending emails to Houston denigrating Kellestine as a loose cannon, and demanded he be made Bandido national president instead.

[107] Because Niessen and Morris gave Kellestine an alibi, saying they were at his farm on the night of killings, they were also charged with first-degree murder, much to their own shock as they never expected that lying to the police would have such consequences.

met with Constable Timothy Diack, who told him the police knew he was involved in the massacre and he could either turn Crown's evidence or go to prison for the rest of his life.

Eventually, it was agreed that M.H would receive total immunity, $1,300/per month for the rest of his life, and free rent in exchange for which he would wear a wire and turn Crown's evidence.

[117] A massive forensic investigation had begun on the Kellestine farm, and by May the police had found in the fireplace the charred keys to the houses and apartments of the "Shedden Eight" murder victims, and a partially burned business card reading ONICO, the name of Flanz's computer company.

[128] Both Niessen and Morris pled guilty to obstructing justice on 15 October 2007, admitting they had given Kellestine a false alibi and helped him destroy evidence, being sentenced to two years in prison.

[132][133][134] On June 16, 2006, police in Winnipeg arrested three additional men, all from that city, in connection with the killings:[135] The three were delivered into OPP custody and transported to St. Thomas, Ontario for a court appearance that afternoon.

[138] The hearing was expected to take about three months, but did not conclude until June 21, 2007, at which time Justice Ross Webster ruled that all six defendants would stand trial on all charges.

[146] The murder trial for Aravena, Gardiner, Kellestine, Mather, Mushey and Sandham commenced on March 31, 2009, in London, Ontario, with all six of the accused entering pleas of not guilty.

[150] Gardiner's lawyer, Christopher Hicks, used his lengthy search for the "pickle tree" alleged to be growing on Kellestine's farm as evidence that his client had a very low IQ and was easily manipulated by those around him as his main defence argument.