Front Burner - The life and death of Quebec Hells Angels boss 'Mom' Boucher

Episode Date: July 15, 2022

The notorious former Hells Angels boss Maurice "Mom" Boucher died of cancer on Sunday. He was serving a life sentence in prison. Before being convicted, he was at the centre of the violent biker wars that took place in Quebec in the 1990s. Today on Front Burner, we discuss this vicious chapter in Canada's history and how Boucher made a name for himself. Julian Sher, an investigative journalist and a former producer at the CBC's Fifth Estate joins us. For years, Sher covered the biker wars and Boucher's role in them. He's co-written two books on the Hells Angels in Canada and around the world.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Allie Janes, in for Jamie Poisson. On a warm August afternoon in 1995, a bomb tore through a jeep in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighborhood of Montreal. The driver, Marc Dubé, was killed instantly. Across the street, 11-year-old Daniel Desrochers was playing in the grass.

His mother remembers that day. I didn't know where the hospital was, but I listened to the grass. His mother remembers that day. I didn't know where the hospital was, but I listened to the radio because they were talking about it. I arrived at the hospital and started looking for Daniel. I found him on a stretcher, completely naked, shivering. I saw my other son and my partner, the time crying, and the doctors told me that Daniel had suffered very serious injuries. They operated straight away, but four days later, he died.

Hundreds of mourners attended the child's funeral, including a CBC journalist. At one point in the service, Daniel's uncle sang this song, titled An Angel Is Calling Me. Daniel loved it, he says. I sang it because it talks about what happened, how he suffered. Some mourners were overcome and had to leave the church. I like the service very much, she says, but it doesn't change the fact he's never coming back. While the exact identity of the bomber was unknown,

this news report from the time makes it clear. People knew what killed Danielle. As pallbearers carried Danielle's coffin from the church, there were more tears. But beneath the grief, there is undeniable anger and fear. I want them to find the man who did this, says this relative, so that Montreal's biker war doesn't claim another innocent victim. Montreal's biker wars gripped the province and the country in the mid-90s. It's killed dozens in the past and it appears to have killed again overnight. The

combination, biker gangs and bombs. And no figure loomed larger in those wars than Maurice Momboucher. Boucher was arrested last night. He's the leader of an elite group of the Hells Angels called the Nomads, the most feared members of the biker gang. He's been charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Boucher died last weekend of throat cancer. He was serving a life sentence in a Quebec prison. Julian Scher is an investigative journalist and a former producer at the CBC's Fifth Estate.

He covered the biker wars and Maurice Boucher's role in them, and he's co-written two books on the Hells Angels in Canada and around the world. He joins me today to talk about Maurice Boucher, this violent chapter in Canada's history, and why it still matters today. Hi Julian, thanks so much for coming on FrontBurner. Oh, it's a pleasure. I'm a big fan of the podcast. Well, we're so glad that you're here. To understand Maurice Boucher, I think it might be helpful to begin with the group that he gained his notoriety with, which is, of course, the Hells Angels. So can you just give me a sense of the role that the

Hells Angels would have played in Canada's organized crime landscape when Maurice Boucher joined, which was back in the 80s? Sure. You know, I think that the view that many people have of the Hells Angels is this kind of notorious but somewhat lovable rascals on motorbikes, you know, TV shows like Sons of Anarchy. And that's a really dangerous myth. Look, you know, I ride a motorcycle. I love riding my motorcycle. Many people ride with motorcycle clubs. That's not what the Hells Angels are about. I spent years covering these guys. I know them.

I've met a lot of them. The Hells Angels are an international organized crime group, the most powerful outlaw motorcycle gang. And that's what they call themselves. Involved in international drug trafficking, murder, extortion. Doesn't mean every member is actively involved, but that's what the group's history is. And believe it or not, in no country are they more powerful than they have been in Canada. Police say the Hells Angels started this war against rival motorcycle gangs in Montreal in the summer of 94. And as long as they were killing each other, there didn't seem to be much

pressure on anyone to do anything. Canada is the only country where the Hells Angels, there are about 500 of them across the country, about 30 chapters over the years, especially starting in the late 1980s and in 1990s when Maurice Boucher joins. And they were able to establish a monopoly in Canada, being the only major biker gang, which you don't see even in the States. The Hells Angels actually aren't the biggest group in the States. So their base in Canada has always been important. And when Maurice Boucher, he's a grade nine dropout, kind of a young thug involved in, you know, breaking entries, gets busted for drugs and also sexual assault. But he joins this biker gang in 1987. sexual assault. But he joins this biker gang in 1987. And then in the early 90s, as he rises to power, what we see in Canada, across Canada, and especially in Quebec, is this explosion of cocaine.

It used to be drugs smuggled into Montreal came in small amounts, cleverly concealed. But in the 1980s, they're being discovered in bulk quantities. Last month, the MUC police force reported Montreal's drug trade amounts to about a billion dollars annually. Cocaine is a huge product and the police are not prepared because they're swallowing the same myth as we all did about the bikers. And Maurice Boucher is able to rise to power at a key moment and what turns out to be a very violent moment in Quebec. Tonight, the war on Canadian soil. Could happen anytime, anywhere, to anybody. Bikers and bombs.

Right, because, I mean, you know, by the 90s, as we mentioned in the intro, the Hells Angels in Quebec were in the throes of this vicious war. So why? What kicked this war off? Well, as we mentioned, in most places across Canada, the Hells Angels were able to squash the competition. They were so powerful, it usually meant by mergers. Like rival gangs would just say, OK, we'll join you. It happened in Alberta. It happened in Ontario.

Briefly in Ontario, they had to kill a handful of rival members from a gang called the Bandidos. But in Quebec, there was a rival group called the Rock Machine, which would not give in. For years, the Hells Angels and their rival, the Rock Machine, have waged war to control the drug trade in Montreal. More than 60 people have been killed, including an 11-year-old boy. Look, these guys are about money, right? Right. Cocaine is a multi-billion dollar profit. And just like, you know, McDonald's doesn't want Wendy's creeping into their territory. And I use those names consciously because the Hells Angels is literally an international trademark, you know, company consciously because the Hells Angels is literally an international trademark company. So the Hells Angels didn't take kindly to competition. The rock machine would not back down.

And so Mambuche rises to the top as the leader of what was called the Nomad Chapter, a powerful chapter that could go anywhere they want. And he launches this war against his rivals. And it leads in the streets of Montreal to something like 160 bodies, many of them fellow criminals. You know, we're talking about bombs. 90 kilos of dynamite found by police in a stolen van last Friday night. Police say the bomb was powerful enough to level homes. One-fifth as powerful as the bomb that exploded at the World Trade Center in New York City in 1993.

Explosions. Police were picking up the pieces today after 10 sticks of dynamite turned a suburban bar into a suburban bloodbath. Outright murders. This afternoon, a man walked into this motorcycle shop in the city's east end, pulled out two revolvers and opened fire. He killed one man and injured another. But some people in this cocaine war are also innocent bystanders. The most famous, of course,

being that story we heard at the top, little 11-year-old Danny Dateshay. You know, I met his mother. I mean, can you imagine you losing your 11-year-old just because the bikers didn't care about collateral damage and blew up this Jeep? So that began to change the public attitude. But still, for the longest time, Maurice Mambouchet, you know, like Al Capone, was untouchable. I mean, I got to say, it is so wild to me that there were just like bombs going off, you know, kind of with some frequency in Montreal at the time. No, and I think, you know, the importance of the Mambouchet story is it shows us, look, organized crime is very powerful. There have been biker killings across the country. Quebec was a little more extreme,

but I think it showed us the true face of what these guys were like. You know, Bouché had this, you know, not the sharpest tool in the tool shed, but he had this charisma that was able to attract his followers. His nickname Mom kind of comes from the fact that he would take care of his own. And he struck a handsome pose. There's a famous picture of him smiling with showing the V fingers for victory. And he had this amazing public persona at the time. Even as this biker war was going on. He was on the front pages of the tabloids. Pop singers would sing at Hells Angels weddings.

So he, you know, I think very much like Chicago in the 30s, you had this notorious gangster. Everybody knew he was a gangster. Everybody knew he was a killer. And yet there was a bit of this hero worship going on, which is classic for the Hells Angels. It happens in California and across the country. Mount Boucher, though, really personified it. So you mentioned this lavish Hells Angels wedding

where this pop singer was performing at, who I believe was this Quebec diva, Jeannette Renaud. And I read this wild story about this because Boucher apparently invited this crime tabloid, LO Police, to come photograph the wedding. And Jeannette Renaud, this singer, faced this huge backlash for associating with these guys, you know, for being photographed with Boucher. And the Globe reported at the time that Boucher ends up coming to her defense by going back to this tablet and saying, you know, if you think it's such a big deal that Jeannette Renaud took a photo with us, look, it's not. Like, here's proof it's nothing special.

And he gives them a photo of himself with a former Quebec premier, Robert Bourassa, which sounds to me like he obviously had a bit of an ego, right? Like he wanted to kind of prove like, yeah, look, everyone wants to get their photo taken with us. Well, you know, Mambouché, I think like many crime kingpins, believes to accept his own myth, right? kingpins believes to accept his own myth, right? He's sitting atop this crime empire, which is bringing in millions in cocaine. He and his fellow bikers are largely able to escape from justice because the police at the time in Quebec and across Canada just aren't ready to deal with the Hells Angels. That'll change in a few years. But at the moment, Mambushay is sitting there, seemingly untouchable, a star in the media.

And that's also the irony about the Hells Angels. The mafia is under the radar, right? They don't walk around with a tattoo on their forehead saying, well, I'm in the radar, right? They don't walk around with a tattoo on their forehead saying, well, I'm in the mafia, right? We know alleged godfathers and a handful of names, but they're discreet. It can be just as violent. But the Hells Angels, they openly announced their membership. They wear jackets that say, I'm a member of the Hells Angels with the name of their chapter, their club. They have addresses, right? You can't find the mafia in the telephone book, right? The address, right? So it's a very, you know,

lifting the finger, a kind of F you to the authorities saying, we're brash, we're outlaws, and you can't touch us. And Mom Boucher reveled, right, in that notoriety. And it took a long time for the public and the police to realize what they were up against. This bloody biker war has become a constant source of frustration for police, and this latest incident is a perfect example why. Investigators think they know who did it, how they did it, and why they did it. But despite this, they admit there was very little they could do to prevent it.

Do we have a sense of, you know, at the height of his powers, how much money Mambuche was pulling in? Yes, yes, millions um millions there's a the police once they started in investigating the hell's angels seriously and sent in undercover agents and snitches and i've seen the videos there are undercover videos of of people walking in with hockey backs stashed with cocaine money into this apartment in the north end of Montreal. And then you see, it's remarkable, you see this counting machine, right, going, you know, counting all the money as it's being sorted. And then the police found a spreadsheet. I mean, that's, you know, these guys, this is business, right? They found a spreadsheet with everybody's

names and how much money they were making. Mambouché was making millions and millions, as were many of the other top members and other people associated with the Hells Angels. That's why the battle was so bloody, because in the end, this was a corporate structure. It was international organized crime. Mambouché would sit down at the table with mafia leaders in Montreal to set the price of cocaine in the streets of Montreal. So it was extremely powerful. But in the end, much like Al Capone, it was his ego and his violence that would bring him down. Yeah. So let's talk about what brought him down. So, and, you know, how he ended up behind bars.

I mean, how does kind of the end of his reign begin? Well, several things happen. He's this, you know, notorious star of the crime tabloids. There was a huge gang war going on, 160 bodies, many innocents. People get killed. The death of 11-year-old Danny Derrochet enrages the public. The government should do something, says this woman. Just look how scared we are.

People here worry the bikers' turf war is escalating and will end up hurting another innocent bystander. The police now, for the first time in Quebec set up a special biker squad. Last year the Quebec government set up an elite squad to stop gang violence. The Wolverines include officers from the Montreal and Quebec city police forces and also from the RCMP. And that will be copied across the country which was a good thing. The police in Alberta, in Ontario, in BC begin to set up special biker squads because they need the expertise to take down these people. Then Mambuche makes a fateful mistake.

He's so convinced of his power and so furious at the state going after him that he basically moves into terrorism. Montreal turned into a killing zone today. Gunmen ambushed two jail guards on their way to pick up prisoners. The driver of this bus never stood a chance. Pierre Rondeau was on his way to pick up prisoners when he stopped at a level crossing. Two men jumped out of a van and fired point blank, hitting him four times. Rondeau died two hours later.

This is the second provincial prison guard in Montreal to be murdered in the past 10 weeks. Diane Levine was ambushed in broad daylight as she drove home from her shift. He orders the killing of two prison guards randomly, not because they did anything to him. He says, I don't care who they are. Find two prison guards and kill them.

This is a terror attack. And the police now step up their efforts and using snitches, including the henchman who was involved in the killing, and using those undercover snitches that we talked about with this video of the money and the cocaine bags, they're able to take down Mambuche.ambouchet is put on trial, escapes the first time, is acquitted. In the beginning, the case against him looked strong. A star witness, Stéphane Gagné, confessed to killing one of the guards. He testified Boucher masterminded the murders. But in court, Gagné was also forced to admit that in addition to murder, he regularly

lies and double-crosses people. Judge Jean-Guy Boisla revised the jury. You must be wary of this kind of witness. He told jurors, if you don't believe Gagné, you must acquit Boucher. And that's exactly what they did. But because of a determined prosecutor, they appeal and he gets sentenced to life in prison behind bars. But mom being mom behind bars is not going to stop him. Great. And I mean, to go back just just for a moment.

My understanding is when when he was initially acquitted of these murders, like he kind of showed it off. Right. Like he seemed like it seems like he thought he was pretty untouchable. It seems like he thought he was pretty untouchable. Absolutely. There's a famous scene where he's acquitted. In the minds of most people, this guy is guilty, bursts out like a hero of the doors of the courtroom. All hugs and kisses. Not exactly the image most people have of the Hells Angel.

But then the friends and colleagues of Maurice Boucher have reason to celebrate. Boucher faced a possible life sentence. Today he walked out of court a free man. And then he goes to a huge boxing match at what was then the forum, the Montreal Forum, and the crowd cheers for him. And I remember the police talking to the police who had spent years investigating this guy and trying to nail him for drugs and murders, you know, almost weeping, right? Here they were trying to take down Quebec's Al Capone, and the crowds were cheering him at a boxing match. But in the end, mom's ego did him in. There was a second trial, a better prepared trial,

and Mom Boucher gets nailed, goes to prison for life, but he'll try to continue his work even behind bars. And I mean, at that second trial, like I can only imagine how intense it would be for the jurors, you know, knowing that that like these gangs would probably send some of their members to watch. Like, it would not be an easy place to be a juror. It wasn't. And historically, especially in the 90s, the the prosecutors were outgunned, but also the Hells Angels would show up en masse in their outfits, right, to intimidate witnesses and jurors.

What they eventually did for the big biker trials is they literally built a separate courthouse, a brand new courthouse and part of the prison. And they kept the jurors behind a glass partition, but also set back. So the witnesses and the lawyers, but all the spectators could not see the jurors and the jurors couldn't see them either. Right. So unlike the trials you're used to seeing on TV, imagine where the jurors could see the judge and the witnesses and the lawyers, but they couldn't see the audience. So that helped eliminate the intimidation. Wow. OK, so so after he's eventually then convicted of these two murders and sent to prison,

it's not like he settles down to, you know, a quiet life behind bars, right? No, no, no. He's you know, violence follows him. There are attempted assassinations, probably by rival gangs on him. And then think about it, you're in jail serving life for murder. And he gets another 10 years sentence slapped on him for trying to orchestrate the murder of another rival mobster outside of prison. Boucher pleaded guilty to plotting to kill a former ally, Reynald Desjardins, also a crime boss. Both these men were part of the complicated power dynamic that exists in Montreal between the Hells Angels, the mafia, and street gangs. And there are other

killing attempts in prison as well. But eventually, he has his power eclipses, the Hell's Angels move on without him, and he will die pretty much unloved and unsung and unmissed this past Sunday of cancer. But it's interesting, I think, because in many ways, I think, while he represented one of the darkest chapters in organized crime history in Quebec, he left a very deep legacy across Canada, both for the Hells Angels and for organized crime in general. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs

through angel investment and industry connections. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. You may have seen my money show on Netflix. I've been talking about money for 20 years. I've talked to millions of people and I have some startling numbers to share with you. Did you know that of the people I speak to, 50% of them do not know their own

household income? That's not a typo, 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Cups. How did this, you know, bloody biker war that he was part of finally come to an end? Well, what happens in Quebec is what happens across the country. The Hells Angels are able to completely crush their opponents. In most places, it worked by some violence and a lot of just absorption. In Quebec, the Hells Angels won the biker war. They completely crushed the rock machine.

And what happens is several members of the rival rock machine land up joining the enemy. They join the Hells Angels and become prominent leaders. The current leader of the Hells Angels in Quebec was a former rock machine member. So in that sense, Montboucher wins. The biker war wins. There is no more outright violence. So the violence you're now seeing across the country, there are regular murders in Ontario, Alberta, BC, and Quebec among the bikers, regular violence, but it's much quieter because that's one of the lessons that the bikers learned. You know, in an odd way, one of Mambuche's biggest legacy was the anti-gang laws we now have in Canada. You know, it was always illegal in Canada to

rob a bank or commit murder. But we now have anti-gang laws that impose harsher penalties and allow the police to do different kinds of investigations if you do a crime like murder or drug trafficking in the name of a gang. And that law came about in no small part because of the terror that Mambouché unleashed, including the attempted assassination of a famous journalist in Quebec, Michel Auger. So we were marching in the streets as journalists at the time. We were outraged. The public was outraged at what Monbuchet had unleashed in terms of terror in the streets and young boys being killed. And so Canada eventually passes the anti-gang laws. And so that, ironically, is one of mom's legacies. And the rest

of the organized crime community, the mafia, but even other Hells Angels said, hey, Mom Boucher was very flashy, gave us a lot of publicity, a lot of power. We don't need that heat. You know, you have to understand Hells Angels, you know, organized crime, you don't want heat, you don't want police attention. So what's going on now in the streets of Vancouver and Edmonton and Toronto is the Hells Angels are still out there. Roughly the same numbers. I was talking to police recently. Still have the same, you know, several hundred members and, you know, quite a few chapters across the country. They're still out there, still doing the drugs, still doing the extortion, but much more subtly, not as in your face as Maurice Mambuche was.

Julian, are there any other parts of his legacy that I think we have to, you know, spend that time talking about him, but only to remember his victims, you know, to think about that 11 year old boy who's never going to see it, a 12th birthday, the children of those two prison guards who were killed, not to mention, you know, the Canadians across the country, who, you know, the Canadians across the country who, you know, are victims of the cocaine traffic. And it goes back to where we started. You know, are we going to glorify Hells Angels because they somehow seem sexy and powerful on their on their Harleys? Or are we going to see them as the mafia on motorcycles that they are? Right. Look, these guys are proud to call themselves outlaws. that they are, right?

Look, these guys are proud to call themselves outlaws. Let's treat them as the outlaws that they are. And let's not have any myths about people like Maurice Mamboucher or the Hells Angels. Wow. What a story, Julian. Thank you. Thank you so much for speaking to us. This is fascinating. Thank you.

Stay safe. Thank you. You too. That's all for today. Front Burner was produced this week by Imogen Burchard, Derek Vanderwyk, Simi Bassey, Ashley Fraser, Lauren Donnelly, and me. Our sound design was by Matt Cameron and Sam McNulty. Our music is by Joseph Chappison. Our executive producer is Nick McCabe-Locos, and I'm Allie Janes. And for Jamie Poisson, who will be back next week. Thanks for listening to FrontBurner. For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.