The West End Gang is one of Canada's most influential criminal groups. Active since the early 1900s, their rise to notoriety began in the 1960s, when they were known simply as the "Irish gang" and their criminal activites were focused in the west side of Montreal. Most of the gang's earnings derived from truck hijacking, homeinvasions, kidnapping, and armed robbery.
The Irish-dominated mob expanded its rackets in the 70s to include drugs. They began to import large quantities of hashish and cocaine and developed important contacts in the United States, South America, and Europe. Members also operated in Florida.
The gang, along with the Montreal Mafia and Hells Angels, make up the "Consortium"(similar to New York City's "Commission"). Together, the organization's three leaders fix the prices of drugs for both the wholesale and retail market. Most of the drugs are smuggled into the United States, the world's largest drug market, and the rest is sold through the province.
Police have estimated that between 1976 and 1991 the West End Gang had trafficked more than 10 000 kilograms of cocaine and more than 300 tons of hashish, with an estimated value of $80 billion on the black market!
Montreal police estimate that the West End Gang currently consists of approximately 125 to 150 individuals. The group does not have a Mafia-like hierarchy. It is loosely-connected, with captains heading different factions. The group often collaborates with the Montreal Mafia and the Hells Angels in enormous drug shipments and remains one of the most powerful and profitable criminal organizations in the country.
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Gerald "Gerry" Matticks was born in on July 4, 1940, in an eight-room apartment in Goose Village, near Griffin-town, in Montreal. His father worked a stagecoach for the city while his mother had her hands full taking care of their 14 children.
As a young boy, Matticks would not conform to authority. He dropped out of school at age 12, after slapping a teacher. He began to work in construction and a pulp and paper factory. He married at the age of 17 and was the father of four children by the age of 21.
Matticks, along with several of his brothers, hooked up with the West End Gang in the late 1950s or early 60s. The brothers became expert hijackers, specializing in loads of television sets, meat, booze, and cigarettes, sitting at the top of a successful ring of theives and armed robbers.
Over the years, the Port of Montreal would become their personal playground. Matticks got a cut of all illegal activities at the port and he, along with several other family members, belonged to the checker's union, responsible for sending containers to the right places.
On June 19, 1972, Matticks and his brother John were acquitted of attempted murder. The two allegedly tried to kill a smoked-meat salesman who they believed was informing police on their activities. Three witnesses testified on the stand that Matticks was in a bar at the time of the incident. He was acquitted.
Matticks, who once boasted to a report that he was able to drink 40 ounces of gin in one sitting, was next arrested on November 12, 1979. He and two of his brothers were charged with conspiracy to commit theft, possession of stolen goods, and perjury. Matticks beat the case once more.
Over the years, Matticks did very well financially. He opened up several businesses, including a country bar called Mickey's, a Point-Saint-Charles trucking company, and a whole-sale meat business, and bought a large ranch in La Prairie, on the South Shore of Montreal. The property holds nine buildings and is surrounded with security cameras.
Matticks also earned a reputation as being very generous. He regularly donated money and food to the poor. During the 1998 ice storm alone, he donated enough food for 2,000 meals. At Christmas, Matticks drove a truck with a Santa and give presents to poor families.
Matticks and brother Richard were arrested for hijacking a truck full of suitcases in 1989. The two pleaded guilty on June 8, 1992, and were sentenced to 90 days in prison, to be served on weekends, and fined $10,000.
Gerald Matticks and his brother Richard, along with underlings Steve Brown, Felice Italiano, Roger Goulet, William Hodges, and Don Driver, were charged with importing narcotics on May 26, 1994. The arrests came after police seized 26.5 tons of hashish at the Montreal Port on May 4 and evidence that the group had successfully imported a shipment of 10 tons in March. The drugs were distributed on the streets of Montreal. The 26.5 tons seized by police had an estimated street value of over $360 million.
During the raids, police seized $800,000 in cash, two one-kilogram gold bars, electronic surveillance equipment, including infra-red night-vision goggles, a .38 calibre firearm, a machine to count money, and a small quantity of counterfeit $2 bills.
The charges against the seven the men were dropped on June 15, 1995, when Quebec Court Judge Micheline Corbeil-Laramee ruled that Surete du Quebec officers had planted evidence. Copies of four incriminating maritime lading documents were falsely identified as part of the goods seized from Werner Philips International, a maritime salvaging company raided during the bust. Four officers were later charged with fabricating evidence but were later acquitted.
Matticks and his crew regularly did business with both the Hells Angels and the Rock Machine and in 2000, as the biker gangs waged a war that had taken more than 150 lives since 1994, Matticks was approached by members of the Rock Machine that wanted peace. He helped leaders of the gangs negotiate an uneasy truce. The truce was later broken and the killings continued.
Matticks and underling Elias Luis Lekkas were arrested on March 28, 2001 when police launched Opération: Printemps 2001 and arrested over one hundred Hells Angels and associates. Matticks was accused of being the biker club's main hashish supplier and was charged with drug trafficking and gangsterism.
Shortly after being arrested, Lekkas contacted investifators and spilled the beans. He told police everything he knew about the Matticks gang, including their method for smuggling drugs at the port. When word of his defection hit the streets, photographs of Lekkas were put up in numerous bars with words like "rat" or "stool" scribbled on them.
For a 25% cut, either in drugs or in money, Matticks would safely smuggle drugs through the Montreal Port for traffickers, Lekkas explained. When he was paid in merchandise, Matticks sold the drugs to the Hells Angels. On several occassions, the biker club owed him as much as $7 million.
Matticks pleaded guilty on August 6, 2002 and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Evidence showed that in about one year, Matticks and his gang had smuggled 33,363 kilograms of hashish and 260 kilograms of cocaine through the port.
He pleaded guilty after a guarantee from authorities that he would not be extradited to the Unites States, where he would face stiffer sentences.
This message has been edited by IrishHood on Nov 29, 2006 12:15 PM
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Richard Matticks was born on April 7, 1936 and reportedly lived with his parents and thirteen brothers and sisters in an eight-room apartment in Goose Village, near the Griffintown neighbourhood of Montreal. The Matticks brothers would often make newspaper headlines over the next decades.
Matticks accumulated a lengthy criminal record through out the 1960s. In 1960, he was found guilty of theft and received two years in prison. In 1966, he received one day in jail and a $500 fine for uttering a threat. Three years later, he go three months in prison for assault on a police officer. That same year, he received one day in jail and a $500 fine for breaking-and-entering.
In the 1970s, Maurice Villeneuve, who said he was a member of the West End Gang, became a government witness after he was convicted of kidnapping and extortion, and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Maurice Villeneuve testified before the Quebec Police Commission’s inquiry into organized crime. He identified about 30 people as members of the West End Gang and implicated them in a variety of crimes. As a result of information given by Villeneuve, Richard Matticks and brothers Gerald, Robert, and Frederick were summoned to appear before the Quebec Police Commission.
During his appearance before the commission, Richard Matticks listed his occupation as doorman at the St. Hubert Bar Salon, where brother Gerald was manager. Before his job as a doorman, Matticks said he had worked as a "cooper" - a repairman - on the Montreal waterfront.
Matticks acknowledged knowing numerous people who were reputedly linked to the West End Gang, including Peter "Dunie" Ryan, André "Sappy" Martin, and Fred Griffith. He also admitted to knowing Maurice Villeneuve, but described him as "a little bit of a nut." Asked to explain, Matticks responded that "any guy that starts to butt out cigarettes on a girl’s chest is nuts."
The commission questioned Matticks about a series hijackings and robberies that Villeneuve claimed he carried out with the Matticks brothers and others. Matticks meticulously denied participating in any of the crimes.
After the Quebec Police Commission’s inquiry, criminal charges were laid against Richard Matticks, brothers Gerald and Frederick, and three others. They were acquitted in 1981, just a few days before Christmas. However, one of the accused, Frederick Matticks, Richard’s older brother, died of natural causes during the trial.
In June 1992, Richard and his brother Gerald pleaded guilty to stealing a tractor-trailer loaded with suitcases in 1988. The truck and its merchandise was worth approximately $150,000. The brothers were sentenced to serve 90 days in prison on weekends and fined $10,000 each.
Two years later, in May 1994, Richard and Gerald Matticks, along with five others, were again arrested, this time after police seized over 26 tonnes of hashish, worth an estimated $360 million on the streets, at the Port of Montreal. The seven men were accused of conspiring to import 40 tonnes of hash through the port from Mozambique and Uganda. Police described the bust as a "major blow to the West End Gang."
All charges against the accused were stayed the following year, when Quebec Court Justice Micheline Corbeil-Laramée ruled that evidence had been deliberately planted. Four bills of lading that Surete du Quebec investigators claimed they seized at the maritime company of accused William Hodges had actually been faxed to the police from Customs Canada.
The whole ordeal, known in the media as the "Matticks Affair," led to four police officers being charged with fabricating evidence and obstructing justice. They were later acquitted. A public inquiry into the Surete du Quebec was also carried out.
In May 1997, police swooped down and arrested Richard Matticks, reputed associates Frank Bonneville and Donald Waite, as well as Rock Machine biker gang chieftain Giovanni Cazzetta, on charges of drug trafficking and conspiracy to traffic in drugs.
A month after the bust, Matticks, Bonneville, and Waite each pleaded guilty to one charge of drug trafficking. Matticks was sentenced to three years in prison and fined $50,000. Bonneville and Waite received four and two year prison terms, respectively.
Gerald Matticks, Richard’s younger brother, was present at the hearing and very upset with the sentencing. "The only coke my brother touches is Diet Coke," the Montreal Gazette quoted him as saying. "He shouldn’t have gotten nothing, no time in prison."
The guilty pleas followed a successful infiltration operation conducted by an undercover agent. The agent, posing as a Calgary businessman, allegedly approached Cazzetta about acquiring 15 kilograms of cocaine. Cazzetta supposedly did not have the quantity needed, so he set up a meeting with Richard Matticks. The three men met at a restaurant, where Matticks allegedly agreed to sell the undercover agent 12 kilograms of cocaine at $39,000 a kilo.
A few days later, Bonneville and Waite reportedly delivered the drugs to a Saint-Urbain apartment, where police had hidden a cameras and microphones to record the deal. They were arrested on the spot. Richard Matticks and Giovanni Cazzetta were picked up a short time later.
Matticks went up for parole in August 1998, but objected the presence of La Presse journalist André Cédilot at the hearing. When the National Parole Board refused to expulse Cédilot, Matticks decided he did not want to proceed in the journalist’s presence. The Board decided to examine the case anyways and arrived at the conclusion to deny Matticks both day parole and full parole. The Board described Matticks as a "dominant figure in organized crime in Montreal (the Matticks Clan) over a period of many years" and ruled that there was no credible information that Matticks had "severed [his] ties with organized crime."
Matticks has since finished serving his sentence and been released from prison.
This message has been edited by IrishHood on Nov 29, 2006 12:18 PM
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John McLean was born on February 4, 1950 and has often been linked to the notorious West End Gang, a predominantly Irish group that dominates rackets in sections of southwest Montreal, including Point St. Charles.
McLean, who has a criminal record that dates back to 1967, was said to be a close confidant of kingpin Gerald Matticks. McLean is said to sport a unique Irish claddagh ring, allegedly given by leaders to top ranking members of the group.
McLean was among 14 people arrested during a crackdown on the West End Gang’s activities at the Port of Montreal. The group was accused of importing $2.1 billion worth of hashish and cocaine through the port between 1999 and 2001. Among those arrested was Gerald Matticks' son Donald, who worked at the port as a checker, verifying containers that arrived at the docks.
Former West End Gang member Luis Elias Lekkas, who turned informant after his arrest in 2001, claimed in court documents that McLean was responsible for delivering hundreds of thousands of dollars in illicit payments to Gerald Matticks and finding workers to unload drug shipments that arrived at the port.
After a shipment of 2,363 kilograms of hashish, Lekkas said that McLean was ordered to deliver 600 kilos of the drug to Hells Angels Normand Robitaille of the feared Nomads Chapter. McLean was allegedly paid $5,000 for the task.
Lekkas also claimed in the court papers that he and McLean travelled to Colombia in 1999 to meet with members of the Cali drug cartel. Lekkas said Gerald Matticks paid for the trip by handing them $8,000 in cash.
McLean pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import drugs in August 2003 and was sentenced to eight years in prison. Rumours quickly spread on the street claiming that McLean decided to cooperate with authorities and testify against his former associates.
He didn’t have to take the stand however as Donald Matticks and two others pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import large quantities of cocaine and hashish through the Port of Montreal.
According to a January 2005 news report, McLean was denied parole by the National Parole Board. Their decision was partially based on their belief that McLean’s life was in danger after he supposedly cooperated with authorities. It was determined that McLean’s presence at a halfway house would endanger the lives of both the staff and residents.
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Frank Peter Ryan is one of the most well known and colourful underworld figures in Montreal’s history. Dubbed “Dunie” by his friends, Ryan was born in Montreal on June 10, 1942.
When Ryan was three years old, his father abandoned his family. Ryan’s mother was left to raise Dunie all by herself. By the time Ryan turned 18, he had dropped out of school and reportedly stealing merchandise from trucks and committing smash-and-grabs.
Throughout the first half of the 60s, Ryan compiled a lengthy rap sheet, including convictions for robbery, theft, breaking and entering, possession of stolen goods, and possession of revenue papers. His longest sentence was two years in prison.
In 1966, when he was only 24, Ryan, along with four other Montrealers and a Boston gangster, were convicted of a Massachusetts bank robbery. Ryan was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
He was paroled in the early 70s and returned to Canada with about $100,000 in cash. The money, Ryan later admitted, came from a string of robberies. He invested the money into shylocking, loaning out the dough on the “six for five” principal, but claimed he lost every cent.
Whatever the case, Ryan was reportedly dabbling in shylocking, stick ups, and fencing stolen goods. He then moved into the racket that would make him a multi-millionaire: the drug trade.
He started importing large quantities of hashish and later expanded into cocaine. He soon sat a top a drug network that extended around Quebec, into northern Ontario, and the Maritimes.
Ryan emerged with a near monopoly of incoming shipments of hashish, according to police. He supposedly often carried up to $500,000 with him in a briefcase, money he would then invest in various schemes.
Allan “The Weasel” Ross was seen as Ryan’s right-hand man and would later go on to make headlines of his own. Peter White, Ryan’s cousin, allegedly also played a role, according to several news articles. He would be sentenced to over twenty years in prison in the U.S. for importing tons of marijuana.
Other criminal groups in Montreal would eventually become angry with Ryan’s unwillingness to share control of the drug trade. Both the Montreal Mafia and the Hells Angels reportedly wanted to make partnerships with the West End Gang chieftain, but were told to take a hike.
Ryan supposedly spoke of connections to the Irish Republican Army. “Mafia, pafia,” he was quoted as saying, “if there’s a war, we’ve got the IRA.” Ryan regularly contributed money to the IRA’s movement through the latter’s Boston branch, according to one news article.
Ryan was also allegedly involved in laundering large amounts of cash for his criminal colleagues. When West End Gang member Maurice Villeneuve turned informant, he claimed Ryan had agreed to launder for him $180,000 in illicit profits for a ten per cent commission.
Based on Villeneuve’s claims, Ryan and numerous others reputed to be part of the West End Gang, including the Matticks brothers, were called to testify before the Quebec Police Commission’s inquiry into organized crime (CECO).
On the stand, Ryan denied having his laundered any money for Villeneuve. However, Ryan did admit to knowing or having known several people who police claim are members of the West End Gang, including Richard Matticks, Danny “One-a-Day” Pelansky, Mickey Johnston, and Charles Dillon.
Asked where he kept his money, Ryan said he buried it in the ground. “I go and dig a hole and bury it,” he explained.
You’re playing jokes, retorted the crime commission’s lawyer.
“Not jokes. It is true,” Ryan explained. “I don’t believe in the banks. I know that the police can go to banks and see the safety deposit boxes and check them.”
In October 1981, alleged West End Gang member Patrick Hugh McGurnaghan was killed when a bomb planted under his Mercedes-Benz exploded in Montreal’s wealthy Westmount sector. Hells Angels hitman Yves “Apache” Trudeau, responsible for over 40 slayings, later admitted to carrying out the murder. Trudeau claimed it was Ryan who hired him to kill McGurnaghan, who supposedly owed the West End Gang chief a lot of money and drugs.
On November 13, 1984, Ryan was at Nittolo’s Garden Motel – his base of operations – when Paul April, another reputed West End Gang member, approached him. April wanted to discuss business, so the two walked off to one of the motel’s rooms.
Inside the room, April, Robert Lelievre and perhaps others produced guns and attempted to tie Ryan up. They likely planned to find out where he kept his millions and then murder him.
But the gangland kingpin, who was wearing a brown leather coat and brown driving gloves that night, fought back and was blasted in the chest by a shotgun-wielding goon. Ryan sunk to the floor and someone with a .45 calibre firearm shot him through his right cheek.
Police arrived at the scene shortly thereafter and discovered Ryan’s body. Tape was found wrapped tightly around his right forearm and glove. A large sum of cash was also found in the room, leading police to believe that robbery wasn’t the motive.
Ryan, who was 42 years old when he was gunned down, was estimated by police to be worth between $50-100 million.
The West End Gang soon learned who was responsible for Ryan’s death and planned their revenge. Allan “The Weasel” Ross, who inherited all of Ryan’s business, allegedly hired Hells Angels hitmen Yves “Apache” Trudeau and Michel Blass to take care of business. He promised to pay them $200,000.
On November 25, only 12 days after Dunie Ryan was killed, the two biker assassins delivered a television and VCR to the apartment where April and Lelievre were holed up with two of their associates.
Minutes later, a thundering explosion ripped through the building. April and his three henchmen were torn to pieces, while eight others were injured, including a young woman who lost an eye.
During a 2003 interview with Kristian Gravenor of the Montreal Mirror, Peter McAllister, the author of Dexter and brother of reputed West End Gang member William “Billy” McAllister, had nothing but kind words to say about Ryan:
“Mother [Ryan] was a criminal genius and a nice person. He wasn’t ruthless, but you couldn’t put your hand in his pocket to steal from him. But that’s the law on the street. He was very kind-hearted and generous. He was a honourable man.”
“Mother,” it apparently, was a term compassionately used by friends to describe Dunie, who supposedly looked after and cared for members of his crew. Twenty years after his murder, Ryan was still being remembered fondly.
This message has been edited by IrishHood on Nov 29, 2006 12:22 PM
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John McLaughlin, known as "Jackie" and "Jake the Snake," was born around 1938 and grew up in Verdun, a southwest neighbourhood of Montreal.
A reputed tough and feared gangster, McLaughlin worked primarily as an enforcer, collecting debts for the West End Gang and possibly other groups. His rap sheet dated back to 1955 and included convictions for theft, firearm possession, and extortion.
McLaughlin also allegedly worked as a hitman, and was suspected in over a dozen underworld murders, including the death of Michael "Crazy Mike" French. French, a member of the Outlaws biker gang, was shot in the head in a Kanawake cemetery on November 12, 1982.
In January 1981, after a five year prison stint, McLaughlin returned to Montreal's west end, where he reportedly found a job with an old buddy of his, Peter "Dunie" Ryan.
Ryan had become a major player since McLaughlin been jailed. He was now said to be worth tens of millions of dollars and sitting on top of a very lucrative drug network. McLaughlin became the kingpin's bodyguard and began hanging around the Cavalier Motel, Ryan's base of operations at the time.
McLaughlin was also associated with the feared Hells Angels North Chapter, based in Laval, and brought the rowdy bikers around the Cavalier bar. While Ryan and the other west end gangsters didn't seem to think to care for the of the wild bikers, the gang would hire Yves "Apache" Trudeau, a Hells Angel with 43 murders to his credit, to kill several people over the next few years.
McLaughlin was reportedly among the 2000 people who gathered in Sorel to watch the funeral of Hells Angel Yves "Le Boss" Buteau, president of the club's Montreal Chapter, held on September 12, 1983. McLaughlin supposedly boasted that he watched the funeral from a gang member's van, hidden from the police photographers who lurked nearby, according to a Montreal Gazette article.
In early November, 1983, McLaughlin, wanted by police for possession of a concealed weapon, a parole violation that would likely land him back behind bars, went on the lam, leaving Montreal. His girlfriend, Maria Kraus-Hillebrand, 20 years his junior and a bartender at the Cavalier, was also being sought by police, on a cocaine possession charge, accompanied him.
The couple travelled to Saint John, New Brunswick, where they stayed at a cabin owned by Noel Winters, a local underworld figure.
On April 24, 1984, authorities announced that they had discovered the bodies of McLaughlin, Hillebrand, and their pet bull terrier dog near Winter's summer home. Investigators believed that they had been murdered shortly after their arrival in New Brunswick.
Police consiered Noel Winters the primary suspect in the murders. They theorized that Winters may have killed McLaughlin because he feared the west end hitman had come to kill him for not paying a drug shipment from Montreal. Hillebrand was most likely just at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Noel Winters was already in prison at the time of the discovery, serving two life sentences for the murder of a 64 year old man and his 32 year old son. The two men were killed, cut into pieces, and stuffed into plastic bags in February 1984. On the same day that authorities announced the unearthing of McLaughlin and Hillebrand's bodies, Winters hanged himself in his cell. According to one theory, Winters may have feared reprisals from some of McLaughlin's associates.
After the murders, Hillebrand's mother spoke with the Montreal Gazette. "[McLaughlin] was very nice to Maria and me," she said. "We went out to eat in expensive restaurants...He always had lots of money and this worried me, but he was nice."
This message has been edited by IrishHood on Nov 29, 2006 12:24 PM
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Hugh Patrick McGurnaghan, known as "Hughie" on Montreal's west end streets, was born in the 1930s. The McGurnaghan brothers built a solid reputation in the underworld and were rumoured to be involved with the West End Gang.
McGurnaghan, whose criminal record dates back to 1956, was well known to police. He was reputedly associated with West End Gang kingpin Peter "Dunie" Ryan and, according to a newspaper article, was allegedly involved in drug trafficking.
On October 27, 1981, McGurnaghan and Joseph Frankel, a one-time bookie with reputed links to the West End Gang and William Obront, were driving along Melville Avenue in Westmount when the 1977 yellow Mercedes Benz they were in blew up.
The explosion shattered the windows of a nearby apartment building and the vehicle continued to roll for about 200 feet before coming to a stop in Westmount Park.
McGurnaghan's left leg was blown off and he had a severe wound on one of his arms. He died in a police ambulance on the way to the hospital, bleeding to death because the ambulance apparently did not have the necessary equipment for the doctor to stop the bleeding.
Frankel was rushed to hospital and treated for several cuts and perforated eardrums. He was released the next day, after a night under police protection.
"Things could really pop," a Montreal detective reportedly told the Gazette about McGurnaghan's death. "It all depends on who's behind the bombing. If his own people gave the order than that will be that."
On March 18, 1991, Richard McGurnaghan, Hughie's brother, was shot in the head in his Point St. Charles tavern.
Almost five years after Hughie McGurnaghan's death, Yves "Apache" Trudeau, a member of the feared Hells Angels North Chapter based in Laval, was marked for the death by his associates and cooperated with police. Trudeau, a hitman with 43 hits under his belt, claimed to have been behind McGurnaghan's murder. The former Hells Angel said that he had been hired by Peter "Dunie" Ryan, to whom McGurnaghan allegedly owed a lot of money and drugs.
This message has been edited by IrishHood on Nov 29, 2006 12:26 PM
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James McDonald, born in the early to mid 1940s, reportedly stood over six-feet tall and weighed over 220lbs, and was described as a “specialist in armed robberies” by the Allo Police crime tabloid. He was close to several West End Gang figures, including Eric McNally.
McDonald, who was described as an enforcer, was questioned by police in several underworld “settling of accounts” in the late 1960s. Among them, according to news reports, were the deaths of James Alexander Fryer and Russell Howie, as well as the two attempted murders of Charles Gallinger. All three men reportedly had linked to the West End Gang.
On April, 1968, McDonald was arrested for aggravated robbery. He was also suspected in a truck hijacking of $135,000 worth of cigarettes, according to a La Presse article.
McDonald, who lived in Verdun, was arrested after a fight in the Copacabana club on St-Catherine Street late March 15, 1969. He was kept in jail overnight and released the next morning.
That night, he went into the Cat’s Den Lounge on Guy Street. Around 11:45 p.m., two hoods entered brandishing a machine gun and revolver. They walked over to McDonald’s table and opened fire. A total of 17 bullets were discharged, at least ten of which tore into McDonald’s body. Two employees and a client were also injured.
According to one news report, a witness described one of the suspects as being about “six-feet tall, blonde, wearing a long coat with a hood.”
At the time of his death, McDonald was awaiting trial for the alleged theft of a truck containing $35,000 worth of merchandise from the Port of Montreal.
McDonald’s murder was among about a dozen West End Gang associated casualties in 1968 and 1969. Many of those killed apparently knew one another, and were described in news accounts as being involved in armed robberies.
This message has been edited by IrishHood on Nov 29, 2006 12:27 PM
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Eric McNally, born in the late 1930s, was once described as being the “gang chief” of a group of bank robbers. He was said to have had a lengthy criminal record, which included armed robbery and other serious offences. Among his close associates, according to news reports, were Danny “One-a-Day” Pelansky and James McDonald.
McNally was also involved in several legitimate business ventures. He reportedly had interests in a night club, a bar, and a car dealership on St. Lawrence Boulevard.
He and his girlfriend Susan Clark lived in a house on Gouin Boulevard West in Pierrefonds. McNally had two large Doberman Pinschers, both of which were rumoured to be very vicious.
On one day, according to information published in the Montreal Star, a mechanic was found unconscious in the couple’s backyard pool. The mechanic spent six months in a coma before dying of his injuries. An investigation did not reveal any incriminating evidence.
By April, 1968, police were on the look out for McNally. They wanted to question him about a stickup in an east-end bank, as well as the assault and robbery of a Montreal cab driver, in which $135 was stolen.
They wouldn’t get their chance. After receiving an anonymous phone tip, police found McNally and his girlfriend Susan Clark dead in the basement of their home. McNally had been shot three times in the body, while Clark had been shot twice in the head.
Oddly, McNally’s two Doberman Pinschers, as well as the couple’s Basset Hound, normally very loud, had not been heard barking by neighbours. The Basset Hound was found in the house, near the bodies, while one of the Doberman Pinschers had been locked in a room. The other Doberman had disappeared all together.
A month after McNally’s death, police found the body of Gary Snor, reputedly one of McNally’s close associates, in a ditch near Lachute. Snor, who had been shot three times, was dead about six weeks, and it was speculated that he might have been killed on the same day as McNally.
Authorities hypothesized that McNally may have been double-crossed and murdered after a jewellery store robbery that had taken place on the day of his death.
This message has been edited by IrishHood on Nov 29, 2006 12:30 PM
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What ever happened to mike french. he was cut up into little pieces for raping sharron prior.She was the daughter of one of his decieced brothers.Mike and his buddy ,we all know who that is lured sharron in the car,she thought because they were her dads friends it would be ok.Sad to say she was wrong they raped an tourchered her for three days, then killed her .Mike was dismembered while he was alive .his body parts were buried all over the city.I guess they shouldnt have braged about what they did.The two of them are a disgrace to are gender,and be sure theyre names are spoken in shame.
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Rumors did not spread on the street that Johnny went informer, this is just media hype. I was born&raised in the point, still live in Verdun, and I am very close personal friends with a couple of his boys.
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Another thing you might want to add to your site concerning the MTL boys, is MTL is probably the only place on the planet, where the Irish mob was so well entrenched that the Italians just decided to work with them rather then run them out, as it would be easier.
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William McAllister, born in the early 1940s, has become one of Montreal’s most famous underworld figures. Police have linked him, along with two brothers, as being associated with the notorious West End Gang.
In his younger years, McAllister dabbled in armed robberies. In 1966, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in a Boston bank robbery.
Less than a year after his release from prison, McAllister was at it again. On September 12, 1973, a Brink’s armoured truck arrived at the back of the Bank of Montreal in St. Laurent to perform a cash transfer. Suddenly, a red van arrived at high speed and slammed into the front of the armoured truck.
Two hooded men emerged from the van and allegedly opened fire on the guards. Guard Claude Vienneau was shot in the face and died at the scene, while guard Robert Brunette was struck twice in one leg. The robbers then packed about ten money bags into a stolen car that had been positioned in the parking lot earlier that day.
As the masked men finished loading the sacks into the car, driven by an accomplice, a third guard emerged from the bank. The trio jumped into their car and sped off, as the guard opened fire. The bandits made away with $250,000 in cash, silver, and cheques.
About ten minutes later, detectives spotted a severely-damaged car in the parking lot of Sacre-Coeur Hospital. They arrested William McAllister, who standing near the vehicle. Inside the car, police found a firearm. Police later found three hoods and several money bags in a garbage can on Decarie Boulevard.
In December 1974, McAllister was sentenced to life imprisonment for attempted murder and armed robbery. The judge was quoted as saying that “greed was the only motive and McAllister was guilty beyond the shadow of a doubt.” No one else has been arrested in connection to the robbery. McAllister was paroled in the early 80s.
McAllister was arrested again in November 1986. He and seven others allegedly conspired to smuggle a large amount of 100 kilograms of cocaine into Canada from South America. Police seized $500,000 U.S., a kilogram of cocaine, and a whole arsenal of firearms, including a sub-machine gun, high-powered rifles, and two grenades. McAllister was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was paroled in 1992.
He didn’t enjoy his freedom for long however. In March, 1993, McAllister was arrested at his Mont Tremblant chalet on Florida charges that he conspired to import as much as 10,000 kilograms of cocaine into Canada. Associates Paul Larue and Ashley Castaneda were also arersted, as well as Rock Machine leader Salvatore Cazzetta and his right-hand man Nelson Fernandes.
The bust was a result of a nine-month undercover operation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the RCMP, and Montreal Urban Community Police. DEA agent John Burns, posed as a major cocaine supplier, was introduced to Paul Larue, who was looking for a steady stock of the drug.
The two met in Montreal and discussed drug shipments. Burns agreed to send 4,000 to 5,000 kilos of cocaine to Montreal. Larue supposedly told Burns that his partner was William McAllister.
McAllister and Larue then met Burns at Dorval airport to discuss the shipment. McAllister allegedly proposed that the first 1,000 kilograms of cocaine be smuggled into Montreal through a trucker who regularly did business shipping stock between the U.S. and Canada. McAllister added that motorcycle gangs, including the Hells Angels, would distribute the drug, according to the undercover agent.
A courier was sent down to Florida to pay Burns $200,000 as partial payment. A few months later, an additional $500,000 was delivered to the undercover agent. Associate Ashley Castaneda was reportedly sent to Florida to test the quality of the cocaine.
While at the Parthenais detention centre awaiting extradition to the United States, McAllister granted a telephone interview to the Montreal Gazette, in which he criticized the paper for writing that McAllister believed that reputed West End Gang chieftain Allan “The Weasel” Ross, had set him up in exchange for leniency in his own legal troubles.
McAllister set the record straight. “That’s a total crock and a total falsehood and you shouldn’t write things like that,” he was quoted as saying. “I know that Allan Ross would never, ever do such a thing."
He also reportedly warned journalists to be careful about what they write: “When you write articles like that, I’m serious when I tell you, it’s for your good that I tell you this – there could be reprisals for yourself.”
He then clarified that he was not threatening the journalists. “I’m sure I’m [not] in a hell of a position to threaten you,” he reportedly responded with a laugh.
McAllister was ordered extradited to the United States in June, 1993. He was escorted to Jacksonville, Florida the following year.
In April, 1995, more than two years after his arrest, McAllister was convicted of conspiracy to export cocaine from the U.S. to Canada. He was sentenced to 19 years and seven months in prison.
In 2002, after seven years in a U.S. prison, McAllister was brought back to Canada. He is currently in a penitentiary in Quebec.
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The reality of their world comes from a survival and instinct mode. As having had seen first hand most of the work done by many of these individuals, I can clearly define the cost and sacrifices made by the few for the good of many. It has been many years since there has been an intense level of activity on the side of the Irish boys yet there is still a great demand for information. The truth has yet been told and will never come to the surface except for small tidbits let go of by emotions. This is the way many still maintain the lifestyle and success of the past. The workm of the few will always help out others as it has always been. This is part of the tradition of the Irish.
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