Five arrested in 8 biker deaths
SHEDDEN, Ontario – Police arrested five people on murder charges Monday in one of Canada’s worst mass killings and said the deaths of eight men found on an isolated farm were part of “an internal cleansing” of a motorcycle gang.
Police said they made the arrests at a modest two-story farmhouse about six miles from where the eight men were found shot to death in four vehicles scattered in a wooded field near Shedden, about 90 miles northeast of Detroit.
Police said investigators do not believe a biker gang war is imminent.
“This is an isolated incident with ties to the Bandidos,” said detective Ross Bingley of the Ontario Provincial Police, describing the killings as “an internal cleansing.”
Police said Bandidos member Wayne Kellestine, 56, will be charged with eight counts of first-degree murder.
Also arrested and charged with eight counts of murder were Eric Niessen, 45; Kerry Morris, 56; Frank Mather, 32; and Brett Gardiner, 21. The four are not members of the Bandidos.
All five suspects were from either Monkton, Ontario, or the Dutton-Dunwich area, a small farming community in southwestern Ontario between London and the U.S. border. Police said Gardiner has no fixed address.
The gangland-style killings are the biggest mass murder in Canada since Mark Chahal went on a shooting rampage in 1996 in Vernon, British Columbia, killing nine people, including his estranged wife and himself.
Murray and Brenda Silcox, owners of Palmer’s general goods at the only intersection in Shedden – a farming community of only 300 people that celebrates an annual rhubarb festival – said that while residents were stunned by the killings, few knew the suspects or the victims found Saturday morning.
“It’s like somebody else’s world dropped on ours,” said Brenda Silcox, whose family store has been in business 85 years. “It would be different if it were your neighbor or somebody you know.”
Police detective Don Bell also described the shootings as an “internal cleansing” within the gang and insisted there is little reason for public fear.
“I think this is an isolated incident, and I wouldn’t expect to see any significant fallout from it,” Bell said.
The victims – seven of whom were either full or associate members of the gang – were listed as George Jesso, 52; George Kriarakis, 28; John Muscedere, 48; Luis Manny Raposo, 41; Francesco Salerajno, 43; Paul Sinopoli, 30; and Michael Trotta, 31. Victim Jamie Flanz, 37, was named as a “prospective” member. All were from Ontario.
Bell said U.S. intelligence indicates the killings were internal to Canada and not related to any rift with American Bandidos members.