[88] The journalist Jerry Langton wrote that Satan's Choice "seemed to be the logical partners for the Hells Angels. He was a member of Satan's Choice, a biker gang. Dbe was born in and grew up in Sudbury, a mining city in northern Ontario. If you haven't read Unrepentant, I highly recommend it - Lorne's story is fascinating, and by all accounts he did his best to live the biker code all the way down the line, even when it meant great personal sacrifice. , ISBN-13 [123] Campbell had been convicted of perjury once and as a result, the jury distrusted him. The writing is bland and meanders off story about facts and figures about places or people that are irrelevant and just filling in pages. [105], Brian Brideau, a petty criminal and an associate of Satan's Choice, was in the bar-room of the Queen's Hotel in Port Hope on the night of 18 October 1978 when he encountered Matiyek drinking with two Outlaws. [199] Briere disappeared in September 1988 and his corpse was found three weeks later on 17 October 1988, while Sretenovic disappeared on 14 August 1996 after boasting about how he helped Dub kill Briere. [170] The decision to open a chapter was regarded as an insult to Mario Parente, the president of the Outlaws' Hamilton chapter. Bernie Guindon's influence was not to be challenged. [60] The Devils' Disciples and the Montreal chapter of Satan's Choice were engaged in the manufacturing and smuggling of chemical drugs, a market that the Popeyes decided to violently enter in 1974, leading to the biker war. Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2014, A good interesting read throughly enjoyable, well written, it made it as if you were there with him the whole time, Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2013. [146] In 1985, a second version of Satan's Choice Hamilton chapter opened up on St. Matthew's Avenue which was very close to the Outlaws' Hamilton clubhouse at 402 Birch Avenue. [21] One of the first reports in the media about Satan's Choice was a story in the Toronto Star on 29 August 1966, reporting "Five arrested in motorcycle rumble". "[49], As the group moved from a motorcycle club into organized crime, many of the original members dropped out. [5] He had promoted the merger of the four clubs to end the attacks of the Black Diamond Riders, arguing if the four clubs were united, it would have such an overwhelming numerical superiority that it would ensure that the Black Diamond Riders would not dare attack them anymore. We were able to move on the other gangs faster than they could move on us because we had such good sources and good information on the habits of the other gangs". [218] On 12 January 2011, he was convicted of various charges relating to conspiracy to traffic in illegal narcotics, being sentenced to four and half years in prison. [87] Guindon spent hours punching his bed in fury as he wished his bed was McEwen. [10] In 1969, Satan's Choice reached its peak strength of 400 members as the club grew rapidly in the 1960s. [73] Edson was arrested in Kitchener on 27 August 1976 and deported to the United States. ", which inspired Dub to shout "fuck yeah!" [182] Making matters worse, Satan's Choice the same year was targeted by a major police operation dubbed Project Dismantle, which involved almost 300 officers from the OPP, as well as the municipal police forces of Halton, Durham, HamiltonWentworth, Waterloo, Sudbury, and Metropolitan Toronto. [36], On Sunday morning as those arrested were taken into the Don Jail, there were a number of journalists from the local television stations present and the bikers blew kisses to the cameras. It went uncollected". He is considered to be a very manipulative and potentially dangerous person". [191] Seeking revenge, Croitoru had a member of the Hamilton chapter, Jure "Jerry" Juretta build a bomb. Project Dismantle and the Sudbury police station bombing, Alliance and merger with the Hells Angels, the first major outlaw biker conflict in Canadian history, "Meet the godfather of Canada's outlaw biker club, Satan's Choice", "When Satan's Choice Drew a Line; Former president of outlaw gang chronicles early days when bikers were bad, not villainous", "Prisoner's Rights activist tells tales of injustice", "Ex-Cop Gets the Right to Sue Two Judges", "A confederation of Angels: One man's dream come true", "Judge cites OPP wrongdoing in freeing Satan's Choice bikers", "20th anniversary of Sudbury police station bombing", "Infamous Sudbury biker murdered Alex Sretenovic, informant said in 2002", "Ex-wife chases Hells Angel biker for child support", "Opportunity arrived on a Harley for biker How a snitch infiltrated the Hells Angels", "New Satan's Choice Motorcycle club considering shutting down after harsh Facebook criticism", "Back to the future: Satan's Choice biker club reappears on Ontario roads", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Satan%27s_Choice_Motorcycle_Club&oldid=1129270147, Pages using infobox criminal organization with rivals parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Drug trafficking, prostitution, theft, assault, murder, This page was last edited on 24 December 2022, at 11:57. [39], On 15 May 1969, Guindon was convicted of rape and during his time in prison, which lasted on and off until 1974 as Guindon kept being sent back to prison for violating his parole, the acting national president was Garnet "Mother" McEwen. He was a stand-up guy. [198], Croitoru was convicted of trafficking in steroids and for having the bomb built while Dub, who was facing charges of two counts of murder plus charges relating to the bombing, hanged himself in jail on 22 September 1998. [149], Starting in 1981, Kevin Roy Hawkins worked as an anti-biker police detective in Kitchener who spent much time pursuing the Kitchener chapter of Satan's Choice. [86] McEwen's house in St. Catherine's was shot up by the Satan's Choice in a failed assassination attempt. [2] The campaign waged by Hall and other Special Squad members failed in its purpose as the number of outlaw bikers in Ontario went from about 500 in 1973 to about 800 in 1978 as the profits from organized crime led more men to join outlaw biker clubs. : [33] The police arrested 55 bikers plus 9 women who also attending the party. Please try again. Former Satan's Choice member Cecil Kirby wrote in his 1986 memoirs Mafia Enforcer that Satan's Choice members specialized in seducing the female clerks who operated the Ontario Provincial Police's computers and were always willing to share information from the computers with their boyfriends. [173] On 1 August 1995, the Toronto clubhouse of Satan's Choice on Kintyre Avenue which was backing the Diablos was hit by a rocket fired from a military rocket launcher by the Loners. [6] In the outlaw biker subculture, using the name and patch of a former club without permission is seen as very disrespectful. [207] The Toronto chapter of Satan's Choice became the new Toronto East chapter of the Hells Angels. [221] The group seems to have disbanded as nothing have been heard of the gang since 2017. [190] The evidence provided by Davies led to Dub and Croitoru being charged as Isnor gave orders to arrest both men. [190], The bombing occurred at 2 am just after a Christmas party on 15 December 1996, and only one police dispatcher was wounded by the blast. [221] Lorne Campbell stated that it was "insult" for the new club to use the name and patch of the former Satan's Choice and predicted violence. [172] Two days later, a Loner shot two Diablos, although the injuries to both men were only very slight. Not what I was expecting after all the rave reviews and few biography bits picked up online. [86], Satan's Choice lost the chapters in Montreal, Hamilton, St. Catherine's, Sault Ste. Satan's Choice: My Life as a Hard Core Biker with Satan's Choice and Hells Angels. [182] Increasingly, Andre Wattel, the president of the Choice's Kitchener chapter, began to exercise leadership and Wattel, unlike Guindon, was much more open to joining the Hells Angels. [37] The Markham incident was not considered a triumph for the forces of law and order with public opinion on the side of the bikers, who were felt to be victims of excessive force. While Croitoru was awaiting trial for the bombing, the Hamilton branch of Satan's Choice was shut down after an . This book really is a fascinating look into a World few get to experience or even taste. It was a good way of avoiding trouble and getting rid of rival gang members. [134] The issue was debated on the floor of the House of Commons as the NDP MP Svend Robinson and the Liberal MPs Warren Allmand and Christine Stewart all charged that the case was a miscarriage of justice. He killed a rival biker to save his brothers and has been imprisoned for assault and drug trafficking. [122] Two of the accused, Armand Sanguigni and Gordon van Haarlem, were acquitted. [88] The "Big Split" as the break-up was known caused much anguish with many Satan's Choice members feeling that it was like a family being divided after a divorce as members either opted to join the Outlaws or remain with Satan's Choice. : [161] The feud with the Outlaws led Guindon and his deputy Campbell to look with approval upon the Hells Angels who had driven the Outlaws out of Quebec with much ruthlessness. [189] It was apparently Croitoru's intention to blow up the Solid Gold strip club because he and Dub had been refused admittance earlier that year, but Dub diverted the plan into blowing up the police station instead. [217] Wattel was a locally prominent businessman who owned The Barking Fish Caf restaurant in Cambridge. [83] At a party at the clubhouse of the Montreal chapter, Lorne Campbell of the Oshawa chapter was startled to hear David Sguin of the Windsor chapter declare: "If I broke down on the 401, I wouldn't phone anyone from Oshawa. [130] The fact that the police had these intercepts all along was controversial and Lowe feels that Hoffmann should never have been charged with Matiyek's murder, let alone convicted. [103] Several members of Satan' Choice warned the Golden Hawk Riders, including their sergeant-at-arms, Bill "Heavy" Matiyek, who had a reputation as a hothead, not to go through with the planned "patch over", a demand that Matiyek rejected. [150] Hawkins and Morin were charged with corruption and obstruction of justice on 29 January 1988, and at Hawkins's preliminary inquiry on 78 September 1988, Graham testified against him. A British visitor to Toronto in 1896 stated: "Sunday is as melancholy and suicidal sort of day as Puritan principles can make it". Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. [138] The purpose of Project Dismantle was to convict every member, associate and girlfriend of Satan's Choice, to which end about 250,000 phone conversations were recorded while seizing some $3 million in cash and property. Written with dark humour and raw honesty, and filled with unforgettable characters living life on their own terms, Satan's Choice is a unique insight into an outlaw world seen through the eyes of one proud and unrepentant biker. [106] A member of the Peterborough chapter, Richard Sauv, took the phone call from Brideau, who said that Matiyek was drinking with two Outlaws, Fred Jones and Sonny Bronson, at the Queen's Hotel and wanted to see an officer of the Peterborough chapter that night. As a biography it was excellent, really interesting and well written. [150] In 1997, the charges against Hawkins and Morin were withdrawn by the Crown following the revelation that the OPP detective investigating Hawkins and Morin had been in a sexual relationship with Graham at the time, a relationship the prosecutors were aware of, but failed to disclose to the defense lawyers representing Hawkins and Morin. Despite crackdowns by authorities, the club still maintained a membership of over 350 in 1977, across thirteen chapters in Ontario and Quebec. Norris recalled: "I could hardly contain my enthusiasm. [138] In 1981, Satan's Choice made an alliance with the Lobos and the Chosen Few gangs to improve their bargaining power against their rivals, the Outlaws. With Port Hope less than a half an hour away by automobile from Oshawa, an Outlaw chapter in Port Hope would effectively be the same as an Outlaw chapter in Oshawa. [188] Len Isnor of the OPP's Anti-Biker Unit was not impressed with Croitoru, calling him "just stupid". [90] When Guindon was released early from prison for good behavior in 1984, all Satan's Choice had left were the chapters in Thunder Bay, Kitchener, Oshawa, Toronto and Richmond Hill. [181], In 1996, Guindon retired as Satan's Choice national president, although he remained a member of the club. The product of a violent childhood, with a hair-trigger temper and fearless nature, he just wanted a place to belong. [21] Police raids in the 1960s discovered that Satan's Choice members possessed guns, brass knuckles and marijuana, the latter which were as much for their own use as to sell. [81] After a disagreement, Foote hit Harvey with a pool cue, resulting in Harvey, who was heavily under the influence of drugs, returning with a gun and shooting him dead. [113] Campbell had heard that Matiyek had a gun and he brought along a gun to the Queen's Hotel. [177], The mayor of Toronto, Barbara Hall, unaware that the war was over, attempted to ban all outlaw bikers from Toronto. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations. [48] The gourmadising inflated the film's production costs by $2, 000 dollars per day, which ensured that The Proud Rider was doomed to lose money at the box office owning to its bloated production costs. [156] He was known for his aggressive and confrontational personality, which led him to being transferred over to the Oshawa chapter after he was involved in quarrels with almost every member of the Kitchener chapter. [160] In October 1989, when the leaves were falling, a policeman arrested the member for the possession of a banned weapon. 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