ACCUSED IS A KNOWN BANK ROBBER

Lives Near Crime Scene: Survived Execution Attempt By Own Gang Members

TORONTO -- Clean get-aways have not always been Wayne Kellestine's
strong suit.

The 56-year-old was charged yesterday in the murder of eight members
or associates of the Bandidos biker gang, whose bodies were found 22
kilometers from his Elgin County farm.

But the man who once ran the St. Thomas Annihilators and the St.
Thomas Loners biker gangs had his first run-in with police more than
30 years ago, when he robbed a bank in 1974.

By 2002, he had seven failed bank robberies to his name, and had
earned the nickname "Weiner" and a reputation for being nabbed within
minutes of his crime.

During his most recent bank heist, on Dec. 27, 2001, Mr. Kellestine
walked into a TD Bank and robbed a teller of a little more than
$1,000 at knife-point.

He fled the bank on foot and was arrested nearby.

Police said he told them later he had selected the bank because of
its proximity to a bus stop, and Crown attorneys at his trial in
February, 2002, said he had employed a similar technique in his six
previous heists.

But Mr. Kellestine's criminal record is as varied as it is long.

In 1997 he was charged after a raid of a marijuana grow-operation on
a native reserve.

Mr. Kellestine sold a kilogram of hashish to an undercover agent and
was photographed by the officer holding different guns, even though
he was restricted from owning weapons. He later pleaded guilty to six
charges.

In 2002, Mr. Kellestine was sentenced to two years in a federal
penitentiary after pleading guilty to 22 weapon charges.

A stash of firearms had been found in the farm where he has lived
since 1981.

According to the London Free Press, police searched his home while
investigating a plot to kill him by a group of his own gang members.

In a bid to gain membership to the Hells Angels, his members had
targeted him in a drive-by shooting, only to hit another car.

At the time, Mr. Kellestine's lawyer said his client was "attempting
to extricate himself from certain motorcycle people."

But Mr. Kellestine's most brazen run-in with police may have been in
1982, when he fled from his home on a motorcycle.

Police had arrived at his door with a warrant for his arrest related
to the shooting of a Toronto clothing-store owner.

According to newspaper reports, when police pulled into his driveway,
Mr. Kellestine "drove up on his motorcycle, waved and took off."

His bike was found abandoned nearby and Mr. Kellestine was arrested
later that day while checking into a motel.