HELLS ANGELS BOSS ARRESTED

Boucher To Be Tried Again For '97 Murder Of Prison Guards

MONTREAL (CP) -- Hells Angels leader Maurice (Mom) Boucher left a
restaurant after lunch yesterday and walked calmly into the arms of police
who arrested him on murder charges.

The arrest warrant was carried out within hours of a Quebec Court of Appeal
ruling that ordered a new trial for Boucher in the 1997 deaths of two
prison guards.

The developments raised questions about the recent truce in Quebec's
longstanding deadly war between the Hells and their Rock Machine rivals
over control of the drug trade.

But one biker gang expert said it can't be assumed there will be any impact.

There's no way of knowing whether the wars will heat up with Boucher behind
bars pending trial, said Yves Lavigne, a Toronto author who has written
extensively about Canadian biker gangs.

"No one can predict that," he said in an interview. "Even gang members
couldn't tell you how this would affect anything."

Boucher was taken by police to a women's prison in Montreal that has a high
security unit built specially for him when he was last charged with murder.

"It all went off calmly," said Montreal police Commander Andre Durocher.

"He will appear in court (today) to face charges of murder."

Defence lawyer Gilbert Frigon said he and the biker leader left the
restaurant in Boucherville, Que., and got into Boucher's truck when "the
police forces intervened and they proceeded to arrest Mr. Boucher."

Frigon said he and other lawyers for Boucher were pondering whether to seek
leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The arrest came after a three judge panel of the appeals court issued a
unanimous written decision quashing Boucher's acquittal from November, 1998.

It also came two days after Boucher and the leader of the rival Rock
Machine gang dined at a downtown restaurant and invited a reporter and a
photographer to witness the meeting.

The meal fuelled further speculation that the gangs have decided to put
their war on hold after the recent shooting of a crime reporter prompted
authorities to warn they would crack down biker gangs.

The get together followed another last month when Boucher and Rock Machine
head Frederic Faucher rubbed authorities the wrong way by meeting inside
the Quebec city courthouse.

At the appeals court hearing, the crown had argued that Justice Jean Guy
Boilard of Quebec Superior Court gave flawed instructions to the jurors and
essentially directed them to a not guilty verdict.

Boucher was charged with ordering the 1997 deaths of guards Diane Lavigne,
42, and Pierre Rondeau, 49. They were slain in separate shootings that
apparently stemmed from the Hells' efforts to demonstrate their control
over the prison system.

Boucher was also charged with the attempted murder of Rondeau's partner,
Robert Corriveau, who was wounded by a bullet.

At the trial, the prosecution's case relied heavily on the testimony of
Stephane Gagne, a drug dealer who became a police informant and who
confessed that he helped kill both guards.

Crown counsel France Charbonneau later described Boilard's charge to the
jury as a "poisonous gift" which pointed to an acquittal.

Charbonneau argued the judge was wrong to urge jurors to disregard
Boucher's status as head of the Nomad chapter of the Hells. She said much
of the case was based on Boucher's role as leader and the fact the gang
operates as a hierarchy.

Boilard told jurors Gagne had a direct stake in the case and they had to
believe him to find Boucher guilty.

But the appeals court said Boilard should have drawn the jurors' attention
to facts potentially confirming Gagne's version.

Gagne, the chief witness against Boucher, reached a deal with the
prosecution in return for testifying at the trial.

Gagne admitted joining with Andre (Toots) Tousignant later slain to kill
Lavigne and teaming with Paul Fontaine who has since disappeared in the
fatal shooting of Rondeau.

Lavigne said the Hells Angels Rock Machine talks are over a division of
territory and a yet to be reached agreement "not to step on each other's
toes, regardless of whether anyone gets jailed."

"Mom Boucher can still conduct those talks in prison," Lavigne said. "He's
a very powerful leader."

A peace treaty in the bloody five year old war between the gangs has been
rumoured for some time but there has been no confirmation.

More than 150 people including an 11 year old boy bystander have been
killed in the war waged by the gangs over control of drug territory.

The meetings between the Hells Angels and the Rock Machine follow last
month's shooting of Michel Auger, a crime reporter at Le Journal de
Montreal. Auger, who survived five gunshots to the back Sept. 13, had
written extensively about the biker war.