CANADA – A hitman whose victims included bikers, mafiosi and innocent bystanders has admitted 27 charges of murder in a case that makes him one of Canada’s worst killers.
Gerald Gallant, a police informant who was already serving a life sentence for a 2001 killing, also pleaded guilty on Tuesday to 12 charges of attempted murder and a handful of other charges.
The killings took place between 1978 and 2003 and targeted outlaw bikers, street-gang members and mobsters.
Biker gangs have long been a problem in the French-speaking province of Quebec and most of the murders happened between 1994 and 2002 as the Hells Angels and Rock Machine gangs battled over drug turf.
Gallant’s victims include such bystanders as Helene Brunet, a waitress who was wounded in 2000 while being used as a human shield by Robert Savard, a close associate of Hells Angels kingpin Maurice (Mom) Boucher.
And in 1999, Gallant shot dead Luc Bergeron, a private detective who happened to be living in an apartment formerly occupied by the intended target, a Hells Angels associate.
Gallant (58) apologised as he read out a prepared statement in front of survivors and relatives of victims.
“I regret the hurt I have caused the victims and their families,” Gallant said in the Quebec City court. “I understand that forgiving will be difficult, maybe even impossible. I accept that.
“I agreed to co-operate with police in order to repair the damage I caused and to seek forgiveness.”
Prosecutor Martine Berube said she believed the case “will possibly go down in history”.
At least one Quebec man has killed more people than Gallant. Yves (Apache) Trudeau, a founding member of the Hells Angels in Quebec, was sentenced to life in prison in 1986 after pleading guilty to 43 counts of manslaughter, part of a deal struck in exchange for information about fellow gang members.
Last week, acting on information provided by Gallant, police arrested 10 people across Quebec in connection with dozens of murders linked to outlaw biker gangs over a 25-year period.
Charges against those arrested include murder and conspiracy.
“It serves to remind people what a murderous biker war was happening,” said Julian Sher, author of two books about Canadian biker gangs.
“Twenty-seven gang-related killings out of 160 total biker-related murders during that period. That’s stunning. The worst period of Al Capone’s Chicago was never that bad.”
What made Gallant dangerous, said Mr Sher, was that as a contract killer he was never a full-patch member of any biker gang, and therefore could serve as a hitman for anyone.
Gallant will not get any additional jail time and will be eligible to apply for parole in 25 years. – (AP)