Banditos murder trial

The jury had begun deliberations Wednesday morning after hearing evidence from 70 witnesses in the case since late March. The Crown successfully argued that the murders were the result of rising tensions between the dead men, who were all from the Toronto Bandidos chapter, and a probationary Bandidos chapter in Winnipeg.

Police say the killings took place just kilometres away from a farmhouse owned by Kellestine near the village of Shedden, south of London. A member of the Toronto chapter, Kellestine had become increasingly alienated from his local chapter and allied himself with the Winnipeg men. The jury heard he had received orders from high-ranking Bandidos in the U. The Crown's key witness was a man identified only as M.

Defence lawyer Clayton Powell said the verdict didn't come as a surprise because of the complexities of the case. The six were convicted by a jury in Superior Court in London, Ont. The case goes to the jury. All six accused pleaded not guilty to eight counts each of first-degree murder.

After six months of testimony from more than 70 witnesses, closing submissions begin. The jury hears from lawyers for five of the accused. They portray Wayne Kellestine as a mad man who turned what was supposed to be a night of stripping the Ontario victims of their Bandidos affiliation into mass murder. Kellestine's lawyer tells the jury the only reason his southwestern Ontario farm played host to the biker gang massacre was because of the murderous intentions of a co-accused, Michael Sandham.

The trial hears for the first time from Sandham. He and several others of the accused are linked to the Bandidos' Winnipeg chapter. Sandham's testimony corroborates many details in the testimony of police informant M. But there are many glaring differences, notably that M. Sandham, a former police officer, also told the court that he joined the gang because he wanted to become a police informant.

The trial hears secret tape recordings of a police informant, M. In the third day of testimony, a former Bandido turned informant tells a London, Ont.

Michael Sandham, one of the accused, met with gang officials from the U. Another accused and an ally of the Ontario faction, Wayne Kellestine, was expected to strip the Toronto members of their club patches, the police informant tells the court.

The Winnipeg club and Kellestine decided to hold a club meeting for Toronto members at Kellestine's place and spent the hours before the meeting loading a cache of weapons to "be prepared for the worst" in Kellestine's words, M. In his first day of testimony, M. A construction worker and father of three, M. But he says he quickly came to notice the tensions between the Winnipeg faction and its Toronto sponsor, which wasn't allowing the Manitoba faction to become a full-fledged chapter.

The murder trial for the six accused begins in London. Ontario Superior Court Justice Thomas Heeney, who will preside over the trial, tells the court it was a "monumental task" to find the six men and six women who make up the jury. The trial is expected to last six months.

Court documents reveal that Eric Niessen, one of the two people charged with being accessories after the fact, has pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and been sentenced to two years in prison. In the statement Niessen admits to lying to police and helping Kellestine with a false alibi.

He also said he was aware people in the house were destroying physical evidence that he knew might be linked to the killings. Portillo also was convicted of another racketeering murder count, drug trafficking and drug trafficking conspiracy, and another weapons count.

He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus 20 years Monday. The case arose from the killing of Anthony Benesh, who was attempting to start a Texas Chapter of the Hells Angels and had ignored the Bandidos' warnings to cease recruitment. Evidence during trial revealed that Portillo and Pike ordered members to murder Benesh, who was killed outside an Austin restaurant in March Jurors also found that Portillo was involved in the killing of Robert Lara to avenge for the death of a Bandidos member.