The man who brought terror to the streets of Montreal in the 1990s and who remains an emblematic figure of organized crime in Quebec, former Hells Angels Maurice “Mom” Boucher, died Sunday at the age of 69. He was incarcerated in the Special Detention Unit of the Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines penitentiary, the only super maximum security unit in the country.
Boucher had been sentenced to life in prison for ordering the murder of two prison guards, Pierre Rondeau and Diane Lavigne, in 1997. He had been serving his sentence for 22 years without the possibility of parole for 25 years. The inmate was hospitalized in palliative care in recent weeks, after having long refused any form of treatment. He was eventually hospitalized with throat cancer that had spread and died in the penitentiary’s medical unit.
The king of organized crime
Maurice Boucher was born on June 21, 1953 in Causapscal, in Bas-Saint-Laurent, but his family quickly settled in Montreal. He began his criminal career in the early 1970s, notably committing an armed robbery which earned him 40 months in prison. In 1984, he went back behind bars after committing a sexual assault with a weapon against a teenage girl. First a member of the SS, a group of Montreal bikers, he joined the ranks of the Hells Angels in 1987. He experienced a meteoric rise to the point of becoming, according to many, the most powerful biker in Canada.
In 1995 he founded a new chapter of the Hells Angels called the Nomads. That same year, the death of young Daniel Desrochers, 11, killed by the explosion of a trafficker’s car in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district, sparked general indignation. This is the youngest victim of the war against independent traffickers instigated by Boucher, who wanted to take control of the market.
Two years later, Boucher’s reign of terror came to a head when he ordered the murder of two prison guards, Pierre Rondeau and Diane Lavigne, presumably randomly targeted in order to wreak havoc on the legal and prison systems.
Quebec Minister of Public Security in 1997 and 1998, Pierre Bélanger has painful memories of that time. “We were in the middle of a biker war. I had a prison guard who was murdered a few blocks from my house, ”he explains in an interview, referring to Pierre Rondeau, shot dead in broad daylight in Pointe-aux-Trembles. .
The murder of Rondeau in September 1997, like that of Lavigne in August, was ordered by Maurice Boucher. “We were in shock,” recalls Pierre Bélanger. The day after Rondeau’s murder, a spontaneous strike was called by correctional officers from the province’s 18 detention centers to demand more workplace safety. “We then made the decision to rearm the prison guards and give them bulletproof vests,” said Mr. Bélanger.
The one who was minister at the time was also personally targeted by the bikers since he appeared on their blacklist. “I had three bodyguards for a few weeks, it gives you an idea of the surreal climate that reigned. »
Mr. Bélanger recalls the extent of Boucher’s power at the time: [Les meurtres] were a personal decision of Boucher, it was he who personally led these attacks. No one had ever made such violent attacks on the government. »
Boucher’s many insults encouraged the federal government to adopt its first anti-gang law in 1997 and to improve it in 2002.
A waning influence
According to a police source well versed in organized crime and who requested anonymity, Boucher’s death “marks the end of an era”, but remains symbolic. “He has had no control over the activities of the Hells Angels for a long time,” he explains.
First acquitted in 1997, he returned to prison in 2000 when the Court of Appeal overturned the verdict. He was eventually sentenced to life in prison in 2002. Neither his imprisonment nor his expulsion from the Hells Angels in 2014 was enough to curb his involvement in illicit activities. He has indeed pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy for having tried to kill the kingpin of the mafia Raynald Desjardins in 2018. Charged for the same reason, his daughter, Alexandra Mongeau, has meanwhile been acquitted.
Formerly a known face in Quebec, its influence has therefore considerably decreased while that of the bikers has been increasing. “When Boucher was in charge of the Hells Angels, they didn’t have the power they have now. Today, they control almost all of the cocaine trade,” our source explains.
The modus operandi has also evolved. “At the time it was very violent. People changed sides of the sidewalk when they saw a member in good standing, he recalls. Today, they’re more edgy and subtle in the way they do things. In gatherings, we sometimes see people taking selfies with them. Some see them a bit like rebels whereas before, they were criminals. »
Died in prison, the former biker leaves behind a legacy marked by violence and numerous murders. “I don’t think anyone should mourn the death of that man,” our source said.