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Wayne Kellestine was labelled a "psychotic killer," a "psychopath" and a "monster."
One of his six co-accused, Michael Sandham, was called someone who "lies, lies, lies."
And the Crown's star witness, M.H., was portrayed as "a lying, drug-dealing murderer."
The character attacks were thick yesterday on the second day of closing arguments at the Bandidos trial, where two more defence teams -- lawyers for accused Brett Gardiner, 25, and Dwight Mushey, 41 -- tied up their cases.
Defence lawyers Christopher Hicks, representing Gardiner, the Bandido prospect, and defence lawyer Michael Moon, for Mushey, the secretary-treasurer of the Winnipeg chapter, deflected responsibility from their clients and hammered at the credibility and involvement of others in the shooting deaths of eight Toronto-area Bandidos on April 8, 2006.
Moon said Mushey admits he was at the farm that night as a Bandido and knew there was a plan to pull patches -- yank the memberships -- from the Toronto Bandidos on orders from the United States world headquarters.
He attacked the testimony of M.H., the former Winnipeg Bandido who was also with the others at Kellestine's farm in Elgin County when the men were shot.
Moon said the Crown's case is simply "smoke and mirrors" because M.H. secured immunity under the witness protection program.
"The heart of the Crown's case is black and rotten," Moon said.
Moon said M.H. is a "purchased mouth." The rest is what Moon described as "the god-awful mess of evidence the Crown calls a case."
And Sandham, former president of the Winnipeg probationary chapter, Moon said, "is a man not to be believed" who had built his life on "a web of deceit and lies, layers and layers thick."
He called Sandham's evidence "laughably absurd," especially in his description of not participating in the shootings and soothing those waiting in the barn.
"I was waiting for him to say he went into the house to make hot chocolate and s'mores and lead everyone in a chorus of Kumbaya," Moon said.
Moon suggested M.H. shot Raposo as well as Sandham. He told the jury if it finds Sandham shot Raposo accidently, he is guilty of manslaughter.
And so is Mushey, he said, because he was hiding behind the barn with a gun waiting for the bikers to arrive and the shooting took place as part of the biker patch pulling.
But, he said, his client is not guilty of anything else. Moon said there is evidence Sandham killed Raposo, Michael Trotta and Jamie Flanz. Kellestine killed the rest, he said.
Mushey, Moon said, stood up to Kellestine and Sandham during their mini "churches" -- meetings -- outside the barn while the rest of the Toronto bikers were in the barn. The supporting evidence is in the wiretaps secured by M.H. in Winnipeg in June 2006, Moon said.
Moon said Mushey defied Kellestine's orders to kill Bandidos Canada president John (Boxer) Muscedere if he moved and shook Frank (BamBam) Salerno's hand before he was taken away for execution.
"Mr. Mushey was having none of what was going on in the barn," Moon said, adding he and others were lucky to escape with their lives.
"I'm not saying he is a hero . . . but he's certainly not the villain the Crown has portrayed him to be," Moon said.
Hicks, in his hour-long address, argued the jury should acquit Gardiner of all charges because he wasn't aware of any plan and didn't participate in the killings. He said Gardiner was an unknowing dupe of limited intelligence, wanting to advance in the Bandidos and was convinced he was at Kellestine's farm to meet the Bandidos bosses.
Drugs, Hick said, lay at the root of the Canadian biker conflict. The Toronto Bandidos were making a lot of money -- and using cocaine and crack cocaine, contravening club rules. Kellestine, too, Hicks said, disapproved of the drug use but had "a dirty little secret" -- he was using drugs as well.
Hicks noted Kellestine told Raposo's girlfriend after the shootings, "I got (expletive) up and I (expletive) up."
His other secret he had was he and Sandham had been elevated to national officers by the American Bandidos headquarters, provided they pulled patches from the Toronto Bandidos.
At the farm, only Kellestine, Sandham, M.H., and Dwight Mushey, all biker officers, could pull Bandidos patches, Hicks said. And only the officers went out to Kellestine's barn initially that night.
The shooting of Luis (Chopper) Raposo, by Sandham, set off "a parade of death," he said.
"Mr. Kellestine is driving this train and Mr. Sandham is right behind him," Hicks said.
Gardiner listened to the scanner in the house as he always did and performed the grunt tasks of a prospect at the barn. That included cleaning shotgun shells in the hours before the shootings.
Hicks said his client is of limited intelligence and would have needed any plan explained to him. If there was a plan, it was formulated during mini "churches" held outside the barn between Mushey, Sandham and Kellestine.
And it was Kellestine's plan alone, Hicks said.
"Kellestine is a psychopath, a psychotic killer," he said.
The closing arguments continue today with defence lawyer Clay Powell addressing the jury on Kellestine's behalf.
jane.sims@sunmedia.ca
The dead
George (Pony) Jessome, 52; George (Crash) Kriarakis, 28; Bandidos Canada National president John (Boxer) Muscedere, 48; Luis (Chopper) Raposo, 41; Toronto Bandidos chapter president Frank (Bam Bam) Salerno, 43; Paul (Big Paulie) Sinopoli, 30; Jamie (Goldberg) Flanz, 37; and Michael (Little Mikey) Trotta, 31.
The accused
Wayne Kellestine, 60, and Frank Mather, 35, of Dutton-Dunwich; Brett Gardiner, 25, of no fixed address; and Michael Sandham, 39, Marcelo Aravena, 33, and Dwight Mushey, 41, of Winnipeg have all pleaded not guilty to eight counts of first degree murder.
Free Press reporter Kate Dubinski is Twittering from the Bandidos trial. A sampling of her Tweets:
- KateatLFPress Next lawyer up is Hicks, lawyer for Brett Gardiner. Starts by saying his client is presumed innocent and Crown hasn't proven he's not #bdos
- KateatLFPress Gardiner simply was a 21-year-old who wanted to advance in the Bandidos nation. He had no idea there would be violence in Ontario #bdos
- KateatLFPress Kellestine is a psychopath. He's psychotic. There's no gentler words that can be used if you want to be truthful. #bdos
- KateatLFPress This was the choice: To stop the killing you'd have to become a killer yourself. You'd have to kill Mr. Kellestine. #bdos
- KateatLFPress Juries are like bumblebee: shouldn't work, but they do. You are 12 people in a room with other people dressed like priests or monks. #bdos