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Power, politics and the "pursuit of the patch."
Those are keys to understanding why eight Bandido bikers were shot to death April 8, 2006 in Southwestern Ontario.
They lead to one conclusion, Elgin Crown attorney Kevin Gowdey said yesterday -- all six men on trial are guilty of eight counts of first-degree murder.
Methodically, Gowdey began what's expected to be a two-day review of the Crown's case at the Bandido trial, piecing together the mountain of evidence given over almost seven months about the killings at Wayne Kellestine's Dutton-Dunwich farm.
His style contrasted with the heart-to-heart Kellestine's lawyer, Clay Powell, had with the jury during his closing remarks.
But there was a similarity -- both argued there was plenty of blame to be shared among all the men on trial.
"I don't think I've ever represented anybody labelled a psychopath and a maniac," Powell said, referring to comments about Kellestine from some lawyers he labelled "Bay Street thumpers."
Powell said the jury should take a long, hard look at the evidence before pinning all the blame on his client.
He said the jury has a difficult task sorting out what happened based on the unreliable testimonies of M.H., the Crown star witness and ex-Winnipeg Bandido who was with the others that night, and of accused Michael Sandham and Marcelo Aravena.
"If I had to decide the case on the evidence of (M.H.), Sandham and Aravena, I'd worry about that, Powell said.
He said the jury should look closely at the motive of Sandham, whom Powell dubbed "the genius" -- a wannabe full-patch biker with huge ambitions. "He's smart, he's cunning and he's ruthless," Powell said.
Gowdey said all the accused and the dead staked their survival on a "Fat Mexican" patch and a biker code like a religion.
Their lifestyle and adherence to the subculture "was as much as a part of their identity as their own names."
And the six accused had something to gain -- whether it was power, or simply to earn the biker membership patch, Gowdey said:
--Sandham gave up a career as a police officer to be a biker and was desperate for a full Bandidos charter for the club's probationary chapter in Winnipeg
-- Dwight Mushey, Winnipeg chapter secretary-treasurer, was eager to be a full-patch Bandido and had organized a puppet club to support Winnipeg.
-- Aravena, a Winnipeg prospect, was willing to spend half his savings on an airline ticket and ignore medical treatment for injuries in an ultimate fighting match to be in Ontario.
-- Kellestine was preparing to take control of the Canadian chapter and wanted expansion.
While each accused did not pull the trigger, Gowdey said they're all equally guilty if they were "aiding and abetting -- if they helped or encouraged the killings.
Gowdey told the six-man, six-woman jury there are two routes to first-degree murder convictions -- through forcible confinement or if there was a plan.
He said there was "a battle plan" to eliminate the "No Surrender Crew," the Toronto chapter of the Bandidos unwanted by their American biker bosses and in conflict with their upstart probationary brothers in Winnipeg.
The patches wouldn't be taken by diplomacy, Gowdey said. There was a planned ambush in a barn perfect for the task -- with a cement floor easily cleaned and only one entrance.
But it turned out the Toronto Bandidos were ready to resist by showing up with their own guns and "it was all Sandham and Kellestine needed to put the plan into action."
After Sandham shot Luis Raposo -- and it's unclear who shot first, Gowdey said -- they were left with seven witnesses who could seek their own revenge, should they live.
Together, the group at the farm took part in the ambush, disposed of the bodies near Shedden, helped clean up and advanced their Bandido status.
There was a common purpose, Gowdey said, and "we say they should be held responsible for what they did."
Gowdey continues his closing arguments today.
Free Press reporter Kate Dubinski is Twittering the Bandidos trial. Follow it at lfpress.com.