Police work to head off more violence after Wilson murder

Law enforcement agencies across the region are bracing for any potential fallout after a prominent Hells Angel was found murdered in Maple Ridge on the weekend.

Cpl. Frank Jang of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said his agency is coordinating with other gang enforcement teams in the Lower Mainland after the slaying of Chad John Wilson, a full-patch member of the Hardside Hells Angels.

“IHIT will be engaging with our numerous partners from the gang enforcement units throughout the Lower Mainland region. They will be working to mitigate any ongoing violence,” Jang said at a Surrey news conference. “While the motive for Mr. Wilson’s murder has not been confirmed, this is yet another example, another reminder, of the significant dangers that are posed to one’s life by being part of a criminal organization.”

Chief Superintendent Trent Rolfe, head of the anti-gang Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, said even prominent members of outlaw motorcycle gangs like the Hells Angels “are not immune to gang violence or their connection to the gang landscape, both as perpetrators and victims.”

Two years ago, another high-profile Hells Angel, Bob Green, was shot to death by an associate in the 856 gang after an all-night drinking party at the 856’s clubhouse.

Within days, another young gangster who was at the party was found slain and mutilated at the side of a Langley road.

Green’s killer, Jason Wallace, who later pleaded guilty to manslaughter, said he was told in a threatening phone call to kill himself, or turn himself into the Hells Angels and they would do it.

Wilson, 43, began his biker career in San Diego, joining the Hells Angels Dago chapter there on Jan. 28, 2005 as a prospect and becoming a full-patch member a year later.

He pleaded guilty in South Dakota in 2009 to being an alien in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to four years in jail. The charge stemmed from a 2006 shootout with rivals from the Outlaws biker gang. Wilson wounded several Outlaws, paralyzing one of them, but was acquitted of an attempted murder charge after claiming self-defence.

“If I didn’t shoot back, they would have kept shooting me until I was dead,” he testified.

When Wilson returned to Canada, he joined the Haney Hells Angels. And last year, he transferred over to the newest chapter of the notorious biker gang, Hardside. He got married earlier this year, wearing his colours — or Hells Angels vest — to the ceremony.

Postmedia has learned that Hardside has an association with the Brothers Keepers, a younger drug-trafficking gang that has been locked in a bloody gang war with rivals who were once associates.

Police are trying to figure out the motive behind Wilson’s death, looking at whether he got caught in the violence of his junior associates or was targeted for some past crime, including the South Dakota shootout and a conviction in Spain for smuggling half a tonne of cocaine into the country.

“Right now, behind the scenes, there is a lot of activity going on,” Jang said.

Jang urged Wilson’s biker brethren who may have “intimate knowledge” of what happened to contact police and help in the investigation.

“We will go to wherever you are, we will sit down and speak with you, and we will treat you with the utmost respect,” he said. “We want to solve your friend’s — your associate’s — murder as much as you do. Please reach out to IHIT today.”

The reality is that the murders of Hells Angels have rarely led to charges in B.C. aside from the case of Green’s killer, who turned himself into police the day after the slaying.

Nanaimo Hells Angels prospect Michael Gregory Widner was found slain near Sooke in March 2017. He was made a full-patch member posthumously. No one has been charged.

Nor have charges been laid in the 2010 murder of former East End Hells Angel Juel Ross Stanton, the 2008 disappearance of Vancouver Angel Cedric Baxter Smith, the 2002 disappearance of Haney member Rick (Blackie) Burgess, the 2001 murder of Nomad Donny Roming, the 1997 slaying of former Haney member Ernie Ozolins, or the 1993 disappearance of Michael (Zeke) Mickle, then-president of the Nanaimo Hells Angels.

Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit Sgt. Brenda Winpenny said the agency has been working to educate the public about the risk that the Hells Angels and other outlaw motorcycle gangs “pose to the public, due to the level of violence they engage in to conduct their business.”

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