Bandidos murders

14 hours may seem fast but it seems to me the jury decided they were all guilty more or less right away and then spent the time ensuring they got the judge's directions right.

In what's believed to be the largest number of murder convictions ever produced at a single criminal trial in Canada, six members of the Bandidos biker gang charged in the 2006 mass slaying of eight rivals were all found guilty on multiple counts of first-degree murder yesterday.
After just 14 hours of deliberation, the jury returned 44 verdicts of first-degree murder and four of manslaughter.

With their lawyers standing in front of them, a custom when a jury's verdict is delivered, the six defendants remained stone-faced as the 48 findings of guilt were read out one by one in Ontario Superior Court.

But near the end, proceedings were interrupted by angry protests from Marcelo Aravena, 33, who from his prisoner's box raised his hand and swore at the jury.

"You guys are fucking goofs, pieces of fucking shit," he yelled.

Then he turned on his lawyer, Tony Bryant. "Fuck you, Tony," he shouted.

A few minutes later, he spat at Mr. Bryant and was hustled out of the packed courtroom by police.

A handful of the dead men's relatives were also in court, two of them in tears. The Ontario Provincial Police officer who headed the long investigation said justice had been served by the outcome.

"Motorcycle gangs are inherently violent and this is a glimpse of just how violent they are," said Detective-Inspector Paul Beesley.

Mr. Aravena and his five co-accused, Wayne Kellestine, 60, Dwight Mushey, 41, Michael Sandham, 39, Frank Mather, 35 and Brett Gardiner, 25, were each charged with eight counts of first-degree murder.

Their eight victims were fellow Bandidos John Muscedere, George Jessome, George Kriarkis, Luis Raposo, Frank Salerno, Paul Sinopoli, Jamie Flanz and Michael Trotta, all from the Greater Toronto area. The jury's verdicts came 3½ years after the killings, and seven months after the trial began in a heavily secured 14th-floor courtroom in downtown London.

More than 70 witnesses testified.

Full story here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/bandidos-trial-yields-44-murder-convictions/article1344800/