The topic was murder when two Hells Angels went for a walk in the bush in a remote area of Durham Region, a murder conspiracy trial heard today.
The comments came from Hells Angels informer Steven Gault as he began his second week of testimony in the trial of Oshawa chapter president Mark Cephes Stephenson and Remond Akleh of the elite Nomads chapter.
Stephenson and Akleh are each charged with murder conspiracy and counsel to commit murder.
Gault said that Stephenson preferred to talk about crime in a wooded area near his farm outside Sunderland, north of Whitby, and the reason for their walk in the woods on July 13, 2006, was the proposed murder of rival biker Frank (Cisco) Lenti.
"The topic?," assistant Crown Atttorney Mitchell Flagg asked.
"Murder," Gault replied.
Gault was the secretary of the Oshawa chapter, which he said was nicknamed "the Assylum Crew," for its wild, vicious nature.
He said that Stephenson and Akleh recruited him in June 2006 to murder Lenti, who had spurned an offer to join the Hells Angels and was instead organizing for the rival Bandidos club.
Stephenson spoke in whispers and used hand signals as he talked of murder, Gault said.
Gault said that Stephenson was certain that police had managed to hide recording devices in the club's bunker-like Oshawa clubhouse and so he preferred to talk about crime in the woods near his home instead.
Gault, who's now living under an assumed name in a witness protection program, said he joined the Hells Angels in the spring of 2002 for the expressed purpose of selling their secrets to police.
He told court that this wasn't easy, since any of the almost 190 Hells Angels in Ontario can blackball the membership bid of someone trying to get into the club.
"Becoming a Hells Angel is not an easy thing — to get all the guys in Ontario to like you at the same time," Gault testified.
"There's not a lot of nice guys in there," Gault continued. "They're pretty selective about who they take."
Pains were taken so that no one else — including fellow Hells Angels — heard of the plot to kill Lenti, Gault said.
During their July 13, 2006 walk in the bush, Gault said that Stephenson made it clear he was prepared to murder Akleh, too, if his fellow Hells Angel spoke out against the scheme.
"I asked, `What happens if Ray Akleh says something about it?,'" Gault told the jury trial.
"He (Stephenson) held up his hand in a gun signal and mouthed the words, `Kill him too,'" Gault said.
"What was your reaction to that?," Flagg asked.
"Nothing," Gault replied. "I laughed."
Gault told court he was paid $450,000, plus another $1,900 a week for "maintenance," during the 18-month undercover operation, which ended on Sept. 28, 2006. Police also picked up the bill for his expenses and provided him with a truck, Gault said.
He said he's now paid $1,000 a week but complained that the work for the police had taken a toll on him and his family.
"I have had to uproot the kids," he said. " . . . It's been very stressful. There has been a lot of bumps on the road."
The trial continues.
