| Sylvain "Baptiste" Thiffault |
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| Sylvain Thiffault, born in the late 1950s, is a reputed founding member of the Hells Angels Trois-Rivieres Chapter. He and fellow Angel Stéphane “l’Grand” Poitras were also allegedly placed in charge of overseeing the activities of the Blatnois, a biker gang firmly entrenched in the Mauricie area. On April 3, 1995, the Surete du Quebec arrested Thiffault and 12 other Hells Angels members and associates. Also apprehended were Angels Louis “Mélou” Roy and Claude “Macho” Giguere. Police seized 11 hunting rifles, an Uzi, and three other firearms, as well as 300 grams of cocaine and $50,000 in cash. Thiffault and Roy were charged with the murders of Jacques Ferland and Richard Delcourt. They pleaded not guilty. Two Hells Angels associates who had also been arrested, Serge Quesnel and Michel “Pit” Caron, decided to cooperate with authorities. They were scheduled to take the stand at the two bikers’ murder trial. |
On December 14, 1996, André Bédard, a potential witness who might have been called to testify at the trial, was found dead by his sister in his Saint-Romuald home. He had reportedly died by taking too much medication. There were no signs of violence or forced entry. Bédard had been with Jacques Ferland on the night he was gunned down by Serge Quesnel. On the stand, Serge Quesnsel testified that Mélou Roy had hired him as a hit man. He was paid $500 a week, with a $10,000-$25,000 bonus for every hit he carried out. He admitted to carrying out five murders, including that of Ferland and Delcourt, as well as participating in 13 other murder conspiracies. The informant said he met with Thiffault in December, 1994. The Hells Angel allegedly supplied him with information on his target Jacques Ferland. Quesnel said he shot Ferland as he walked down the stairs of his home west of Quebec City on January 29, 1995. Ferland’s wife heard the shots and hid. Quesnel said that a few months later, in March, Thiffault gave him the contract on Richard Delcourt. He was to be paid $10,000. One night, Quesnel convinced Delcourt to drive with him to Quebec City. When they stopped at the side of the road, the self-proclaimed hitman took out a gun and fired three bullets into Delcourt. On April 8, 1997, Thiffault and Roy were brought to court in the same paddy wagon as Roger Hardy, often described as the Rock Machine’s explosives specialist. Hardy was reportedly beaten severely. Hardy’s lawyer would tell the press that his client had to be taken out on a stretcher. The next day, the two Hells Angels were acquitted. The jury didn’t consider Serge Quesnel to be a credible witness and the government reportedly didn’t offer much corroborating evidence. Six months later, on October 17, Thiffault and fellow Hells Angels Claude “Macho” Giguere, Mario Brouillette, and Francois Hinse, as well as Blatnois member Clermont Carrier, pleaded guilty to murder conspiracy charges, in exchange for authorities dropping charges against Angels leader Louis “Mélou” Roy, who was accused of ordering the hit on Claude “Le Pic” Rivard. Thiffault was among 17 people arrested on June 21, 2000, when the Surete du Quebec dealt what was called a severe blow to the Blatnois’ operaions in the Mauricie region. They were charged with a variety of crimes, including assault, kidnapping, and uttering death threats. On October 10, 2002, Thiffault was sentenced to 30 months in prison on a firearms charge. The Hells Angel supposedly kept the gun in a safe at his home. At night, he would allegedly remove it from the safe and keep it in arm’s reach. An additional charge of gangsterism was dropped due to lack of evidence. |