117 Facts About Maurice Boucher

Maurice Boucher was a Canadian gangster, convicted murderer, reputed drug trafficker, and outlaw biker.

Maurice Boucher was once president of the Quebec Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.

In 2002, Maurice Boucher was convicted on two counts of first degree murder for ordering the murders of two Quebec prison officers in an effort to destabilize the Quebec Justice system.

Maurice Boucher was sent to serve three life sentences at Canada's only supermax prison, in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines.

Maurice Boucher had two children, Alexandra Mongeau and Francis Maurice Boucher, who have been involved in organized crime.

Maurice Boucher had seven siblings; his father was a construction worker while his mother stayed at home to raise their eight children.

Maurice Boucher's father was an alcoholic who frequently beat his wife and children.

Maurice Boucher's mother was described as the main source of love during his childhood.

Maurice Boucher's father was described as "a severe man who tolerated no lip from his children" and imposed an "iron discipline" on his children.

The world that Maurice Boucher grew up in was a world where violence was commonplace and where corruption was accepted as normal.

In July 1974, Maurice Boucher got a certificate allowing him to work in the construction industry, but he only lasted a week before being fired due to problems caused by his heavy drinking and drug use.

Maurice Boucher was arrested for three break and enters in the fall of 1974 and served nearly six months in detention.

In February 1975, Maurice Boucher was interviewed by Pellerin who described him as an ambitious man who wanted to get rich without working.

Pellerin described Maurice Boucher as lacking emotional empathy as a result of his abusive childhood, saying he was a very cold-hearted individual who regarded violence as acceptable behaviour.

On 5 November 1975, Maurice Boucher committed an armed robbery but was caught and sentenced to 40 months in prison.

Maurice Boucher went into a butcher's shop armed with a rifle and stole $138.38, but because he used a gun with the robbery, the court imposed a stiff sentence.

In July 1979, Maurice Boucher got a job working at a plastic factory in Montreal, which he held for four years, which was the longest period of legitimate employment in his entire life.

In December 1981, Maurice Boucher was again charged with a home invasion, but the charges were dropped when the victim refused to testify against him in court.

Around 1982, Maurice Boucher was a member of a white supremacist motorcycle gang named the SS who were based in Pointe-aux-Trembles, on the eastern tip of the Island of Montreal.

Maurice Boucher was impressed with the Lennoxville massacre, which proved to him that the Angels were sufficiently ruthless for his tastes, and only criticized Rejean "Zig Zag" Lessard, the man behind the massacre, for sparing three Angels from the Laval chapter instead of killing them.

The late 1980s was a period of flux for the Angels in Quebec, and Maurice Boucher rose very rapidly through the ranks.

Maurice Boucher had the nickname "Mom" because of his attention to detail, as he pestered his men with questions to make certain that they thought of everything, just like a loving, but overbearing mother.

Stadnick and Maurice Boucher went to Quebec City on 28 May 1988 to meet the leaders of an outlaw biker club called the Vikings, who agreed to "patch over" to become the Hells Angels Quebec City chapter the same night.

In 1988, Maurice Boucher went to Mississauga, Ontario, where he hijacked a truck and attempted to drive it back to Montreal, being arrested by the Peel Regional Police before getting very far.

On 15 September 1989, Maurice Boucher had the Hells Angels firebomb the clubhouse of the rival Outlaws gang in Danville.

Maurice Boucher told him that as a "full patch" Outlaw, it was out of the question for him to join the Hells Angels as the Angels never accept "full patch" Outlaws, but stated that he could be an Angel associate, an offer Leblanc accepted.

In 1989, Maurice Boucher was charged with lying to a police officer, and given a choice between paying the $200 fine or going to prison for four months; for reasons that remain unclear, he chose the latter, being released in March 1990.

Maurice Boucher's activities attracted little attention from the police who assumed that the Hells Angels were finished following the convictions of 21 Hells Angels in the late 1980s.

In November 1990, Maurice Boucher was discovered by the police to be carrying a 38-caliber handgun, paying the $900 fine rather than serve five months in prison.

When questioned by the police, Maurice Boucher denied knowing either Leblanc or Martel.

On 26 March 1992, Maurice Boucher founded the Rockers Motor Club, the Hells Angels' puppet club in Montreal that was to be responsible for most of the murders committed in the Quebec biker war, with hopes of being promoted up to Hells Angels.

Francis Maurice Boucher was the president of the Sorel chapter of the White Power Canada group as well being a member of the Quebec Ku Klux Klan youth wing.

In March 1993, Maurice Boucher paid a $500 fine after he was pulled over by a traffic cop and found with martial arts weapons in his car, violating the court order forbidding him to have any weapons.

On 25 May 1993, a surveillance team from the RCMP took photographs of Maurice Boucher, wearing his Hells Angels colors, meeting Raynald Desjardins, the right-hand man of Vito Rizzuto, the leader of the Rizzuto crime family, one of the most powerful Mafia families in Canada.

Maurice Boucher had the two Hells Angel puppet clubs, the Evil Ones and the Rockers, to start moving into markets controlled by the Rock Machine.

Maurice Boucher persuaded Rock Machine controlled bars and their resident drug dealers to surrender their illegal drug business or their resistance would lead to bloodshed.

In what appeared to be a division of labour, Stadnick was in charge of expanding the Angels into Ontario and the Prairies while bringing the Angel chapters in British Columbia which answered to the Hells Angels chapter in Seattle under control of the Montreal chapter while Maurice Boucher had the task of fighting the Quebec biker war.

Gagne, a Grade 7 drop-out from the same Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood of Montreal that Maurice Boucher came from and a long-time drug dealer and thief, met Maurice Boucher while walking down Sherbrooke Street and agreed to buy his drugs from the Hells Angels.

At their first meeting on 4 November 1994, Kane told Verdon that Maurice Boucher was a very dangerous man who was much feared by the other Angels, who was planning to murder anyone and everyone who might oppose him in his plans to take over the drug trade in Quebec.

In 2013, Maurice Boucher's source was finally revealed to be Detective Benoit Roberge, the man in charge of stopping the biker war, who in 2014 pleaded guilty to charges of gangsterism, as he admitted to selling information in exchange for $125,000.

Kane's notes state that Maurice Boucher had placed the anonymous call and bribed the Surete du Quebec detectives to plant the evidence, as this would be a "win-win" for him.

In January 1995, Maurice Boucher decided to start a new Hells Angels chapter which he would lead.

Maurice Boucher was the sole president of the Nomad chapter in name, but in practice the Nomads were led by the triumvirate of David "Wolf" Carroll, Maurice Boucher, and Stadnick.

Cleverly, Maurice Boucher usually paid his lawyer to be present at his meetings with other Angels, thus technically making these meetings between a client and his lawyer, meaning the police could not record these meetings as that would violate solicitor-client confidentiality.

Maurice Boucher purchased a mansion in the south end of Montreal, complete with gardens and stables for his horses.

Maurice Boucher was active as a real estate developer in Mexico, owning several properties in Acapulco and often hosted parties attended by senior officers of the extremely corrupt Acapulco police department.

Kane reported that Maurice Boucher spent much time in Mexico as he was unable to enter the United States owing to his criminal record.

When filing his income taxes, Maurice Boucher variously gave his occupation as a chef, construction worker, used car salesman, and real estate developer.

Woolley was said to have done such an "exquisite" job at carving up his rival that he earned the nickname "Picasso", and he was ultimately made the president of the Rockers by Maurice Boucher, becoming the first black man to ever head an outlaw biker club in Canada.

In March 1995, Maurice Boucher was found to be carrying a handgun after he was pulled over by the police, doing a few months in prison.

Maurice Boucher was released in July 1995, and remembered Gagne, telling him to get in touch after he got out of prison, saying he had "important work" for him.

Gagne found that Maurice Boucher had a disconcerting habit of appearing suddenly and without warning, and expecting him to perform some task instantly; for an example, Maurice Boucher showed up unannounced at Gagne's mother's house to tell him that he had an important assignment that needed to be performed immediately.

Maurice Boucher had the Hells Angels run their surveillance unit, consisting of three vehicles, namely a pick-up truck, a van and an automobile with tinted windows and secret cameras with batteries that lasted for 72 hours, which he used to collect intelligence on other criminal groups and the police.

Maurice Boucher told Gagne that he wanted the names of everyone in the Cotroni family as it was his intention to liquidate the Cotroni family once he was finished with the Rock Machine.

On 23 September 1995, a bouncer, Steven "Bull" Bertrand, who sold drugs for the Hells Angels, called Maurice Boucher to complain about being beaten up by another drug dealer.

Maurice Boucher told him to get a baseball bat and beat bloody the man who punched him out, and as the phone call was being listened in by the police, he was charged with counselling violence.

On 27 October 1995, Maurice Boucher's bail hearing relating to the charges attracted unusual publicity, during which a used car dealer described Maurice Boucher as one of his best employees, who had sold $70,000 worth of automobiles in the last year, which was a remarkable achievement for a man who just spent three months in prison.

Maurice Boucher was able to post bail, but forbidden to associate with members of the Hells Angels, Vito Rizzuto, and Robert Savard, one of the best-known loan sharks in Montreal.

On 31 January 1996, Maurice Boucher pleaded guilty to counselling violence and paid the $2,000 fine.

Maurice Boucher explains his decision by the fact that the police have become too strong and are everywhere and that he can't move.

However, Kane reported that Maurice Boucher dominated the market for Ecstasy in Montreal, making a $1 profit on every Ecstasy pill sold in the Montreal area.

Maurice Boucher was especially alarmed when Rocker hitman Aime Simard turned delateur in March 1997, which was the third time since 1985 the Crown had offered a lenient deal to a Hells Angels-associated hitman.

Maurice Boucher complained that despite their past crimes, Yves "Apache" Trudeau, Serge Quesnel and Simard had nevertheless still all received favorable plea bargains from the Crown.

Maurice Boucher was extremely unhappy when he learned that Gagne had turned Crown's evidence, believing the Crown would never cut a deal with someone who had killed prison guards.

On 18December 1997, Maurice Boucher was arrested and charged with two counts of first degree murder for the killings of Rondeau and Lavigne.

Maurice Boucher was denied bail and was not placed in Riviere-des-Priries jail.

Fontaine was allowed to live as Maurice Boucher wanted to keep the services of his boyfriend Boutin.

Maurice Boucher did not attend the preliminary hearing because the prison guards refused to take him to court.

On 2 November 1998, Maurice Boucher's trial began in Montreal with Maurice Boucher being defended by Jacques Larochelle and Crown Attorney Jacques Dagenais prosecuting.

Furthermore, Gagne stated that he received the orders to kill the prison guards from Fontaine and Tousignant while by his own admission Maurice Boucher had only made cryptic statements and hand gestures to him.

Maurice Boucher did not see fit to testify in his own defence.

On 27 November 1998, Maurice Boucher was acquitted of ordering the murder of Rondeau and Lavigne in 1997, and afterwards become a folk-hero in Quebec.

Maurice Boucher was carried out of the courtroom on the shoulders of his fellow Hells Angels while Commander Bouchard, who was present in the courtroom, looked very glum at the sight.

When Maurice Boucher arrived at the Molson Centre to see the middleweight boxing match between David Hilton and Stephane Ouellet, the crowd roared its approval of him as he was considered to be "cool".

Commander Andre Bouchard who headed the investigation that assembled the evidence that Maurice Boucher had ordered the murders of Lavigne and Rondeau, had been feeling heartbroken when he learned that Maurice Boucher had been acquitted of the two murders, and felt that attending the Hilton-Ouellet boxing match might get his mind off the pain of defeat.

Whenever Maurice Boucher and his fellow Angels rode their Harley-Davidson motorcycles down the streets of the working class Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district in Montreal, ordinary people would come out to cheer Maurice Boucher like it was a royal procession.

Maurice Boucher became a celebrity in Quebec, despite or perhaps because of the violence of the biker war, with many polls showing that he was one of the most admired and best-loved men in la belle province while the Quebec media often engaged in fawning coverage of the charismatic Maurice Boucher.

In September 1999, the Hells Angel David Carroll told Kane that Maurice Boucher was a "strong leader", but a poor businessman.

Bouchard came from the same Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district that Maurice Boucher grew up in, and like him, he spoke his joual with a strong working-class accent; however unlike Maurice Boucher with his violent alcoholic father, Bouchard's father had served in the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II, afterwards becoming a policeman, and was credited by his son with teaching him the difference between right and wrong.

Bouchard was especially infuriated by the fact that Maurice Boucher was in effect planning crimes literally right in front of him.

On 26 April 2000, Maurice Boucher had lunch at a popular Montreal restaurant, Shawn's, with Andre "Dede" Desjardins, one of the most "infamous" union bosses in Quebec who had become Montreal's most successful loan shark.

Maurice Boucher refused to answer any questions and told Bouchard he would only speak with his lawyer present.

Maurice Boucher claimed he and Desjardins had been talking about the weather in the Dominican Republic the previous day, which had bored him so much that he decided to skip breakfast with Desjardins that day.

Maurice Boucher told Bouchard that it was a "sad thing" that his friend Desjardins had been murdered and would call him at once "if he heard anything".

Bouchard later recalled that Maurice Boucher did not seem at all upset about the murder of his "friend" Desjardins.

However, Gagne testified that Maurice Boucher wanted to eliminate people like Desjardins, French-Canadian criminals willing to work with the Mafia, as an interim measure as a way of weakening the power of the Mafia before taking them on outright.

Maurice Boucher's friend who was struggling with the loan was a man who had associations with the Rizzuto family and was not a Hells Angel.

Langton argued that Maurice Boucher had chosen to use a case of an Italo-Canadian struggling with an unpayable loan as an excuse to eliminate Desjardins without arousing the suspicions of his nominal ally, Vito Rizzuto.

Kane stated that Maurice Boucher wanted to attend the meeting with Rizzuto but did not, so as not to attract police attention.

On 23 June 2000, to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the founding of the Nomads, Maurice Boucher held a party, which was the last time that Louis "Melou" Roy, a Nomad and the Hells Angels chapter president for Trois-Rivieres was seen alive.

Roy had objected to the deal Maurice Boucher had reached with the Rizzuto family to sell cocaine for $50,000 per kilo.

Also attending and performing at the wedding was another well-loved French-Canadian folk singer Jean-Pierre Ferland who posed for photographs with Maurice Boucher, saying it was a great honour to meet him.

On 27 September 2000, Maurice Boucher met with Frederic "Fred" Faucher, the leader of the Rock Machine, in a courthouse in Quebec City to agree to the truce.

On 10 October 2000, a Montreal appeals judge overruled double jeopardy, declaring that the Crown had presented credible evidence that the 1998 trial of Maurice Boucher was marred by intimidation of the jury and that Justice Boilard's instructions to the jury were defective, and as such, Maurice Boucher should be retried for the murders of Lavigne and Rondeau.

Bouchard stated that Maurice Boucher "was pissed off," recalling that Maurice Boucher swore continuously at the police when he was taken in, as he never expected double jeopardy to be undone.

Maurice Boucher was denied bail and held at the Tanguay jail prior to and during his trial.

Maurice Boucher refused to eat the prison's food out of fear of being poisoned, instead subsisting on a steady diet of chocolate bars.

Unfortunately for Maurice Boucher he wrote the letter of complaint himself, sparking widespread ridicule as his writing was full of spelling and grammatical mistakes.

The discovery that high school dropout Maurice Boucher was incapable of writing a proper French sentence damaged his public mystique some, lending him a somewhat oafish image.

Maurice Boucher hired lawyer Alan Gold to challenge the appeal court's decision before the Supreme Court, arguing that the decision to overturn double jeopardy violated his rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but to no avail as in December 2000 the Supreme Court sided with the Crown.

On 28 March 2001, Maurice Boucher learned from his jail cell of Operation Springtime, which saw the arrest of 142 bikers including 80 of the 106 "full patch" Hells Angels and almost the entire Nomad chapter plus every member of the Rockers and the Evil Ones.

Besides the blow to the judicial system in Quebec, Maurice Boucher wanted crimes committed by bikers that would be so serious that prosecutors would not want to make deals to turn bikers into informants.

In 1998, a jury acquitted Maurice Boucher of having ordered those murders.

Maurice Boucher was convicted of the murders with the help of a police informer in May 2002.

Maurice Boucher testified that Boucher ordered him to carry out the killings and was later congratulated by Boucher himself.

Maurice Boucher had visited her furniture store in downtown Montreal where she worked as a clerk and gave him menacing looks as he pretended to browse.

Maurice Boucher displayed no emotion as the verdict was announced besides for "a slight pursing of his lips".

Maurice Boucher received an automatic life sentence, with no possibility of parole for at least 25 years.

Maurice Boucher was detained in the only Canadian Super-Maximum security penitentiary, located in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, north of Montreal.

In May 2002, Maurice Boucher was held in the prison's E-block section where other Hells Angels were housed.

Maurice Boucher was described as being "depressed, cantankerous and aggressive" in prison.

In September 2002, the Indian Posse, a criminal gang made up of First Nations people active on the Prairies, tried to kill Maurice Boucher by firing a bazooka at his cell.

Danny Wolfe, the leader of the Indian Posse ordered Maurice Boucher killed as a way of demonstrating the power of the Indian Posse.

The man who attacked Maurice Boucher was a First Nations criminal who had wanted to join the Hells Angels, but was refused as the Angels only accept whites.

Shortly before his trial was due to begin, Maurice Boucher pleaded guilty on 17 April 2018 for conspiring to murder Raynald Desjardins.

The willingness of drug dealers to pay Mongeau a "cut" of their profits shows that Maurice Boucher still had influence in the Montreal underworld despite being in prison since 2002.

On 10 July 2022, La Presse reported that Maurice Boucher died while receiving palliative care for throat cancer.