The journalists Michel Auger and Peter Edwards wrote that much about Walter Stadnick is mysterious, ranging from what is the meaning of his sobriquet "Nurget", to how a unilingual Anglo Canadian from Hamilton became the leader of the then largely French-Canadian Hells Angels.
101 Facts About Walter Stadnick
1.
2.
Walter Stadnick's parents were Andriy and Valentina Stadnick, who lived at 98 East 16th Street, in a working-class neighborhood known for its high rate of petty crime.
3.
Walter Stadnick did well in auto shop at the Hill Park Secondary School, but was otherwise an indifferent student.
4.
Those who knew him in high school considered Walter Stadnick to be a "tough little guy" who, despite his short stature, was known as a fighter.
5.
Walter Stadnick was very ambitious; joining a biker gang as a teenager in Hamilton called the Cossacks, who were noted for their habit of growing their hair long and drilling holes in their bike helmets, through which they would run their hair.
6.
Walter Stadnick named the gang the Cossacks as a reference to his Ukrainian heritage.
7.
On 23 October 1970, Walter Stadnick was arrested after a police officer found LSD tablets in his pocket.
8.
Subsequently, Walter Stadnick was arrested a second time for the possession of hash with the intention to distribute.
9.
Walter Stadnick was initially friendly with his future archenemy, Mario "the Wop" Parente, the president of the Hamilton chapter of Satan's Choice outlaw biker gang, but the two reportedly fell out when Parente vetoed the 5'4 Walter Stadnick's attempt to join Satan's Choice under the grounds that he was too short.
10.
Unable to join Satan's Choice, Walter Stadnick instead joined the Wild Ones outlaw biker club in 1977.
11.
Walter Stadnick was known for being quiet, for never smoking or doing drugs, and for drinking in moderation.
12.
In 1978, Walter Stadnick contacted Yves Buteau, the national president of Hells Angels Canada, to discuss having the Wild Ones "patch over" to become the first Hells Angels chapter in Ontario.
13.
In October 1978 Walter Stadnick went to Montreal to meet Buteau and the other Hells Angels leaders.
14.
Walter Stadnick chose to continue as a Hells Angel, operating in Montreal and alone in Hamilton.
15.
Walter Stadnick received his full patch on 26 May 1982.
16.
In December 1982, Walter Stadnick returned to Hamilton after living in Montreal for a number of years together with another Wild One turned Hells Angel, Noel "Frenchy" Mailloux, who had served as Walter Stadnick's translator during his time in Montreal.
17.
The incident badly damaged the image of the Hells Angels in Ontario, making them look to be out of control and dangerous, and Walter Stadnick was forced to suspend his efforts at trying to set up a Hells Angels chapter in Ontario for some time.
18.
Buteau's successor as national president, Michel "Sky" Langlois, together with his right-hand man, Rejean "Zig Zag" Lessard, both decided that Walter Stadnick offered their best hope of establishing the Hells Angels in Ontario.
19.
The underworld of Hamilton at that time was dominated by the three Mafia families, the Papalia crime family, the Musitano crime family and the Luppino crime family, together with the local Outlaws chapter, which made Hamilton a dangerous place for Walter Stadnick and required him to keep a low profile.
20.
On 8 September 1984, Walter Stadnick was badly injured in a traffic incident in which he ran his motorcycle into a car driven by a Catholic priest in Drummondville, Quebec.
21.
Walter Stadnick was on his way to attend a memorial service for Buteau, who was killed on that day in 1983, when a Catholic priest who was speeding on his way to Montreal to see Pope John Paul II, who was visiting Canada, led to the traffic incident.
22.
The fire caused by the traffic incident left much of Walter Stadnick's body covered with third-degree burns.
23.
Walter Stadnick's face was badly burned, leaving him with what were described as "horrific" scars to his face.
24.
Walter Stadnick went to St Joseph's Hospital in Hamilton, and believing that his archenemy Parente would try to kill him, asked the Hamilton police to guard him during his stay at St Joseph's.
25.
Walter Stadnick was careful enough to always hold his discussions with other bikers outside to avoid police bugs.
26.
Walter Stadnick did not own, but was described as running, the Rebel Roadhouse bar in Hamilton.
27.
The Outlaws planned to assassinate Walter Stadnick by firing a rocket launcher at the Rebel Roadhouse, but the police arrested those involved in the plot before the attack occurred.
28.
From 1987 onward, Walter Stadnick was closely associated with Boucher who had become a "full patch" Hells Angel on 1 May 1987.
29.
In 1987, Walter Stadnick went to Toronto to try to persuade an outlaw biker club, the Vagabonds, to "patch over" to become Hells Angels.
30.
On 5 November 1987, Walter Stadnick was arrested for the first time since 1971, The offense he was arrested for was merely drunk driving for which he was fined $750.
31.
In 1988, Walter Stadnick became the national president of the Canadian Hells Angels.
32.
Walter Stadnick was the last guy that had some seniority and some smarts.
33.
On 23 August 1988, Walter Stadnick was arrested at the home of Douglas Freeborn, a former Satan's Choice member and a prominent drug dealer in Hamilton.
34.
Caine described Parente as a traditional biker leader, the working-class tough guy, while Walter Stadnick was a modern biker leader who was more alike to a corporate CEO.
35.
Since Walter Stadnick had connections across the country, he became the Hells Angels' ambassador, traveling all over the country to recruit bikers and proceed with drug sales.
36.
Walter Stadnick chose northern Ontario because of the relatively smaller number of outlaw biker clubs there compared to southern Ontario, and because of the lack of competition.
37.
When Bernie "The Frog" Guindon, the national president of Satan's Choice, was released from prison in 1991, Walter Stadnick was one of the first to greet him upon his release and asked if he was willing to have Satan's Choice "patch over" to join the Hells Angels, an offer Guindon rejected.
38.
Walter Stadnick was known in the 1990s for his flamboyant way of dressing, wearing a full-length coat made from wolf's fur and a snakeskin belt with a solid gold belt buckle in the form of the Hells Angels' winged death's head that was hollowed inside to allow him to carry cash.
39.
On 26 June 1992, Walter Stadnick was arrested at the Winnipeg International Airport with over $80,000 worth of cash, and charged with living off the proceeds of organised crime.
40.
In June 1993, Walter Stadnick went to Wasaga Beach to attend a convention of the Loners outlaw biker gang and to meet their leader, Frank "Cisco" Lenti, to discuss having the Loners "patch over" to become Hells Angels.
41.
Walter Stadnick disliked Lenti, but he know that the Loners were one of the strongest outlaw biker clubs in Ontario making them the ideal candidates to become Hells Angels.
42.
Walter Stadnick continued to offer Lenti a chance to "patch over" several times in 1993 and 1994, but Lenti declined, instead offering Walter Stadnick a chance to join the Loners.
43.
Walter Stadnick stayed in contact with Guindon in attempts to persuade the Satan's Choice to "patch over" to the Hells Angels.
44.
Walter Stadnick had more success with bringing the four Hells Angels chapters in British Columbia under the control of the Montreal "mother chapter" and by 1993 had ensured that all of the Angel chapters in Canada answered to Montreal.
45.
Shortly before his trial for living off the proceeds of crime was due to start on 4 October 1993, the Winnipeg Sun ran an article on Walter Stadnick which led his lawyer to ask for the charges to be dropped, claiming the story by the journalist Melanie Verhaeghe had jeopardised his ability to get a fair trial.
46.
Verhaeghe found that Magnussen was following her around in an attempt to intimidate her, while Walter Stadnick's lawyer went to court to try to force her to reveal her sources.
47.
Walter Stadnick's lawyer told Verhaghe that he had a "file" on her, saying Walter Stadnick had hired a private detective to investigate her.
48.
Walter Stadnick was unable to force Verhaege to reveal her sources and the judge rejected the attempt to stay the proceedings, but the effort had delayed his trial for 15 months.
49.
Walter Stadnick spent much of the 1990s living in Winnipeg, where he courted - and was courted by - the city's two biggest outlaw biker clubs, the Spartans under Darwin Sylvester and los Bravos under Ernie Dew.
50.
Walter Stadnick regarded Winnipeg as the weakest point in the alliance and believed that if he could establish the Angels there, his club could expand into western Canada.
51.
Walter Stadnick offered them the possibility of selling cocaine, which required less work and was more profitable than auto theft, to the two Winnipeg outlaw biker clubs.
52.
Walter Stadnick used the rivalry between the Spartans and los Bravos as a way to gradually establish Hells Angels influence in Winnipeg, becoming powerful enough by 1993 to impose a truce and end the biker war in Winnipeg that began in 1991.
53.
In November 1993, in what appeared to be an attempt to undermine Guindon's leadership of Satan's Choice, Walter Stadnick met in Thunder Bay with several Satan's Choice chapter presidents, most notably Andre Wattel of the Kitchener chapter.
54.
In January 1994, Walter Stadnick founded a puppet club in Toronto called the Demon Keepers headed by Dany Kane, while at the same time trying to persuade the Satan's Choice and Para-Dice Riders gangs to "patch over" to become Hells Angels.
55.
Walter Stadnick's principle rival within the Hells Angels was an American living in Montreal named Scott Steinert, who was an extremely aggressive and ambitious man who aspired to be the Hells Angels' national president.
56.
In 1995, Walter Stadnick had the Angels' puppet club in Montreal, the Rockers, set up a puppet club in Winnipeg called the Redliners.
57.
Walter Stadnick went to Thunder Bay to woo the local Satan's Choice chapter.
58.
Walter Stadnick spent so much time in Winnipeg in the 1990s working to establish the Hells Angels on the Prairies that he rented an apartment in that city and fathered a son Damon by his common-law wife.
59.
Walter Stadnick was regularly seen in Ontario attending outlaw biker events sponsored by both the Loners and the Satan's Choice gangs throughout the 1990s.
60.
Kane's reports mentioned that Walter Stadnick was often in conflict with Steinert and alleged that Walter Stadnick wanted Steinert's bodyguard, Donald "Bam Bam" Magnussen, killed.
61.
In October 1996, Kane reported to the RCMP that Walter Stadnick had offered him $10,000 to kill Magnussen.
62.
Walter Stadnick worked in the depths of criminal activity and kept himself one step away, which made it difficult to collect the necessary evidence and charge him.
63.
Walter Stadnick then sued Harris for $500, claiming mental distress at damage that Harris allegedly did to Walter Stadnick's golden death's head belt buckle, which ended with the judge siding with Harris.
64.
Walter Stadnick does know his way around the system, and he's got the money to afford decent lawyers.
65.
Walter Stadnick has been able to carry out his business for a long time.
66.
Police sources claim that Walter Stadnick was behind the split, hoping to create a new pro-Angel club.
67.
In July 1997, Walter Stadnick persuaded the Grim Reapers gang of Calgary to "patch over" to become Hells Angels, while opening a new Hells Angels chapter in Edmonton, establishing the Hells Angels as the dominant outlaw motorcycle club in Alberta.
68.
On 23 July 1997, Walter Stadnick hosted a party in Calgary that both the Calgary and Edmonton chapters of the Grim Reapers join the Hells Angels while the Rebels Motorcycle Club of Calgary became a prospective Hells Angels chapter.
69.
On 3 September 1997, Walter Stadnick visited Toronto and met with Donny Petersen, the secretary of the Para-Dice Riders.
70.
Ward was not an outlaw biker, but he was the leader of a locally powerful criminal gang, and Walter Stadnick wanted to do business with him.
71.
The "rodeo" was interrupted when the Hells Angels' elite Nomads chapter led by Walter Stadnick, rode in unannounced from Montreal to join in.
72.
On 7 September 1998, Walter Stadnick persuaded the Rebels outlaw biker gang of Saskatoon to "patch over", allowing the Hells Angels to enter Saskatchewan.
73.
In May 1999, Walter Stadnick asked for the Glenn "Wrongway" Atkinson and Pietro "Peppe" Barilla of the Loners to visit him at the clubhouse of the Angels' Sherbrooke chapter, saying that the difficult relations between the Loners and Para-Dice Riders in Toronto were a matter of concern to him.
74.
Walter Stadnick tried to have the Loners gang of Ontario "patch over", but president of the Loners' St Thomas chapter, Wayne Kellestine, was adamantly opposed, expelling all of the Loners who wanted to join the Hells Angels and had one pro-Hells Angels Loner beaten and pistol-whipped before he was expelled.
75.
Walter Stadnick had created a drug distribution network under which all Hells Angels chapters in Canada had to buy cocaine and other drugs from the Nomad chapter.
76.
On 21 July 2000, Walter Stadnick promoted los Bravos, headed by Ernie Dew, up to "prospect" status from the "hang-around" status they had been granted in October 1997.
77.
The next day, Walter Stadnick was observed by the Winnipeg police going into a strip club where he met several presidents of Satan's Choice chapters from Ontario.
78.
On 29 December 2000, Walter Stadnick arranged for a mass "patch over" in Montreal where various Ontario outlaw biker gangs all joined the Hells Angels.
79.
Unlike the rival Bandidos, who required that new members join as "prospects", Walter Stadnick allowed the Ontario outlaw biker gangs to all join the Hells Angels "patch for patch", which was most unusual.
80.
The vast majority of the Ontario outlaw bikers clubs preferred to join the Hells Angels instead of the rival Bandidos as Walter Stadnick allowed them to maintain their dignity with his "patch for patch" offer.
81.
Walter Stadnick asked for and received permission from the Hells Angels' American leaders for the mass "patch over" as only once before, in Germany in 1999, had the Hells Angels accepted en masse a number of outlaw bikers from other clubs on a "patch for patch" basis.
82.
The decision to admit Ward and his gang as the Hells Angel chapter for the Niagara peninsula, despite the fact that Ward was not a biker and did not know how to ride a motorcycle, prompted some resentment, requiring Walter Stadnick to visit Toronto, where he declared that the new Niagara chapter, as the Ward gang had become, would be only "prospects" instead of "full patch" members.
83.
David Atwell, a Para-Dice Rider turned Hells Angel who later became a police informer, last spoke with Walter Stadnick while serving as a guard at that meeting, where he mentioned that Walter Stadnick was cordial, but always very cagey and careful about what he said.
84.
Walter Stadnick still refused to open a Hells Angel chapter in Hamilton, even through the city had eleven Angels living within it who all belonged to the chapters in Montreal, Toronto and Kitchener.
85.
The jail that Walter Stadnick was held at in Montego Bay was badly overcrowded and had one bucket that served as a toilet for the entire cell block.
86.
Walter Stadnick did not contest his extradition to Canada, returning on 10 April 2001.
87.
Langton dismissed the theory that Walter Stadnick had advance knowledge of Operation Springtime, stating if Walter Stadnick did know, then he would have gone to a country with no extradition treaty with Canada like Brazil rather than Jamaica, which does.
88.
The records showed that Walter Stadnick's codename was Gertrude and that between 30 March 1999 and 19 December 2000, the Nomads had sold $111.5 million worth of cocaine and hashish all over Canada.
89.
The records showed that Walter Stadnick brought 267 kilograms of cocaine and 173 kilograms of hashish worth $11.1 million from the Mafia and made profits of $3 million during this period.
90.
Greenspan and Gold appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, which refused their request in January 2003 to have all the evidence translated into English given that both Greenspan and Gold were fluent in French, and Walter Stadnick's trial started afterwards.
91.
On September 13,2004, Walter Stadnick was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for a collection of convictions including conspiracy to murder, drug trafficking involvement in gang activities.
92.
When filing for his taxes, Walter Stadnick never claimed more than an annual income of $35,000, but after his conviction, the Canada Revenue Agency performed an audit of his illegally obtained income, which was taxable.
93.
In 2006, Walter Stadnick was reassessed by the CRA and told to pay $1.2 million in back taxes.
94.
In 2008, Walter Stadnick filed for personal bankruptcy, claiming to be unable to afford to pay his back taxes.
95.
Walter Stadnick was paroled in June 2014, lasting less than a month on probation due to suspicion that he was associating with people with criminal records as well as the biker club.
96.
Walter Stadnick was able to convince the Parole Board of Canada to reinstate his freedom in December 2014.
97.
Until then, Walter Stadnick is under extremely strict conditions, including: avoid people in street and motorcycle gangs, barred from owning more than one cellphone and must show his parole officers detailed billing statements for it, including documentation of who he texts and emails and what social media sites he visits.
98.
Walter Stadnick can't consume alcohol or go to bars or own or operate a motorcycle or work in motorcycle repair.
99.
Walter Stadnick was described as being "polite and respectful inmate", but one who refused to admit that he had been a Hells Angel or admit any guilt.
100.
In 2018, it was reported that Walter Stadnick was employed as a construction worker.
101.
Walter Stadnick changed the status of outlaw bikers from being subcontractors for the Mafia, which was the norm when he began his career as an outlaw biker, to being the equals of the Mafia.