On November 24, 1984, a quiet apartment in Montreal, Quebec, was shattered by a powerful explosion that instantly killed four men inside and injured eight other people. One of the men who lost his life that day was Gilles Paquette. The blast was not an accident but a deliberate act of violence orchestrated by one of Canada's most prolific and feared killers, a man who moved through the nation's criminal underworld as a ghost of death for hire.
Gilles Paquette was a victim of Yves
"Apache" Trudeau, a notorious hitman for the Hells Angels motorcycle club. The bombing was an act of revenge. Trudeau had been hired to retaliate for the murder of Dunie Ryan, the leader of the West End Gang, an Irish-Canadian organized crime group that frequently contracted Trudeau for assassinations. Believing the men responsible were gathered in the apartment, Trudeau’s associate delivered a television set packed with explosives to the location. Trudeau then remotely detonated the bomb, killing Gilles Paquette, Louis-Charles Paquette, and two other men in a devastating display of brutality.
For over a decade, Yves Trudeau operated with chilling efficiency, earning nicknames like "The Mad Bomber" and "The Mad Bumper" for his preferred methods of execution. He was a founding member of the Hells Angels in Quebec and the club's most trusted assassin, responsible for countless deaths during the violent biker wars that plagued the province. His methods were varied and ruthless, ranging from shootings and beatings to strangulation and bombings. He was the first Canadian Hells Angel to earn the "Filthy Few" patch, an infamous award allegedly given to members who have killed for the club.
The investigation into the deaths of Gilles Paquette and dozens of other victims took a dramatic turn in 1985. Facing a $50,000 contract on his own life from his former Hells Angels comrades and fearing he was a target after the Lennoxville massacre, a bloody internal purge of the club, Trudeau decided to save himself. He became a police informant, a stunning betrayal in the rigidly loyal world of outlaw bikers. In exchange for a lenient sentence, Trudeau confessed to his role in 43 murders committed between 1973 and 1985.
Trudeau's confession brought a resolution to dozens of cold cases, including the bombing that killed Gilles Paquette. He pleaded guilty to 43 counts of manslaughter, a charge that caused public outrage given the calculated nature of his crimes. The deal he struck with the Crown resulted in a life sentence, but with the shocking possibility of parole after only seven years. True to the agreement, Trudeau was granted parole in 1994 and given a new identity.
His freedom was short-lived. In 2004, under the name Denis Côté, he was arrested again, this time for the sexual assault of a young boy. He pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including sexual exploitation and interference, and was sentenced to an additional four years in prison. During this final incarceration, Trudeau was diagnosed with bone-marrow cancer. In July 2008, he was granted parole and released to a medical facility, where he died shortly after. For the sister of one of his many victims, his death from cancer was a final, fitting form of justice. "Killing to him was like buying a bag of milk," she told a reporter. "A guy like that doesn't have a soul. That cancer is justice."
