Brent Roddick

On the morning of Sunday, August 25, 1985, Brent Roddick, a male member of the Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club, was at his brother’s home on Hamilton’s east mountain in Ontario, Canada. For about an hour, he and two other people inside the house watched a white Lincoln Continental suspiciously circling the residence. Investigators later identified the vehicle as a likely 1980-83 Mark VI Signature series, distinguished by a wheel well cover in the trunk. The persistent presence of the car put the occupants on edge in a city tense with inter-club conflict.

Just after 8:00 a.m., the tension broke. Dogs inside the house began to bark, alerted to a presence near the front entrance. When Brent went to the door to see who was there, he was shot the moment he opened it. He collapsed inside the home and died a short time later from his injuries. A neighbor witnessed a man, described as being about six feet tall and wearing dark clothing, running from the scene toward a large car. The vehicle then sped away, leaving a brazen and fatal act of violence in its wake.

The Hamilton Police Service immediately launched a homicide investigation, designated as Case Number 8509700. From the outset, detectives believed Brent’s murder was not a random act but was directly connected to his membership in Satan's Choice and an ongoing, violent "biker war" among rival motorcycle clubs in Hamilton. The mid-1980s were a particularly bloody period for the city's outlaw motorcycle gangs. Brent's death was the fourth biker-related homicide in Hamilton that month alone.

The investigation has been contextualized by a series of violent events preceding it. In December 1983, a small bomb was detonated at the Satan's Choice clubhouse on St. Matthews Street in Hamilton. The following year, in May 1984, the Red Devils Motorcycle Club clubhouse was sprayed with bullets, resulting in the death of member Michael Carey. Some investigators believed that shooting was in retaliation for a beating that Red Devils members had allegedly given Brent Roddick just days earlier. An attempted murder on another Satan's Choice member also occurred in 1984. This cycle of violence created an atmosphere of fear and retaliation that made witnesses reluctant to come forward.

The day after Brent Roddick was killed, the Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club disbanded its Hamilton chapter, and its remaining members reportedly relocated to the Kitchener chapter. This move was seen as a direct consequence of the escalating violence and the targeted killing of one of their own. The biker war also claimed the lives of Allan Kinloch, another Satan's Choice member, and James Lewis of the rival Outlaws Motorcycle Club during that same violent month.

Decades have passed, but Brent Roddick's murder remains an open and active cold case with the Hamilton Police Service. Investigators hope that with the passage of time, allegiances have shifted and individuals who were once afraid to speak may now feel able to come forward with crucial information. The case is featured on the police service's list of unsolved homicides, a public reminder that justice has not yet been served. As of 2023, the investigation continues. Anyone with information about the murder of Brent Roddick is asked to contact Staff Sergeant Dave Oleniuk of the Major Crime Unit at 905-546-3829.