Former Hells Angels boss Maurice “Mom” Boucher, considered one of the most infamous criminals in Quebec history, has died.
Boucher was suffering from widespread throat cancer while serving a life sentence in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines penitentiary north of Montreal. He was in medical care at the time of his death. He was 69 years old.
Boucher was one of Quebec’s most notorious criminals. After joining the Angels in the late 1980s, he co-founded a local chapter in the 1990s and grew to control a multimillion-dollar drug empire.
On May 6, 2002, he was jailed for ordering the 1997 murder of two Quebec prison guards, Pierre Rondeau and Diane Lavigne.
During his time in prison, he also pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to kill rival underworld figure Raynald Desjardins, who was jailed after being convicted of conspiracy in the 2011 murder of mob boss Salvatore Montagna.
At the time of his death, he had been convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, assault with a weapon, and carrying a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
“My first thought, when I heard of Boucher’s death today, was for the prison guards,” said Guy Ouellette, a former provincial police officer who, during his three-decade career, worked to round up members of the Angels, including Boucher.
“We talk about Boucher, (but) we must never forget about these two jail guards who were innocent victims of that biker war.”
A photograph of Maurice Mom Boucher’s vest was introduced into evidence, Wednesday, March 27, 2002, at the Quebec motorcyclist’s trial. Boucher, leader of the Hells Angels in Quebec, faces two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder for allegedly ordering the deaths of two prison guards in 1997. (CP PHOTO)
That “biker war” began in 1994 and lasted eight years as the Hells Angels battled for distribution territory against rival group Rock Machine. It is considered one of the most violent gang conflicts in Quebec history.
“Boucher wanted control of the drug market in certain areas of Montreal,” said Ouellette, now a deputy from Chomedey, Quebec.
He added that Boucher’s death is just “another page” in the legacy of the biker war.
“I just feel sorry for the victims.”
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During his time in prison, reports emerged suggesting that Boucher had been stabbed in a 2010 fight involving four people, two of whom were stabbed.
In 2002, the year he was arrested, Boucher survived a makeshift knife attack after other inmates came to his defense and killed his attacker.
“Why? We’ve never been sure of the attacker’s intentions,” said crime reporter Daniel Renaud, who has written about Boucher’s time in prison for La Presse.
It is possible, he said, that his attackers “wanted to prove their worth.”
The coroner will investigate the death of Maurice Boucher and “as is always the case with the death of an inmate, the Canada Correctional Service will examine the circumstances of the incident,” the CSC said in a press release.