American diplomats were unnerved by what they consider the powerful and unsavoury influence of the Quebec Hells Angels, according to documents recently released by Wikileaks. Plenty has already been written and Les Hells and drug trafficking, but the leaked correspondence also points to their involvement in underaged prostitution, video piracy and telemarketing scams.

Just when you think there’s nothing fresh to worry about, something like this comes along. Two Lauryn Hill fans were chased after leaving a concert by ten angry Oakland Hells Angels, who mistook them for rival bikers. Hope the concert was worth it.

A motorist faces manslaughter charges for colliding with the motorcycle ridden by senior American Bandido Carlton (Pervert) Bare of Texas. It would be interesting how Michael (Taz) Sandham, who’s now in prison serving a life term for the eight murders in the Bandido Massacre, reacted to the news. Sandham met with Bare and other top Texans in the Bandidos before and after the slaughter.

Bare was particularly disgusted with how some  of the Canadian Bandidos didn’t own – or know how to ride – motorcycles.

George Wegers, another key American Bandido when the Canadian drama was being played out, survived a motorcycle accident a few years ago, barely survived a motorcycle accident a few years ago.

During the Bandido Massacre trial, I chatted a little on MySpace with Carlton (Pervert) Bare, one of the top American Bandidos who’s mentioned in the book. He was just killed by a truck driver while riding his motorcycle in Texas.

Raw video of the crash scene shows his crushed motorcycle with the license plate “GFBD” for “God Forgives, Bandidos Don’t.”

Bare had been keenly following The London Free Press’s Twitter reports on the trial.

In our conversation, Bare was curious about Canadian extradition laws and also asked if Canada has a death penalty. He also sounded like he didn’t really know too much about the different personalities of men charged – and killed – in the Bandido massacre.

It’s impossible not to feel badly today for the families of the eight murdered men, whose bodies were discovered five years ago today.

Here’s a copy of Boxer Muscedere’s obit, which is running in the Windsor and Toronto Star. When I was sent to cover this story by the Toronto Star, the men were just a collection of names. Now I can see them as people and people with loving families. I was amazed to learn of Boxer’s courage: he stood up to a Nazi-lover with a loaded gun to defend a Jewish man he considered a brother. And then he laughed at the Nazi-lover rather than join him. It’s courage by any standards and while his family grieves his loss, their pride is palpable.

Five years ago today, the meeting began at Wayne (Weiner) Kellestine’s farm that ended in the largest biker murder in the world, anywhere, any time. The more I learned about the inner workings of the club, the more I was struck by the absolute pointlessness of the crime. All of the victims – and the killers – had all already been kicked out of the club by its American headquarters. None of them made a penny from the crime. Most of the victims wanted to quit the club anyway. Many of the victims had loving families and didn’t need the false brotherhood of the club. It’s obvious why clubs like the Outlaws and the Hells Angels didn’t want Kellestine in their ranks, but it’s too simple to blame all of the bloodshed on his insanity. Seven times that night, he turned his back on “brothers,” and no one once raised a hand to stop him.

Today (Tuesday April 5) at 4pm EST there’s an episode on the Outlaws, as part of the  Outlaw Biker series on History Television, followed by  one on Winnipeg biker turmoil called “The Last Spartan” on Thursday. It’s pretty much Outlaw Biker-palooza for the rest of the month. An episode I worked on, “Project Gault,” is slated to run on Thursday, May 12. It deals with Steve Gault, formerly of the Oshawa Hells Angels, and now in a witness protection program, after taking more than $1-million to turn on his club. Readers of The Bandido Massacre will remember him as a particularly unsavoury character, by both biker and mainstream standards.