Shootings In Boutique Near Hotel Intercontinental

[EagerBeaver]

To be honest, I don't think any business should be shut down because of the fear of reprisals and innocent people getting shot in a gang style hit.

First of all, it can happen out in the street and someone already alluded to a case where a child was killed in Montreal in a past gangster slaying out in the street. It can happen anywhere. It can happen in La Belle Provence. Are we going to shut down every business in Montreal because Ducarme Joseph or Goodrich goes there or has drinks there? Come on.

Second, to me this sounds like the donut munchers are trying to cover their asses. They would prefer not to make arrests or otherwise strike deals with those in organized crime. Instead, they cover their asses by deciding that a certain business is a risk of collateral damage and shutting down that business. This is PR bullshit designed to get the public thinking that the Montreal Police Department is doing something for their safety. They are doing shit! There is no more risk of going to this Club than there is of breathing cigarette smoke on the street. But by creating an illusion of a risk, the cops have tricked all of you into thinking they are doing something when all they are doing is munching on Boston Kremes in Tim Horton's.

Third, this starts an unsavory trend. If Club Temptation is shut down then why weren't those fancy restaurants that Ducarme Joseph frequented also shut down? Were they paying the cops for extra or overtime duty police presence? This is fucken bullshit! The only difference is that Club Temptation's credit is no longer good with the Montreal PD.

Fourth, whatever minimal risk exists to patrons, they take a risk anyway. You go to a strip club and maybe there could be a shooting unrelated to any of this shit and you get caught in the middle. Maybe there is a fight and you get caught in the middle. I have been caught in the middle of two fights at strip clubs in my life. Shit happens. When you go to a strip club you step into a business that is not totally on the up and up and you make a decision to go on that turf and whatever happens there, happens and you chose to be at that place. I do not need the Montreal police to decide for me, or even for Techman or Dee, where they should go and where they should spend their money. Fuck them. If someone wants to go to La Belle Provence and spend $5 on horrible poutine or get a lap dance at Club Temptation that is their choice. I don't tell anyone how to spend their money and neither should the Montreal PD.

 

[Dee]

Good point and agreed EB... I was surprised to see this, bizarre even.

If the dude attended church at Our Lady of Multiple Organisms and Squirter of Holy Water would LE try to shut that down too?

 

[CaptRenault]

Disorganized crime

Montreal's underworld is experiencing a change the likes of which has not been seen in nearly three decades, say experts on organized crime.


By Paul Cherry, The GazetteMay 1, 2010

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Disorganized+crime/2974286/story.html#ixzz0mikZAB4C

The two most notorious groups that have dominated the scene for years, the Hells Angels and the Montreal Mafia, appear to be in disarray and reeling from police investigations of the past four years, which have taken out the leadership of the organizations, both known for maintaining hierarchical systems dependent on the loyalty of a large group of underlings.
This has created a scenario in which new players are rising to new prominent roles, a new epoch for independent middlemen....

 

[eastender]

Expectations

Disorganized crime

Montreal's underworld is experiencing a change the likes of which has not been seen in nearly three decades, say experts on organized crime.


By Paul Cherry, The GazetteMay 1, 2010

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Disorganized+crime/2974286/story.html#ixzz0mikZAB4C

The two most notorious groups that have dominated the scene for years, the Hells Angels and the Montreal Mafia, appear to be in disarray and reeling from police investigations of the past four years, which have taken out the leadership of the organizations, both known for maintaining hierarchical systems dependent on the loyalty of a large group of underlings.
This has created a scenario in which new players are rising to new prominent roles, a new epoch for independent middlemen....

CR,

Interesting article as usual but not for the reasons that the author of the article intended.

The reference to the 1980's is particularly interesting. The destabilizing effect of the Hell's Angles entering Quebec a few years previous,plus the context of the inner purge that went down in Lennoxville and the resulting discovery of how bodies were disposed off.

There seems to be an underlying assumption that organized crime has to conform to an established template with little fluidity. History tends to show the opposite - plenty of fluid, opportunistic trends, move into Las Vegas post WWII being a prime example. Perhaps the author's and quoted experts have not figured out the latest moves - somewhat not surprising as their history is not pro active.

 

[CS Martin]

E,

Reading between the lines, it appears you're saying the business is purposely being decentralized (i.e. outsourced) in pretty much the same way Boeing or Airbus had done. Control of particular portions being parcelled between different cooperating entities in sometimes foreign locations. Would seem quite applicable in a city as open as Montreal. Maybe I'm reading to much into it.....

CSM

P.S. Russians seem quite good at this business model

 

[eastender]

Global Influences

E,

Reading between the lines, it appears you're saying the business is purposely being decentralized (i.e. outsourced) in pretty much the same way Boeing or Airbus had done. Control of particular portions being parcelled between different cooperating entities in sometimes foreign locations. Would seem quite applicable in a city as open as Montreal. Maybe I'm reading to much into it.....

CSM

P.S. Russians seem quite good at this business model

Simply the model has to account for all the various global influences plus modern technology that was not present generations ago.

While there are advantages to tight local control this option is no longer viable nor necessarily desirable. In the overall global scheme Montreal is not a big enough player and is not in a position to dictate anything to anyone.

You are quite correct about some of the ethnic elements that are comfortable in such an environment but the Montreal part of the overall operation is the minor leagues.

 

[Chigen]

The old time mafia just wants to sit back and control things, they need the haitians and hispanics to work at the bottom. Sometimes the little rats just get over confident and try to get to the top with a killing or two.

 

[CS Martin]

Simply the model has to account for all the various global influences plus modern technology that was not present generations ago.

While there are advantages to tight local control this option is no longer viable nor necessarily desirable. In the overall global scheme Montreal is not a big enough player and is not in a position to dictate anything to anyone.

You are quite correct about some of the ethnic elements that are comfortable in such an environment but the Montreal part of the overall operation is the minor leagues.

Sir,

You misunderstand. I'm agreeing that Montreal is too small a player in the global sense. Frankly, I was referring to other ethnic elements controling the Montreal market from outside. Montreal and Canada in general is more open, via (what seems to be) its generous immigration policy and low popluation to overall area, to this type of influence. Just an impression from an uninformed source, it seems certain ethnic organized crime influences are more predominate in say Vancover....While Montreal has its own foreign influences......

CS

 

[CaptRenault]

Police have nabbed some gangbangers for firebombing Italian cafes in Montreal last fall. Some of them were already in jail...and the rest of them should have been. It seems likely that the firebombings are somehow related to the killing of Nick Rizzoto Jr. and the attempted killing of Ducarme Jospeh, but it's hard to say exactly how.

9 arrested in Montreal firebombings

Thursday, May 6, 2010 | 7:45 PM ET

CBC News

Montreal police made nine arrests Thursday in connection with a series of café firebombings.​

Five men were arraigned at the Montreal courthouse in connection with attacks on two Montreal cafés last fall.
Four others, including one minor, were held for questioning.
The charges of arson, mischief and conspiracy are related to attacks on the Peaches Bar and the Pirandello Café on Oct. 28.
Molotov cocktails were thrown through the windows of the establishments in the city's east end.
So far, investigators have solved five of 18 attacks against Italian-owned cafés in the city's east end which took place between September and January, police said.
The suspects arrested as part of a sweep called Project Arcane are all known to police and known to be connected to street gangs, said Montreal police Insp. Bernard Lamothe.
Investigators are still working on different theories for the attacks, including that they could be related to the fatal shooting of Nick Rizzuto Jr., the son of the presumed head of the Montreal Mafia, in December.
"All of these theories are still very plausible even today after these arrests," said Lamothe. "It can be either street gangs that want to take more territory for selling narcotics [or] it can also be inside of the mafia."
The suspects include Yann Bouthillier, 30, Louis Cyr, 25, Lukenson Desgraves, 26, Sébastien Calixte, 22, and Jean-Sébastien Jacques, 24.
Cyr and Desgraves were released on bail and ordered not to communicate with known street gang members...

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/05/06/mtl-firebombing-arrests.html#ixzz0nMu9143x
​

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/05/06/mtl-firebombing-arrests.html#ixzz0nMtxByKo
​

 

[master_bates]

Mafia Don Paulo Renda kidnapped
The war continues

http://www.leaderpost.com/news/Alleged+Montreal+mobster+abducted+near+home/3056200/story.html

 

[CaptRenault]

Black Dodge van linked to Old Montreal killings

Two slain in clothing boutique. Police scour Pointe aux Trembles for leads on possible getaway vehicle

By PAUL CHERRY, The Gazette
May 29, 2010

The investigation into a double slaying carried out inside a clothing boutique in Old Montreal in March brought homicide investigators to a condominium building in Pointe aux Trembles yesterday as police released new information in the case.
About 20 members of the Montreal police conducted a door-to-door campaign early yesterday at an intersection near the eastern tip of the Montreal Island. The site was about 20 kilometres east of where two men were killed, and another two were injured, in a shooting March 18 inside the Flawnego clothing boutique on St. Jacques St. W.
The boutique is owned by Ducarme Joseph, 42, a former street gang leader who is believed to have been the intended target in the shooting.
Joseph is thought to have been inside the boutique at the time but slipped away unharmed.
Several police sources have said a path they are pursuing is that the March 18 shooting is tied to the December slaying of Nicolo (Nick) Rizzuto Jr., the son of reputed Mob boss Vito Rizzuto.
Yesterday, investigators knocked on doors inside a large condo building in Pointe aux Trembles because, according to a police source, they believe a van used as a getaway vehicle after the shooting was seen near the intersection of 81st St. and Sherbrooke St. E. days before the Flawnego shooting.
The Montreal police also released video footage captured on a security camera of the van in question. It is a recent model, black Dodge Caravan with an F at the start of its licence plate.
On April 9, Montreal police released two other videos that captured the images of two men believed to have been the gunmen in the double slaying. Police said they obtained new information through releasing the video.
No arrests have been made in the investigation. But last month Montreal police released information, during a hearing before Quebec's liquor board, in which they stated they feared Richard Goodridge, 41, a former associate of Joseph, could become the target of reprisals in the Flawnego shooting.
Police believed someone would be the target in a shooting similar to what happened at the clothing boutique.
Gang members loyal to Goodridge are believed to have held a meeting at the strip bar the night after the shooting at Flawnego.
Goodridge is alleged to have become a silent partner in a strip club in 2008 along with members of the Montreal Mafia.

 

[Doc Holliday]

If they're serious about finding the two killers, they should find the killers of Mark Kraynak and Steve Wright. That's where they'll find answers.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Club owner may yield to police

Criminal ties alleged; Key expert on street gangs was about to testify in front of liquor board

by Paul Cherry, The Gazette

The official owner of a downtown strip club is expected to decide Thursday whether he will continue to challenge a claim by Montreal police that the bar in his name is actually controlled by an alleged organized crime figure and poses a threat to public safety.

Véronique Courtecuisse, a lawyer representing 61-year-old Joseph Vallera before the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (RACJ), made the surprise announcement yesterday as more potentially damaging testimony to Club Temptation's reputation was about to be presented to the liquor board.

The Montreal police contend the club is actually controlled by Richard Goodridge, 41, a convicted criminal with strong ties to street gangs. Police investigators have already testified they have concerns the bar could be the site of an "imminent reply" to a March 18 shooting that is believed to have been an attempt on the life of Ducarme Joseph, a former street gang leader. Last month, the liquor board agreed to temporarily revoke the club's permit and police are seeking to have it revoked permanently.

Goodridge and Joseph are believed to be enemies. Two people were killed inside Flawnego, Joseph's clothing boutique in Old Montreal, in the March 18 incident.

Courtecuisse informed Daniel Lord and Jean Robert, the two RACJ registrars hearing the case, that Vallera might make a decision that could end the hearing today. This was just as Det.-Sgt. James Paixao, a Montreal police expert on street gangs, was about to testify regarding Goodridge's past. Paixao is considered the key witness in the hearing.

A witness who testified before Paixao told the board that Goodridge was tied to the Hells Angels more than a decade ago, during the biker gang war, a conflict that stretched from 1994 to 2002 and resulted in the deaths of more than 150 people.

Det.-Sgt. Stéphane Cloutier, a Montreal police expert on biker gangs, said Goodridge's ties to the Hells Angels date back to 1999, when he was living in Lachine's Duff Court area.

Cloutier said that in 1999 Goodridge was seen wearing T-shirts with the words "Support Rockers" on them. Cloutier said it was evidence Goodridge was an associate of the Rockers, a puppet gang created by Maurice (Mom) Boucher, the most powerful Hells Angel in the province during the biker war. Boucher is currently serving three life sentences for ordering the deaths of prison guards.

In 2000, Goodridge was believed to have helped the Rockers while they provided security to their bosses in the Hells Angels. During the spring of 2000, his car was seen parked behind a restaurant on St. Laurent Blvd. while Boucher dined inside with Normand Robitaille, a fellow Hells Angel. Goodridge was not spotted among Boucher's bodyguards that day, but, Cloutier said, it was believed he was helping out in some way.

Goodridge was also in a vehicle that was part of a convoy that followed Boucher to a demolition derby in 2000. Police noticed bulletproof vests in the back seat, Cloutier said.

During the few years that followed 2000, Goodridge dropped off the radar as far as biker gang investigators in Quebec were concerned. Cloutier said Goodridge appeared to be operating in Ontario from 2001 to about 2004. He theorized Goodridge likely wanted to keep away from Quebec because he was introduced to the Hells Angels through Dany Kane, a member of the Rockers who was later revealed to have been working as a police informant. Kane was supplying inside information to the police while they worked on an investigation that ultimately became Operation Springtime 2001, which shut down Boucher's vast criminal network. Kane took his own life in 2000; the fact that he was an informant was revealed in court months later.

Montreal police investigators who have testified said they gathered information that Goodridge controls Club Temptation, paid $250,000 for the bar and covered the cost of major renovations done since early 2009. At least some of the evidence indicates Goodridge took control of the club through intimidation.

On May 29, 2009, Montreal police received a call about men who were refusing to pay their bar bills. When the police arrived at Club Temptation, they were directed to the club's VIP area, where they found Goodridge seated along with Fritz Gerald (King) Michel, an influential street gang member, and Eric Naudi, a man Goodridge had been arrested with in the past.

Stéphane Dumas, a member of Project Eclipse, the Montreal police street gang unit, asked Goodridge what was going on. Dumas testified that Goodridge told him he was the club's manager. Goodridge also said the dispute over the bar tab was because all of the furniture in the bar belonged to him and that Vallera was late in paying for it. No one inside the bar filed a complaint to police.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Police fight strip club liquor license to avoid bloodshed

by Paul Cherry, The Gazette

MONTREAL - Richard Goodridge’s ties to organized crime date back at least a decade, the provincial liquor board was told during a hearing to determine whether a downtown strip club should be closed because he is alleged to control it.

The Montreal police suspect Goodridge, 41, took control of Club Temptation sometime late in 2008 and has acted as if he owns it ever since, even though he is not the owner on paper.

The Montreal police fear the club could become the target of a retaliation to the March 18 attempt on the life of Ducarme Joseph, a former street gang leader. Two people died in the shooting, inside Joseph’s clothing boutique in Old Montreal, and the Montreal police have information indicating that Joseph and Goodridge are enemies despite having been in the same street gang several years ago.

During testimony given Wednesday morning, Montreal police Det.-Sgt. Stéphane Cloutier, an expert on biker gangs, said Goodridge’s ties to organized crime date back at least to 1999, when he was living in Lachine’s Duff court area.

Cloutier said that during the biker gang war – a bloody conflict over drug trafficking turf that stretched from 1994 to 2002 – Goodridge was clearly on the side of the Hells Angels. He was seen wearing t-shirts that with the words “Support Rockers” on them.

Cloutier said it was evidence Goodridge was an associate of the Rockers, a puppet gang created by Maurice (Mom) Boucher, the most powerful Hells Angel in the province during the biker war. Boucher is currently serving three life sentences for ordering the deaths of prison guards.

In 2000, Goodridge was believed to have helped the Rockers while they provided security to their bosses in the Hells Angels.

During the spring of 2000, his car seen parked behind a restaurant on St. Laurent Blvd. while Boucher dined inside with Normand Robitaille, a fellow Hells Angel. Goodridge was not spotted among Boucher’s bodyguards that day but, Cloutier said, it was believed Goodridge was helping out somehow.

Goodridge was also in a vehicle that was part of a convoy that followed Boucher to a demolition derby in 2000. Police noticed bullet proof vests in the back seat.

But in the few years that followed 2000, Goodridge dropped off the map, as far as biker gang investigators in Quebec were concerned.

Cloutier said Goodridge appeared to be operating in Ontario from 2001 to about 2004. Cloutier theorized that Goodridge likely wanted to keep away from Quebec because he was brought within the fold of the Hells Angels through Dany Kane, a man who was later revealed to have been working as a police informant.

Kane was supplying inside information to the police while they worked on an investigation that ultimately became Operation Springtime 2001, which shut down Boucher’s vast criminal network. Kane took his own life in 2000, before the arrests in Operation Springtime 2001 were carried out. The fact that he was an informant was revealed in court months later.

Linking Goodridge to the Hells Angels appears to be a priority for the Montreal police because of t-shirts Goodridge has been seen wearing this year.

A Montreal police officer saw Goodridge wearing the t-shirt at Club Temptation in January and asked if he could have it. Goodridge handed it over without hesitation and Cloutier was asked to take a look at it.

“I was surprised to see that Goodridge handed over the t-shirt,” Cloutier said. “When I first saw it I had to look at it carefully. It is composed like a biker gang shirt. It is composed like the back of a biker gang jacket.

“If someone wore this on the street it would catch the attention of a longtime criminal.”

Cloutier highlighted the fact that a small one per cent symbol is visible on the t-shirt. The symbol is used by outlaw motorcycle gangs to identify themselves as people who live outside the law. It refers to a quote uttered decades ago by the president of an American motorcycle riding association who said 99 per cent of motorcycle enthusiasts were law abiding citizens and the remaining one per cent were criminals.

Club Temptation is owned on paper by Joseph Vallera, a 61-year-old Montreal resident currently facing weapons and drug possession charges.

Montreal police investigators who have testified before the liquor board hearings say they have gathered information that Goodridge controls Club Temptation and that he paid $250,000 for the bar along with agreeing to cover the cost of major renovations.

At least some of the evidence indicates Goodridge took control of the club through intimidation.

On May 29, 2009, the Montreal police received a call about men who were refusing to pay their bills while they drank at Club Temptation. When the police arrived they were directed to the club’s VIP area where they found Goodridge seated along with Fritz Gerald (King) Michel, an influential street gang member and Eric Naudi, a man Goodridge had been arrested with in the past.

Stéphane Dumas, a member of Project Eclipse, the Montreal police street gang unit, asked Goodridge what was going on. Dumas testified that Goodridge told him that he was the club’s manager. Goodridge also said that the dispute over the bar tab was because all of the furniture in the bar belonged to him and that Vallera was late in paying for it. Dumas testified that Goodridge told him that if Vallera didn’t pay what he owed soon he would remove all the furniture within a week. No one inside the bar ended up filing a complaint to the police.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Strip club 'like gunpowder': gang expert

Régie hears of volatile situation; Club's alleged controller is looking for a new front, informant told police

by Paul Cherry, The Gazette

MONTREAL- Richard Goodridge is still trying to find a way to keep control of a downtown strip club that police are trying to shut down, the provincial liquor board was told Thursday.

The Montreal police are seeking to have the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux revoke Club Temptation's liquor permit based on the argument that the downtown strip bar poses a threat to public safety.

The club's liquor licence was temporarily suspended in April.

During three days of hearings, investigators have testified that, while the club is owned on paper by Joseph Vallera, a 61-year-old Montrealer, it is actually controlled by Goodridge, 41, a man with alleged ties to several street gangs.

Some of the investigators have testified based on information from five informants alleging that Goodridge paid between $100,000 and $500,000 for the club. Other evidence suggests some level of intimidation was involved.

But it was the last witness to testify, Det.-Sgt. Isabelle Godin Tremblay, who had the most recent intelligence concerning Goodridge. She testified that on Sunday she received information from an informant that Goodridge is still trying to find some way to keep control of the club.

"(The informant) said Richard Goodridge is looking for a new front to replace Vallera as the owner of the bar," Godin Tremblay told the board.

The detective's testimony came at the end of a long series of evidence presented in the case.

Lawyer Véronique Courtecuisse informed Daniel Lord and Jean Robert, the Régie registrars who are hearing the case, that Vallera will present a defence at a later date, which has yet to be set.

Det.-Sgt. James Paixao, a Montreal police expert on street gangs, said Club Temptation was a volatile place before it was closed in April.

"It's like gunpowder. It can go off at any minute. It's very fragile," he said.

Paixao said Goodridge is known to maintain ties with street gang members from both sides of a long-standing conflict.

He added that, while gang members from both sides are seen associating more often, it's still a potentially dangerous situation.

Paixao also detailed how two attempts have been made on Goodridge's life over the past six years.

The first occurred on Nov. 4, 2004 in Scarborough, Ont. Goodridge's Mercedes was ambushed in a lunchtime shooting at an intersection near three elementary schools. Goodridge lost part of an index finger in the shooting.

Then, in October 2008, someone tried to shoot Goodridge outside his Nuns' Island home.

Paixao also testified that Goodridge was, at some point in 2005, believed to be the leader of the 67s, a street gang that previously included Ducarme Joseph among its leaders. While both men were in the same gang at one point, they are now believed to be enemies.

Joseph is believed to have been the intended target in the March 18 shooting at Flawnego, his clothing boutique in Old Montreal, which left two men dead. For reasons that have yet to be made clear, the Montreal police fear Goodridge will be the target of an imminent reply to the attempt on Joseph's life.

Paixao said it's common knowledge among street gangs that Goodridge is often at the Ste. Catherine St. club.

 

[eastender]

Two Murders

Two murders in St.Leonard:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/Face+Montreal+Mafia+changing+dramatically+Experts/3222616/story.html

The picture is becoming clearer.

 

[master_bates]

The victim was 66 year old Agostino Contrera who had taken over as boss after the murder of nick
rizzuto in december and the "mysterious" dissapearing of the consigliere Paolo Renda. The other victim is presumed to be his bodyguard.

 

[eastender]

Shooting Arrests

Two more arrests in the March boutique shootings:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Cops+arrest+Montreal+shooting/3293361/story.html

 

[bond_james_bond]

I heard the suspects laughed in court.

 

[master_bates]

Two more arrests in the March boutique shootings:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Cops+arrest+Montreal+shooting/3293361/story.html

The question is were they put up to it by the mafia or did they do this on their own will?