Bandidos guilty of killing 8 rival bikers

LONDON, Ontario - Six members of the Bandidos biker gang were found guilty yesterday of murdering eight men associated with the gang in the worst mass slayings in Ontario history.

Wayne Kellestine, along with five co-accused, were found guilty of 44 counts of murder and four manslaughter convictions.

The bloodied bodies of eight men linked to the Toronto chapter of the Bandidos biker gang were found on April 8, 2006. The men were stuffed into four vehicles abandoned in a farmer's field in southwestern Ontario, a few miles from a farmhouse belonging to Kellestine.

The prosecution said the murders were the result of rising tensions between the men who were killed and the Bandidos chapter in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Kellestine, a member of the Toronto chapter, had become increasingly alienated from his Toronto members and allied with the Winnipeg men.

The court heard that he had received orders from U.S. Bandidos officials to strip the Toronto men of their gang affiliation and to start a new Canadian chapter, but the plan changed to mass murder.

The jury began deliberations earlier this week, after hearing from more than 70 witnesses over six months.

Along with Kellestine, the jury found Dwight Mushey, Michael Sandham, Marcelo Aravena, Frank Mather and Brett Gardiner guilty of murder.