Eight alleged members and associates of the Bandidos motorcycle gang, accused in Ontario’s worst mass slaying, have been ordered to stand trial on all charges.
Ontario Court Justice Ross Webster made the announcement on Thursday after the completion of a three-month preliminary hearing.
The eight accused return to court on July 11 when a trial date may be set.
Six men face first-degree murder charges for the eight deaths:
- Wayne Kellestine, 57, Dutton-Dunwich Township.
- Frank Mather, 33, of Dutton-Dunwich Township.
- Brett Gardiner, 22, of no fixed address.
- Michael Sandham, 38, of Winnipeg.
- Marcelo Aravena 30, of Winnipeg.
- Dwight Mushey, 39, of Winnipeg.
Common-law couple Eric Niessen, 45, and Kerry Morris, 47, of Monkton, Ont., face charges of being an accessory after the fact.
Last May, first-degree murder charges against the couple were dropped.
The bodies of eight Bandidos gang members were discovered last April in a farmer’s field near Shedden, Ont.; their bodies stuffed into abandoned vehicles.
Speculation about what sparked the killing has focused on, what police called, “an internal cleansing.”
News reports speculated the murders occurred after the victims announced plans to leave the Bandidos and join rival gang, The Hells Angels.