Former Bikers mansion to be demolished in Peterborough’s south end

By Jesse Thomas
October 27, 2017

There is a mansion in Peterborough’s south end that has sat abandoned and in decrepit shape for years.

It was the home of the convicted drug dealer and biker Robert Pammett and now it’s up for demolition.

The property located on McNamara Road was the site of a major police drug squad investigation in 2008 when Pammett sold a large quantity of cocaine from inside the house to an undercover officer which lead to his subsequent arrest and the home has sat vacant since then.

The federal government seized the mansion in 2012 and then Pammett, in 2015, appealed to have his property returned but lost the decision in the courts.

The city was then able to purchase the property in 2016, acquiring the 2.8 acres of land from the crown for $100,000.

“Anytime that we are able to purchase property along any of our waterfronts, whether it be Little Lake or the Otonabee River, we definitely have the policy to secure that for public enjoyment,” said city CAO Allan Seabrooke.”This property definitely falls into that category.”

Plans are now in place to turn the land into a public green space, as the city will partner with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters to turn the property into a public park.

“The building and its former owners have brought much negativity to Peterborough over the years and we are certainly looking forward to erasing that,” said OFAH executive director Angelo Lombardo.

The demolition will begin Tuesday, Oct. 31st, and cost the OFAH $100,000, the city will still own the land but the wildlife agency will become the curator of the park.

“The park is going to be available to all residents of the City of Peterborough and visitors free of charge,” said Lombardo. “Enhancements will include things like interpretative trails, pollinator gardens, picnic and shade structures.”

The OFAH says it will be able to expand its programs and will also start a fundraising campaign next week to help raise $150,000 to complete phase two of the park’s design.

Former GTA Bandido biker loses top court appeal

By PETER EDWARDSStar Reporter

Thu., July 9, 2015

Former Toronto Bandidos biker Robert Pammett Sr. has lost his court appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada after he said police unfairly seized his sprawling mansion and Hummer SUV in a cocaine bust.

Pammett was a member of the Toronto chapter of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, which lost eight members in a massacre west of London, Ont. in April 2006.

Former Bandido biker sues jail and Queen for more than $2M for ‘loss of dignity, pain and suffering’

By PETER EDWARDSStar Reporter

Thu., Jan. 5, 2017

None of the allegations filed with the Superior Court of Justice in Toronto have been proven in court.

The province has until January 23 to reply to the allegations.

Aragon is currently an inmate at the Toronto East Jail.

Aragon belonged to the Bandidos at the time of the 2006 massacre of six members and associates by fellow members and associates in a barn west of London, Ont.

He was in custody for his role in the death of Keswick drug dealer Shawn Douse at the time of the massacre.

Aragon was transferred to the Toronto East Detention Centre from Lindsay in August.

He is awaiting sentencing after he was convicted of aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon and uttering death threats.

His sentencing has been delayed as the Crown has sought a dangerous offender designation for him.

His statement of claim alleges he’s suffering from “loss of general enjoyment of life” and an inability to “sustain interpersonal relationships” as a result of his jail time.

“The Defendant, Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario… is responsible and liable for the actions occurring within The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services…,” Aragon’s statement of claim states.

“Her Majesty is vicariously liable for the negligence and/or breaches rights of the Plaintiff,” he alleges.

Aragon alleges that his “basic human rights” are violated by his daily jail schedule, which includes being locked in his cell for breakfast, lunch and supper, as well as overnight.

“The Plaintiff was subjected to extremely invasive strip searches on an abnormally frequent basis,” his statement of claim alleges. “These strip searches resulted in increased anxiety, psychological damage, depression and nightmares. The excessive and invasive strip searching was demeaning, unnecessary and cruel treatment. Random cell searches were deliberately destructive, leaving cells in a state of disarray, with personal items left broken and/or missing.”

He also claims that an inadequate diet has left him “constantly hungry” and suffering from “depression, weight gain, inability to concentrate, difficulty sleeping and other health problems.”

Other complaints include lack of timely medical care, poor air quality, not enough showers, limited telephone time, lack of mental stimuli in the form of reading matter and radio and television, and shoes that aren’t adequate for his exercise needs.

He argues these conditions violate what the United Nations General Assembly calls the “Mandela rules,” named for the poor conditions experienced by the late Nelson Mandela when he was in custody.

In January 2008, Aragon was one of four men connected to the Bandidos who were sentenced to penitentiary terms after pleading guilty to the fatal beating of Douse.

Whitby court heard that Aragon and the other bikers ignored Douse’s pleas for mercy after he was lured to a townhouse in Keswick on Dec. 6, 2005.

“This was a vicious, senseless, callous and cowardly killing,” Mr. Justice Edwin Minden said before passing sentence.

That sentencing came months after the U.S.-based Bandidos closed their Canadian chapters after a spate of criminal convictions.

Court heard a T-shirt was stuffed into Douse’s throat to kill him after he was beaten unconscious.

Aragon pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for his role in Douse’s death and was sentenced to three years and 11 months in custody.

Douse’s body was found in a North Pickering field on Dec. 8, 2005 by a man walking his dogs.

He had been set on fire and his hands and feet were bound. His mouth was gagged and a bag was over his head.

The six jailed Bandidos hoped the Supreme Court of Canada would let them appeal their eight murder convictions

BY DAN BROWN
April 7, 2016

It was the bloodiest mass murder in Ontario’s modern history, and the horrific crime in London’s backyard was revealed to the world a decade ago today.

April 8, 2006, has gone down in infamy as the day when the bodies of eight bikers were discovered on a lonely dirt road near Shedden. The slayings would collectively come to be known as the Bandidos Massacre.
And at least one person who studies the behaviour of biker-gang members believes it could all be repeated. “It’ll happen again,” Yves Lavigne, a Toronto author who specializes in tales of organized crime, told The Free Press. “I don’t think any biker has learned anything from it.

“It would be laughable if lives weren’t lost.”

Meanwhile, a veteran London lawyer who represented a former police officer charged with eight counts of first-degree murder said the marathon trial at the London courthouse was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“The trial was like a PhD in criminal law,” Gord Cudmore said.

Eight members of the Bandidos motorcycle club, the “No Surrender Crew” from Toronto, were murdered at Wayne Kellestine’s Dutton-Dunwich farm. Kellestine and his Winnipeg crew had been instructed to “pull the patches” of the Toronto bikers, effectively kicking them out of the club.

All were shot, their bodies found stuffed in abandoned vehicles dumped a few kilometres away from Kellestine’s address.

Thursday morning, one day before the 10-year anniversary of the discovery of the bodies, the Supreme Court of Canada said it would not hear the appeals of three of the six men convicted of killing their fellow bikers, bringing the long legal saga to a close.

What stands out for Lavigne today is how the slaughter was, for lack of a better term, an amateur act: “Bikers are not the smartest people. Or wannabes.”

Lavigne says, if anything, the ranks of criminal biker clubs have become even more watered-down in the last 10 years.

“It’s like the NHL. They expanded too fast and too much,” he said. “Now they’re just recruiting anyone. How can they call themselves a motorcycle club” when some recruits don’t even know how to ride a motorbike? “You don’t romanticize these people,” Lavigne said.

There are not enough quality recruits for all of the gangs that have a presence in Southwestern Ontario. Lavigne includes among that number the Hells Angels, the Outlaws, the Vagabonds and the Para-Dice Riders.

“These guys were all rejects from other gangs,” he said of both the killed and the killers. “These guys were the class dummies.”

“So the lesson in Shedden is: Don’t try to be something you’re not.”

Cudmore, who represented Michael Sandham, a former police officer in Manitoba, said the trial took more than an emotional toll on him.

“I broke my hip about halfway through the trial,” he recalled. “I fell at the cottage, it was a total freak accident and I ended up in surgery.” The injury left him using a walker, then a cane, without the strength even to walk across the courtroom to question witnesses.

When Cudmore heard about the grisly discovery near Shedden, he didn’t know he would come to be involved in the case that followed. “There were eight murders, which made it unusual. There were a lot of lawyers involved, which means lots of disagreements,” he said.

“Every issue that could come up, did come up,” Cudmore said, including questions of evidence admissibility, self-defence and conspiracy.

“It was a fascinating experience. I’m glad I did it. And I’d never do it again.

SLAIN IN THE MASSACRE

George (Pony) Jessome, 52

George (Crash) Kriarakis, 28

John (Boxer) Muscedere, 48

Luis Manny (Chopper) Raposo, 41

Frank (Bam Bam) Salerno, 43

Paul (Big Paulie) Sinopoli, 30

Jamie (Goldberg) Flanz, 37

Michael (Little Mikey) Trotta, 31

THE VERDICTS

Wayne Kellestine, 65, Frank Mather, 41, Brett Gardiner, 30, Marcelo Aravena, 38, Dwight Mushey, 47, Michael Sandham, 45, convicted on Oct. 29, 2009 after seven-month jury trial in London.

Kellestine, Mushey and Sandham each convicted of eight counts of first-degree murder.

Mather and Aravena found guilty of one count of manslaughter and seven counts of first-degree murder.

Gardiner found guilty of two counts of manslaughter and six counts of first-degree murder.