Biker gang experts aid in slaying probe

MCs in the News
By DAN ARSENAULT Crime Reporter
James Russell Hall
Police experts on outlaw biker gangs and organized crime are helping to investigate the killings of a Bacchus motorcycle club member and his wife near Halifax last week.

But an RCMP organized crime specialist said investigators have yet to determine if the homicides of James (Rustie) Hall and his wife Ellen Hall in their home in Barr Settlement, Hants County, have any links to criminal organizations.

"It’s very important that we put our specialized people, in terms of outlaw motorcycle gangs and organized crime, on the file to either confirm any possible ties to that side of the investigation or eliminate that," RCMP Supt. Brian Brennan said Monday.

He confirmed what several sources had told The Chronicle Herald — that Hall was one of the eight members of the East Coast Riders motorcycle club who patched over in mid-January to create a Nova Scotia chapter of Bacchus, a New Brunswick outlaw motorcycle gang affiliated with the Hells Angels.

The changeover ceremony took place in New Brunswick, and police set up checkpoints outside a Moncton location. Several of the old East Coast Riders decided not to patch over and their club disbanded.

Police were still gathering evidence Monday inside the Barr Settlement Road home where the bodies of the two 53-year-olds were discovered Friday morning. Police haven’t indicated how the Halls died.

"There’s only specific people who would have that information," said RCMP spokeswoman Const. Brigdit Leger.

She said the Mounties have been getting tips from the public.

"We’re still following up on a number of different avenues of our investigation."

A family friend of the Halls called 911 at 7:30 a.m. after going to their house to see why Hall hadn’t shown up for work that morning.

Police say the killings were not the result of a random attack.

Neither of the Halls had a criminal record.

Brennan said police don’t know what role Hall played in the local Bacchus chapter. He said officers were poring over their biker files looking for anything relevant.

"We’re breaking all that information down and we’re trying to develop a picture (to see) if there is any relationship between the homicide and the association to the outlaw motorcycle club," he said.

"Our intelligence unit has been speaking to other members of the Bacchus. We have had conversations with them."

Meanwhile, funeral service for the Halls will be held Thursday.

According to obituaries that appeared in Tuesday's edition of The Chronicle Herald, Ellen Hall was "an unbelievably amazing mother, wife, nana, sister and friend." Her husband is described as "a loving and devoted husband, father, papa, brother and friend."

The two are survived by their daughter, Ange, and son, Mike, as well as three grandchildren.

Their funeral service will take place at the Ettinger Funeral Home in Shubenacadie at 2 p.m.

Any donations in their memory have been requested to be made to the IWK Health Centre Foundation.


The East Coast Riders formed in 2001 mostly as a club for motorcycle enthusiasts. After the local Hells Angels chapter folded in August 2003, the Riders changed their insignia to look more like that of a gang, and members started being seen with known Hells Angels.

Police said in January that the patch-over ceremony identified the new Nova Scotia chapter of Bacchus as a criminal organization that was claiming Nova Scotia as its territory.

Months before, members of other notorious biker gangs, the Rock Machine and the Outlaws, had visited the Halifax area, something police said demanded a response.

Bacchus has existed in New Brunswick for about 30 years and has chapters in Moncton, Saint John and St. Stephen.

Original article...

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/1170183.html