Pubdate: Thu, 17 Feb 2005
Source: Mirror (CN QU)
Copyright: 2005 Communications Gratte-Ciel Ltee
Contact:  http://www.montrealmirror.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/267
Author: Kristian Gravenor
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?188 (Outlaw Bikers)

RAT KILLER CONFESSIONS

Biker Whistleblower Spills Beans On Falling Out With Both Sides Of The Law

Eric "Rat Killer" Nadeau estimates that his inside information helped put 
about 400 bikers behind bars.

Nadeau, a former criminal, infiltrated Montreal's biker gangs in 1991 after 
spending seven months in prison on weapons charges. Since then, Montreal 
cops paid him "about a million" for a dozen years of acting as a mole.

"I never sympathized with the bandits - they were all crooked, always doing 
drugs," he says. "I was behind enemy lines. I did the job of a cop. I 
signed contracts with [the police]. I risked my life for them. I played 
with their kids. One time a controller held me in his arms and was crying. 
Now they'll lose their jobs if they talk to me."

Nadeau says bikers are even less crazy about him. "They've tried to kill me 
four times. I was lucky. Twice they shot at me but missed."

But now Nadeau and Montreal's finest have also fallen out, since, he says, 
the police refused to pay him $75,000 of a $200,000 contract, claiming that 
Nadeau was unwilling to testify in court.

Good Deal Gone Bad

Nadeau says he was willing to testify and - as with all his claims - says 
he has videotapes, recorded phone conversations and written documents to 
back him up. He notes that most of the bikers he was supposed to testify 
against pled guilty anyway. "What's $75,000 when I saved them millions by 
not having to go before a jury?" he asks. He's suing the Montreal police 
for $316,000.

Relations with his longtime cop overlords further soured when St-Jerome 
police visited his home looking for weapons. He says they didn't find any 
weapons and even shook his hand as they left. But, a month later, he 
received a subpeona to appear in court on weapons charges. Nadeau's name 
and address then appeared on the court computer system, which, being public 
information, made him easy pickings for a would-be biker assassin. His 
lawyer has since won a court order to remove that information. Nadeau will 
appear in court on May 30.

As a result of the mayhem, Nadeau, along with his wife and four children, 
moved from motel to motel "11 times since June 2002 [when Projet Amigos, 
the police anti-gang operation that netted dozens of Bandidos members, 
wrapped up]. I haven't been outside for eight months."

Now Nadeau has penned a 250-page book, published by Les Editions des 
Intouchables, slated for launch at the end of this month. Among his 
allegations is that cops allowed a hitman to shoot biker Steve "Bull" 
Bertrand three times at a restaurant at Parc and Bernard in March 2002, 
even though they knew about the plan in advance. Bertrand survived.

Thanks to what Nadeau credits as his "good personality," he obtained 
information by achieving the rare feat of befriending both warring biker 
tribes - first the Hells Angels until he defected, in late winter 2001, to 
their rival biker group the Bandidos, which absorbed the flailing Rock 
Machine. Nadeau rose quickly up the depleted Bandidos ranks, eventually 
becoming one of the club's national secretaries.

Nadeau had originally made a name for himself by founding the Scorpions, a 
crime gang operating out of the Gay Village. In spite of his many years in 
mondo biker, Nadeau says he never committed a violent crime, "except for 
some fights." He sold stolen swag and delivered drugs. "Police told me not 
to go too high in the gang because then I'd have to commit violent crimes."

All Business

Nadeau happily communicates details of his past as he revs up for his 
upcoming civil and criminal court cases against police, who in turn are 
less eager to share details of their relations with their former associate. 
When asked about Nadeau, a Montreal police media rep replies that the 
subject remains "delicate" and provided no further details, as the case is 
going before the courts.

Nadeau, as his name would indicate, has no love for informants and rejects 
the notion that he was a rat. "I'm a small business. I'm an information 
service, a spy. I did it for the pleasure and the money. And it was good 
money."

In spite of his differences with the cops, Nadeau feels that police could 
use his information to put countless more bikers in prison for a long time. 
"I know 80 per cent of who killed who," he boasts.
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