Yves Buteau – Hells Angels
Yves Buteau was the former Hells Angels MC Canadian National President and previously the President of the Popeyes MC, who at one point were the second largest club in Canada.
To view more well known members of the club you can refer to our page of Famous Hells Angels.
Yves Buteau Hells Angels – Early Life
Yves Buteau was born in 1951.
Yves Buteau Hells Angels – Popeyes MC
Around the early 1970s Yves Buteau joined the Popeyes Motorcycle Club. Popeyes MC would grow to be the second largest outlaw motorcycle club in Canada behind the Satan’s Choice MC and the largest French speaking club. The Popeyes were also the largest club in Montreal. In the mid 1970s he was promoted and his status went from just being a member to being the President of the club. It was around this period where he was given the name of “Le Boss”.
Some time around early 1977 the Hells Angels MC President Sonny Barger travelled to Canada to meet with Buteau. The two built up a strong relationship and it was agreed that the Hells Angels would patch over the Popeyes, allowing a selection of the Popeyes members to also patch over. It is believed that Sonny Barger delivered Yves Buteau’s patch personally and on 5 December, 1977 the Popeyes Motorcycle Club were no more, they were now the first Canadian chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.
Yves Buteau Hells Angels – Hells Angels MC
As part of the patching over of the Popeyes by the Hells Angels MC it was decided that Yves Buteau would be the club’s Canadian President.
Key to Buteau’s success in Canada was the fact that he was able to build relationships with many other clubs, several of which would later become additional chapters of the Hells Angels. It was these relationships that also allowed his influence in the drug distribution game to grow.
In a few short years he had transformed the Canadian chapters into professional outfit, cleaning up the way that they dressed, the way that they kept their facial hair and reportedly also prohibiting all members to use cocaine, punishable by death.
After his death in 1983 (see “Death” further down in this article) he was replaced as Hells Angels Canadian National President by Michel Langlois, aka “Sky”. The role of Montreal South Chapter President in Sorel went to Rejean Lessard, aka “Zig Zag”.
Yves Buteau Hells Angels – Crime
1976 – 14 August, 1976. Yves Buteau is amongst approximately 50 members of the Popeyes who are arrested at a hotel in Saint-Andre-Avellion, Quebec. They group had been trashing the hotel when the police were called.
1979 – 9 May, 1979. According to Yves Trudeau, the former Popeyes MC and Hells Angels MC member who turned government witness, Yves Buteau, along with Yves “Apache” Trudeau and Jean-Pierre Mathieu had been involved in the killing of Outlaws MC member Daniel McLean along with his girlfriend Carmen Piche. It was alleged that they had planted a bomb on the Outlaws MC member’s bike while in Verdun, Quebec. Once the couple were on the bike the bomb was detonated.
Yves Buteau Hells Angels – Death
Yves Buteau along with his friend and fellow Hells Angels MC member Rene Lamoureaux are at the Le Petit Bourg bar, located in the suburb of Longueuil. The pair are hosting Guy Gilbert, aka. “Frenchie”, a member of Satan’s Choice MC who has travelled from Ontario. Waiting outside of the bar on his bike was Gino Goudreau, a 22 year old drug dealer with a brother who belonged to Outlaws MC in Quebec, along with his girlfriend. When Buteau, Lamoureaux and Gilbert exited the bar Gino Goudreau left his girlfriend on the bike and approached the men, removing a .38 pistol and emptying the magazine on the three men. Yves Buteau is hit twice in the chest and dies immediately, Guy “Frenchie” Gilbert dies shortly after. Rene Lamoureaux survives the shooting with serious injuries.
Although Gino Goudreau goes into hiding he is located and arrested by police only a few months later where he is charged with two counts of murder in the second degree. In the trial that followed Goudreau claims that Yves Buteau had threatened him on many occasions and on the night of the shooting Yves Buteau also pulled a gun, however Gino Goudreau was able to fire off shots first. The self defence claim is successful and Goudreau is acquitted of the murder.
On 12 September 1983 a funeral was held at a church in the town of Sorel. It is estimated that there were 2000 onlookers and 150 members of the Hells Angels from Canada, the United States, England and elsewhere who rode in procession from Sorel to Drummondville where he was buried, a journey covering a distance of approximately 40 miles. He shares a gravestone with Hells Angels member Adrien Fleury, aka “Pistache”.
On the day after the funeral a bomb was found on the funeral route. It was suspected that the bomb was intended for mourners.
Yves Buteau Hells Angels – Media
Book – Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada by Stephen Schneider. Covers the rise of the Hells Angels in Canada, covering the patching over of the Popeyes. View this book on Amazon.
Book – Fallen Angel: The Unlikely Rise of Walter Stadnick and the Canadian Hells Angels by Jerry Langton
While the book focusses on the life of Walter Stadnick, who went on to lead the Hells Angels in Canada during a critical time for the club, the connections with Yves Buteau and the Popeyes Motorcycle Club is also discussed. Find out more on Amazon (link opens in a new tab).
Book – Showdown: How the Outlaws, Hells Angels and Cops Fought for Control of the Streets by Jerry Langton.
Discusses the battles for territory in Canada between the Outlaws and Hells Angels, also mentioning the shooting of Yves Buteau. Find out more on Amazon (link opens in a new tab).
Read More:
- List of One Percenters Motorcycle Clubs
- Outlaw Motorcycle Club Books
- Hells Angels MC
- Famous Hells Angels Members
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