Yves Trudeau was born on February 4, 1946, in Quebec during an era of strict Catholic conservatism known as la Grande Noirceur (“the Great Darkness”). In the 1960s, Quebec underwent rapid change with the Quiet Revolution, embracing liberal values, social rebellion, and hedonism. Among young men, outlaw biker gangs came to symbolize freedom and masculinity. By the late 1960s, Quebec was home to more than 350 biker clubs, many of which became notorious for their violence. It was in this climate that Trudeau entered the world of organized crime.

He joined the Popeye Moto Club in 1968, a biker gang considered the most violent in Quebec. The Popeyes were frequently employed by the Montreal Mafia to carry out killings and quickly gained a reputation for gratuitous brutality. From a young age, Trudeau was fascinated with bikers, weapons, and explosives. He took a job at an explosives factory, learning how to handle and build bombs, eventually becoming known as an expert in bomb-making. His cruelty and savagery earned him the nickname “Apache,” after he scalped one of his victims.

By 1975, Trudeau had risen to prominence as the Popeyes’ ace hitman during the biker wars against Satan’s Choice and their allies, the Outlaws and Devils Disciples. His skill as a contract killer set him apart, and he was both feared and respected in Quebec’s underworld. In December 1977, the Popeyes were absorbed into the Hells Angels, making Trudeau one of the first Hells Angels in Canada. He was assigned to the North (Laval) chapter, known for its violent, reckless behavior and heavy drug use. Though physically small—just 5’6” and 135 pounds—Trudeau became the Hells Angels’ most prolific killer and the first Canadian to earn the gang’s “Filthy Few” patch, signifying that he had killed for the club.

From 1970 to 1985, Yves Trudeau murdered 43 people using guns, bombs, strangulation, and beatings. Many of his victims were rival bikers during Quebec’s violent gang wars, though others were innocent bystanders or even fellow Hells Angels. His first known killing was in 1970, when he shot Jean-Marie Viel for stealing a Popeyes motorcycle. As wars escalated, Trudeau’s violence intensified. In February 1978, he machine-gunned Robert Côté outside a Montreal bar, sparking a biker war with the Outlaws. In March that year, he assassinated Outlaws president Gilles Cadorette with a car bomb. He continued targeting rivals, killing Brian Powers, William Weichold (mistaken identity), and Roland Dutemple, among others.

Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, Trudeau was the Angels’ most feared assassin, responsible for 18 of the 23 Outlaws killed in the Montreal conflict. His killings were often calculated but fueled by cocaine use. Some murders were particularly gruesome—he killed entire families linked to rivals, planted bombs in cars and motorcycles, and shot men and women alike. He even killed fellow Angels, including Charlie Hachez and Denis Kennedy, when they fell out of favor.

The turning point came in 1985 after the Lennoxville massacre, when five Laval chapter Angels were murdered by fellow chapters for being too wild and drug-addicted. Trudeau narrowly escaped death by checking into detox a week before the ambush. Realizing he was marked for death and with a $50,000 contract on his head, he turned informant. In a plea bargain, he admitted to 43 killings. He was convicted on 43 counts of manslaughter, sentenced to life with parole eligibility after just seven years, and given financial support by the government. His testimony exposed the inner workings of the Hells Angels and implicated numerous bikers and associates.

Trudeau was paroled in 1994 under the new identity Denis Côté and lived quietly for a time, working as an orderly and bus driver. However, by 2004 he had relapsed into cocaine abuse and was convicted of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy, receiving four more years in prison. Judge Michel Duceppe, at sentencing, remarked, “In your lifetime, you have killed more people than the Canadian military did in the Gulf War.” Trudeau spent his final years isolated in prison, reviled as both an informant and a child molester. Diagnosed with bone-marrow cancer in 2006, he was granted medical parole in July 2008 and died later that month. For many, his death was seen as overdue justice for a man who had once terrorized Quebec as one of its deadliest killers.