The RCMP are investigating the death of a former hit man who turned informant and testified against the Hells Angels.
The death of Aimé Simard, 35, may create fear among turncoat criminals whom officials recently used to testify against Quebec's criminal biker gangs.
"It's worrisome. He's the first informant to die in jail," said Guy Ouellette, a retired Quebec provincial police biker-gang expert.
Mr. Simard was found unconscious after 10 p.m. on Friday in his Prince Albert Penitentiary cell, Corrections Canada spokesman Guy Campeau said.
His death is considered suspicious, RCMP spokesman Heather Russell said.
Mr. Simard would have been a footnote in Quebec criminal history but for his involvement in a series of events that led to the 2001 crackdown by police against the Hells Angels in Quebec.
"Simard's important. In many ways he led to the unravelling of the Hells Angels' empire in Quebec," said Julian Sher, co-author of the forthcoming book The Road to Hell: How the Biker Gangs are Conquering Canada.
Informant Stéphane (Godasse) Gagné testified that Mr. Simard's 1997 defection made Hells Angels leader Maurice (Mom) Boucher decree he would no longer allow his men to turn informant.
Mr. Boucher's scheme, Mr. Gagné said, was to force them to kill prison guards, prosecutors or judges.
But the plan backfired when Mr. Gagné helped convict Mr. Boucher of murdering two guards.
Tu Thanh Ha