[PHOTOS] The leader of the Hells at the funeral of mafioso Francesco Del Balso

The number one of the Hells Angels and three other color bearers of the gang made a remarkable and unusual presence at the funeral of their ex-business partner, the controversial mafioso Francesco Del Balso, Thursday in Montreal.

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Martin Robert, the most influential member of the biker gang in Quebec, was closely following the sons and the widow of the deceased when Del Balso’s body was carried out of the Notre-Dame-de-Pompei church.

He was flanked by his spouse, Annie Arbic, two other Hells Angels and a prospect of the gang, Stéphane Plouffe, seen as the number 2 of the Quebec Hells, Robert Barletta, a specialist in illegal sports betting as was also Del Balso, and a future club recruit, Stéphane Orphanos.

Stéphane Orphanos, aspiring member of the Hells.

Photo QMI Agency, Maxime Deland

About 80 people attended the ceremony which lasted 60 minutes. A singer stationed outside the church performed My Way, by Frank Sinatra, when the coffin was placed in the hearse.

The most powerful Hells Angels in Quebec, Martin Robert, was present at the funeral.

Photo QMI Agency, Maxime Deland

It is exceptional that the Hells pay their last respects to a mafioso who, moreover, was shot and killed on June 5 and who was the subject of a murder contract worth $250,000 by his enemies of the Rizzuto clan.

Photo QMI Agency, Maxime Deland

As proof, no Hells Angels were present when the godfather Vito Rizzuto, who reigned over the Montreal mafia for decades, was brought to his final rest in 2013.

Hugs Thursday at the Notre-Dame-de-Pompei church, in the Ahuntsic district.

Photo QMI Agency, Maxime Deland

In addition, this courtesy visit by bikers, some of whom had also gone to the funeral home, where the remains of the mafioso were exposed the day before, raises questions.

It is that, according to the thesis considered by the police, the Hells themselves could have lured Del Balso into an ambush by summoning him to the Gym Monster in Dorval, near which the hot mafioso was shot dead by a gunman who is still running.

• Listen to the various facts chronicle of Maxime Deland, journalist at the QMI Agency at the microphone of Benoit Dutrizac via QUB-radio :

Meeting in high places

According to our information, Del Balso, an ex-lieutenant of the Rizzuto clan who became close to the bikers, would have met none other than Martin Robert there just before the murder.

Photo QMI Agency, Maxime Deland

However, sources tell us that the Hells claim to anyone who will listen that they have nothing to do with the assassination of the 53-year-old Laval resident and that they could even avenge him.

This version contrasts with the police thesis that the Hells and the Rizzuto clan agreed to eliminate Del Balso to avoid plunging the bikers and the Sicilian faction of the Italian mafia into a war to end.

Photo QMI Agency, Maxime Deland

There has been a bounty on Del Balso’s head since the attempted murder in which Leonardo Rizzuto, the alleged co-leader of the Montreal mafia and son of Vito Rizzuto, was shot and wounded on March 15 in Laval.

Del Balso was suspected of having ordered this attack in retaliation for a shooting from which he himself had escaped unscathed in November 2022.

▸ According to our sources, Kevin Rochebrun, one of the three suspects identified by the police in the attack on Leonardo Rizzuto, was also present at the funeral.

Kevin Rochebrun, linked to street gangs and one of the police suspects in the attack on Leonardo Rizzuto.

Photo QMI Agency, Maxime Deland

The conflict in 6 dates

November 7, 2022

Photo archives, QMI Agency

Six shots are fired in the middle of the street towards the Lexus SUV where Francesco Del Balso takes place, in the Duvernay district of Laval. Miraculously, he comes out unscathed and suspects Leonardo Rizzuto of having authorized this armed attack.

January 29, 2023

A shooter fires in the direction of a septuagenarian, in the Vimont district in Laval. In May, the police will arrest a suspect and reveal that there was a mistake about the person – that it was Del Balso who was targeted.

March 15, 2023

Photo archives, QMI Agency

Leonardo Rizzuto, son of late godfather Vito Rizzuto and co-leader of the Italian Mafia, is injured by two of eight gun projectiles fired at him while in his Mercedes-branded SUV on the highway 440 in Laval. He manages to shake off his assailants and narrowly avoids death.

March 23, 2023

Suspected in the attack on Rizzuto and knowing that there is a price on his head, Del Balso is arrested by the police at Trudeau airport from where he is trying to flee the country. He has his passport seized. From then on, he will leave his home in an armored vehicle and will no longer travel without a bulletproof jacket.

March 29, 2023

The residences of mafioso Del Balso and Hells Angels Martin Robert, Stéphane Plouffe and Michel Lamontagne are searched by police officers from the National Organized Crime Squad, on the sidelines of a vast drug investigation.

June 5, 2023

File photo, provided by a source

Del Balso was shot dead while leaving the building housing the Gym Monster, in Dorval, where he had just met the Hells Martin Robert.