David George Hoffman

Last updated

David George Hoffman (born 3 March 1948) is a Canadian man wrongly convicted of murder, for which he served four years in prison for before he was acquitted on an appeal.

Contents

Satan's Choice

Hoffman was born on a farm between New Dundee and Plattsville. [1] Unlike most outlaw bikers, Hoffman was a successful student who graduated with honors from the Waterloo Oxford Secondary School in 1966. [1] In the spring of 1967, he joined the Preston (modern Cambridge) chapter of the Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club. [1] Shortly afterwards, he began to work at the B.F. Goodrich Company factory in Kitchener. [1] Unlike most members of Satan's Choice, Hoffman held a legitimate job and worked for a living. [2] Hoffmann transferred over to the Kitchener chapter of Satan's Choice and served as the treasurer from October 1967 onward. [3] A huge man whose hobby of weightlighting made even larger, Hoffman had the nickname of "Tee Hee" owing to his high pitch laughter. [4]

The murder of William Matiyek

On the evening of 18 October 1978, Hoffman was due to an appointment at the clubhouse of the Kitchener chapter at about 7 pm, but was prevented from entering as the clubhouse had been raided by a joint task force consisting of members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ontario Provincial Policev(OPP), the Waterloo Regional Police and the Metro Toronto police. [5] After being forced to wait for a half an hour, Hoffman was allowed to enter the clubhouse and set out to buy a new lock to replace the one damaged by the police. [6] After repairing the lock, Hoffman went home to his apartment at 20 Blucher Street to watch the news and go to bed. [7] He planned to go to Stratford to rent some Halloween costumes from a store, Costumes by Collen, but called the store owner to say that he would not be able to make the trip owing to his need to repair the lock. [8] During that time, William "Heavy" Matiyek of the rival Golden Hawk Riders was killed in the Queen's Hotel in Port Hope. At about 2 am, several of the men involved in the Queen's Hotel incident namely Richard Sauvé, Merv Blaker, and Gary Comeau arrived at Hoffman's apartment to ask for his aid in treating Comeau's wound. [9]

Arrest and Trial

During the investigation of the murder, Constable Donald Denis of the OPP showed the witnesses of Matiyek's killing photographs of various Satan's Choice bikers and asked them to identify any that they recognized. [7] Several of the witnesses such as Gayle Thompson, Cathy Cotgrave, and Susan Foote picked Hoffman's photograph out of the array and named him as one of the men involved in the killing. [7] On 2 November 1978, Hoffman was interviewed by Sam McReelis of the Port Hope police, Colin Cousens of the OPP and Detective Colquhoun of the Waterloo Regional Police, where he denied being involved in the murder and stated that he was in Kitchener that night. [10] On 6 December 1978, Hoffman was arrested at the B.F. Gooderich factory on charges of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. [11] Hoffman was held at the county jail in Port Hope. [12] On 18 December 1978, he was granted bail as he had no criminal record and his father, Henry Hoffman, agreed to place his farm as a surety. [13] In August 1979, the Crown offered a plea bargain where the man who had confessed to killing Matiyek who was not charged with his murder, Lorne Edgar Campbell, would plea guilty to second degree murder while the "Port Hope 8" would all plea guilty to being accessories to murder and serve four years in prison. [14] Hoffman rejected the plea bargain under the grounds that he was not in Port Hope and should not have to do any prison time for a crime he had not committed. [14]

The trial for the Port Hope 8 as the accused were known began in London, Ontario on 4 September 1979. [15] The Crown Attorney prosecuting the case, Chris Meinhardt, presented Matiyek's murder as first degree murder and alleged a conspiracy with Comeau serving as the killer and the rest of the accused blocking the exits to the bar-room of the Queen's Hotel. During the trial, Hoffman's lawyer, Ed Martin, introduced as evidence the records of Hoffman's phone calls on the evening of 18 October 1978 which supported his statements that he was in Kitchener. [16] Meinhardt made much of the fact that several witnesses to the murder, namely Gayle Thompson, Cathy Cotgrave, Susan Foote, Rod Sterwart, and Helen Mitchell had identified him as one of the bikers present at the time of the murder. [3] Collen Misener, the owner of Costumes by Collen testified for Hoffman as she stated that Hoffman had called her at about 7:55 pm. [17] Hoffman had a receipt to show that he had indeed rented a custom from Misener's shop. [17] A number of Satan's Choice bikers from the Kitchener chapter testified that Hoffman was replacing the lock for the clubhouse on the evening of 18 October, but Meinhardt was able to discredit those witnesses by bringing up their criminal records. [17] On 24 November 1979, Hoffman was found guilty of second degree murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison. [18] Brian Greenspan who represented Hoffman on his appeal felt that he was the victim of lookism as Hoffman with his huge, hulking frame and horn-rim glasses looked like a thug to such an extent that he felt any juror would convict him merely on the basis of his appearane. [19]

Acquittal

Hoffman served his sentence at Millhaven Institution maximum security prison. [20] In 1980, for an appeal of the guilty verdict, Hoffman hired Brian Greenspan, the younger brother of the famous lawyer Eddie Greenspan, to serve as his defense counsel. [20] Greenspan in turn was able to obtain the records of the telephone calls made from the Kitchener clubhouse, which the police had bugged. [21] The police records showed that Hoffman had made three phone calls from the Kitchener clubhouse on 18 October with the last one starting at 8:40 and ending at 8:45 pm. [22] In the last phone call to a biker named Joe Ertel, the latter stated that he would soon be joining Hoffman in replacing the lock, which supported Hoffman's statement that he was not in Port Hope at the time of the murder. [23] The phone records made by Sauvé showed he had called the Toronto clubhouse twice on 18 October 1978, but had placed no calls to the Kitchener clubhouse. [23] Meinhardt noted that the Crown's theory was that Sauvé was the mastermind of the murder plot and called the Toronto clubhouse to ask the bikers to come with him to the Queen's Hotel to kill Matiyek. [23] Greenspan noted that the Crown's theory was that Sauvé had also phoned Hoffman to take part in the same murder, but there was no evidence that Sauvé contacted Hoffman at all prior to the murder. [23]

On 13 April 1982, the Ontario Court of Appeals ruled for another trial for Hoffman was needed due to the new evidence discovered by Greenspan. [24] Hoffman was acquitted of the murder, but found guilty of being an accessory after the fact. [19] On 21 March 1983, Justice Gregory Evans sentenced Hoffman to four years in prison for being an accessory after the fact for Matiyek's murder. [19] The fact that Hoffman was not in the Queen's Hotel at the time of the murder makes his murder conviction a very controversial one. [25] Hoffman did not complain about his prison sentence and did not seek to turn Crown's evidence won him much respect within Satan's Choice. [26] That the police had these intercepts of Hoffman's phone calls on 18 October 1978 all long, which were not disclosed by the Crown to the defense as per the rules regarding evidence disclosure, was controversial and the American journalist Mick Lowe feels that Hoffmann should never have been charged with Matiyek's murder, let alone convicted. [27]

After serving his sentence, Hoffman resumed his career at B.F. Gooderich, married, and had two daughters. [28] On 29 December 2000, Satan's Choice joined the Hells Angels. [28] Hoffman was unwilling to join the Hells Angels and instead retired as a member in "good standing". [28] In 2001, Hoffman's wife died of cancer, leaving him to raise his two daughters alone. [28] He told Lowe that when his eldest daughter entered Wilfrid Laurier University in September 2012, it was one of the proudest moments of his life. [28] Hoffman became active in weightlifting and served as the president of the Ontario Powerlifting Association, where he sought to combat steroid abuse in weight-lifting. [28] In 2013, the Canadian journalist Paul Dalby called Hoffman's conviction "a real travesty" of justice. [29] Lowe said of Hoffman's conviction: “But they [the police] never disclosed it [the phone records] and they allowed this man to be convicted of a murder he did not commit and had nothing at all to do with. There is no argument about that. We know that for a fact.” [29]

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ion Croitoru</span> Canadian professional wrestler

Ion William Croitoru was a Canadian professional wrestler. He was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. To wrestling fans, he is better known by his ring names, Johnny K-9, Taras Bulba, and Bruiser Bedlam. He worked in several Canadian wrestling promotions, including Stampede Wrestling, and later wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He wrestled as a jobber in the WWF, but he was booked to win titles in several other promotions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collins Bay Institution</span> Canadian correctional facility

Collins Bay Institution is a multilevel correctional facility in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and falls under the supervision of Correctional Services of Canada. The facility was opened in 1930, and is now the oldest operational federal penitentiary in Ontario. The main prison is medium security, with a minimum security facility residing on the same property. A 96-bed maximum security unit is also operational.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club</span> Outlaw motorcycle club

Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club (SCMC) was a Canadian outlaw motorcycle club that was once the dominant outlaw club in Ontario, with twelve chapters based in the province, and another in Montreal, Quebec, at its peak strength in 1977. Satan's Choice grew to more than 400 members by 1970, making it the second largest outlaw motorcycle club in the world, behind only the Hells Angels.

Wolodumir "Walter" Stadnick, also known as "Nurget", is a Canadian outlaw biker and gangster who was the third national president of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in Canada. Stadnick is generally credited with turning the Hells Angels into the dominant outlaw biker club in Canada. The journalists Michel Auger and Peter Edwards wrote that much about Stadnick is mysterious, ranging from what is the meaning of his sobriquet "Nurget", to how a unilingual Anglo Canadian from Hamilton became the leader of the then largely French-Canadian Hells Angels. In 2004, the journalist Tu Thanh Ha wrote that Stadnick is "a secretive man little known to the public", but "he is one of Canada's most pivotal organized-crime figures."

Bernard Dieudonné Guindon, better known as "Bernie the Frog", is a Canadian former outlaw biker, gangster and boxer, best known as the founder and national president of Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club from 1965 to 2000. He was later a member of the Hells Angels until his retirement in 2006.

Francesco "Cisco" Lenti is a Canadian outlaw biker and gangster, best known as the co-founder of the Loners Motorcycle Club.

Cecil Kirby is a Canadian former outlaw biker, gangster and hitman for the Commisso 'ndrina, turned police informant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loners Motorcycle Club</span> Outlaw motorcycle club

The Loners Motorcycle Club (LMC) is an international outlaw motorcycle club founded in Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada in 1979. It has seventeen chapters in Canada, eleven chapters in Italy, eleven in the United States. They also possess several chapters in other countries across the world. The club was established by two prominent Italian-Canadian bikers, Frank Lenti and Gennaro Raso.

Steven Gault is a Canadian outlaw biker and police informer who played a key role in the Ontario Provincial Police's (OPP) Project Tandem operation against the Hells Angels between 2005 and 2006.

David Atwell is a Canadian outlaw biker, gangster and police informer who played a key role in the Ontario Provincial Police's Project Develop operation against the Hells Angels between 2005 and 2007.

The Satan's Choice–Popeyes War was the first major outlaw motorcycle club conflict in Canada's history, involving the country's two largest Motorcycle Clubs; the Satan's Choice from Ontario, and the Popeyes from Quebec. The conflict lasted from 1974 until 1976 and saw the two motorcycle clubs battle for dominance in the country. The conflict misleadingly known in Canada as the "First Biker War" would begin a year later in 1977.

Lorne Edgar Campbell is a Canadian former outlaw biker and gangster. One of the earliest members of the Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club, which he joined in 1965 at the age of 17, Campbell remained a life-long member of the club, staying on until Satan's Choice joined the Hells Angels in 2000. Campbell served as the president of Satan's Choice Oshawa chapter from 1985 to 1997, and of the Hells Angels' Sudbury chapter from 2001 to 2006, amassing a number of convictions.

Garnet Douglas McEwen, nicknamed "Mother", was a Canadian outlaw biker, gangster and police informer, most notable as a longtime member of Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club before serving as the first national president of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club in Canada.

Michel Alexandre Dubé was a Canadian outlaw biker and gangster. President of the Sudbury, Ontario chapter of the Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club, Dubé committed suicide in jail after being charged with two counts of first-degree murder and the bombing of a police station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annihilators Motorcycle Club</span> Outlaw motorcycle club

The Annihilators Motorcycle Club was a Canadian outlaw biker club and organized crime group of the 1980s and 1990s.

The Port Hope 8 case refers to the trial of eight members of the Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club in 1979 for the murder of William John Matiyek on 18 October 1978 at the Queen's Hotel in Port Hope, Ontario. Of the accused, six were convicted, and the case is widely considered to be a miscarriage of justice. Of the "Port Hope 8", Gary Comeau and Richard Sauvé were convicted of first degree murder; Jeff McLeod, David Hoffman, Merv Blaker and Larry Hurren were convicted of second degree murder; and Armand Sanguigni and Gordon van Haarlem were acquitted.

Richard Michael Anthony Sauvé is a former Canadian outlaw biker, wrongly convicted of first degree murder in the Port Hope 8 case of 1979, turned social activist.

Murray Lloyd "Merv" Blaker is a Canadian outlaw biker, convicted in the Port Hope 8 case, turned social activist.

Gary Joseph Comeau is a Canadian outlaw biker and one of the Port Hope 8 whose conviction for first degree murder in 1979 is widely considered a miscarriage of justice.

Jeffery McLeod is a Canadian biker who was of the Port Hope 8. McLeod's conviction for second degree murder is controversial.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Lowe 2013, p. 76.
  2. ↑ Lowe 2013, p. 103.
  3. 1 2 Lowe 2013, p. 275.
  4. ↑ Edwards 2013, p. 98.
  5. ↑ Lowe 2013, p. 5-6.
  6. ↑ Lowe 2013, p. 6-7.
  7. 1 2 3 Lowe 2013, p. 50.
  8. ↑ Lowe 2013, p. 272.
  9. ↑ Lowe 2013, p. 22-23.
  10. ↑ Lowe 2013, p. 50-51.
  11. ↑ Lowe 2013, p. 56.
  12. ↑ Lowe 2013, p. 60.
  13. ↑ Lowe 2013, p. 121-122.
  14. 1 2 Edwards 2013, p. 102.
  15. ↑ Lowe 2013, p. 184.
  16. ↑ Lowe 2013, p. 274.
  17. 1 2 3 Lowe 2013, p. 279.
  18. ↑ Lowe 2013, p. 306.
  19. 1 2 3 Lowe 2013, p. 351.
  20. 1 2 Lowe 2013, p. 330.
  21. ↑ Lowe 2013, p. 330-331.
  22. ↑ Lowe 2013, p. 334-335.
  23. 1 2 3 4 Lowe 2013, p. 335.
  24. ↑ Lowe 2013, p. 343-344.
  25. ↑ Auger & Edwards 2012, p. 56.
  26. ↑ Edwards 2017, p. 163.
  27. ↑ Lowe 2013, p. 331.
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lowe 2013, p. 429.
  29. 1 2 Dalby, Paul (Fall 2013). "Truth and No Consequence". Watershed Magazine. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.