Hells Angels confession could overturn murder convictions for five men in California

A federal hearing in San Francisco may free five Hells Angels members convicted of murder, hinging on a missing man's alleged confession relayed by a secret FBI informant.

Five Hells Angels convicts seek freedom based on missing man's alleged murder confession

A federal hearing in San Francisco is examining whether five convicted Hells Angels members should be freed, after attorneys presented evidence that a missing man allegedly confessed to the murder at the heart of a major racketeering case, mercurynews.com reports.

Senior U.S. District Judge Edward Chen granted the evidentiary hearing, which could result in an overturned verdict — a rare outcome in a federal racketeering prosecution involving murder and organised crime.

The conviction and the alleged alternative suspect

Four of the five men — Brian Wendt, Russell "Rusty" Ott, Jonathan Nelson, and Christopher Rainieri — were convicted of murdering Joel Silva, a Livermore resident and longtime Hells Angels member. Prosecutors argued that Wendt shot Silva in the back of the head as part of a conspiracy involving the other three. A fifth defendant, Raymond Foakes, was convicted of mayhem for allegedly maiming a former club member.

The original convictions rested heavily on testimony from Joseph Hardisty, a former Richmond Hells Angels member who said he helped plan Silva's killing after the victim's behaviour became so erratic that the club concluded he could not be allowed to live. A onetime Hells Angels Fresno chapter president, Merl Hefferman, later pleaded guilty to organising a clandestine cremation of Silva's body to ensure it would never be recovered.

Now, defence attorneys argue the prosecution had the wrong man. Their central claim is that Robbie Huff — another veteran Hells Angels member — confessed to shooting Silva inside a pickup truck at close range, over a botched marijuana deal that had generated a $30,000 debt between chapters. Huff, however, has been missing since early 2015. Prosecutors believe he was murdered and cremated illegally at a local funeral home, just as Silva was.

The FBI note and the anonymous informant

Because Huff cannot testify, his alleged admission exists only in a handwritten note by an FBI agent, drafted during one of ten interviews with a woman identified in court records solely as CHS — "confidential human source." The agent recorded that Huff told her he "killed Joel and burned (his) truck."

On the matter of the truck, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Barry conceded at a July 30 hearing that Huff did destroy Silva's vehicle. Huff drained the gas tank, soaked the truck in diesel fuel, and set it alight in an apparent effort to eliminate evidence of his trip to Fresno before Silva's murder in July 2014. The truck would have been reduced to ash, Barry said, had a passer-by not spotted the blaze and called emergency services.

Beyond that single point, Barry contended that CHS's account does not align with the physical evidence. He also argued that her version of the alleged confession may not be admissible under federal law, and that the marijuana-deal backstory would almost certainly be excluded.

The woman's background

CHS herself has a complicated history. She admitted to the FBI that she transported large quantities of marijuana from the West Coast to the East Coast on behalf of the Hells Angels, renting moving trailers for the purpose, before agreeing to work as a paid FBI informant. She was apparently close to Huff at one point but also a target of his hostility — she accused him of threatening her family and shooting up her home.

What the defence argues

Defence attorneys maintain that had jurors heard CHS's account, it would have "destroyed" Hardisty's credibility and offered a plausible alternative explanation for both Silva's death and Huff's subsequent disappearance: that Huff killed Silva independently, motivated by the $30,000 debt, without the knowledge or approval of the other defendants.

"If the story is true, Huff killed Silva without permission or involvement. It was not done, sanctioned with the advanced knowledge of either Hefferman, Nelson, Ranieri or Wendt," Nelson's attorney, Richard Novak, said at the July 30 hearing.

CHS herself now difficult to locate

A further complication emerged in a court filing dated 11 August. Defence teams reported they had been unable to serve a subpoena on CHS, who was scheduled to testify on 18 August. The filing stated that if she could not be served by the end of the following day, the defendants would seek a continuance of the evidentiary hearing.

Huff remains missing. Fresno police are asking anyone with information about his whereabouts to call 559-621-7000.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)