HITMAN:
THE UNTOLD STORY OF CANADA’S DEADLIEST KILLER
Available for pre-order at Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, Indigo or your local bookstore. Or contact me to get a personalized signed copy.
on sale april 15, 2025
“A chilling exploration… into a dark, often hidden battle unfolding in the shadows of our world.”
-Jacques Duchesneau, former Montreal Chief of Police
For Yves (Apache) Trudeau, the blood was all business. A founding member of the Hells Angels in Canada, he did his job as an assassin so well that the bikers sometimes lent him out to other organized-crime empires in Montreal, such as the upstart Irish Mafia in the West End.
Eventually, fearful of his own life from rival bikers, he turned government informant and confessed to his crimes, which included killing forty-three people. But as a witness, Trudeau was a disaster. His testimony led to so many acquittals that prosecutors avoided him. And the controversial sweetheart deal he got -- only seven years behind bars for all his murders -- sparked outrage.
Few people realize that Canada's deadliest killer was not well-known convicted men like Clifford Olsen or Robert Pickford but a relentless biker assassin. Or that Trudeau's killing spree in the 1970s and 1980s during which he went untouched by law enforcement for 15 years helped lay the groundwork for the deadly biker wars of the 1990s and the rise of Maurice "Mom" Boucher.
At a time today when continues to be plagued by organized crime and violence, Hitman is a timely look at how our justice and police system is failing to protect citizens. It tells the story of ordinary citizens scarred to this day by Trudeau's dirty work and the handful of determined police and prosecutors who took on the bikers.
Aussi disponible en français, publié par Les Éditions de l’Homme
ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:
Hitman is gripping from beginning to end! Deeply-researched and powerfully-written, Hitman combines the immense talents of journalists Julian Sher and Lisa Fitterman to tell the disturbing story of Yves Trudeau – Canada’s most prolific contract killer. The book is shocking both for its insight into the brutal biker underworld and for exposing a legal system unable to hold mass murderers to account. A must-read!
- Kim Bolan, Vancouver Sun
“This book delivers a chilling exploration of Yves “Apache” Trudeau’s legacy, a feared hitman whose lethal skills fuelled Canada’s criminal underworld. This compelling account not only reveals his brutal career but also critically examines the justice system’s readiness to strike deals with dangerous offenders. By exposing both the violence of one man and society’s struggle to confront organized crime, readers are drawn into a dark, often hidden battle unfolding in the shadows of our world.”
- Jacques Duchesneau, former Montreal Chief of Police
Sher and Fitterman provide a rare and detailed glimpse inside Canadian organized crime as it evolved in the Montreal gangster era of the 70s and 80s: the perfect storm for Yves “Apache” Trudeau to become Canada’s most prolific serial, retail assassin of choice for anyone willing to pay. Trudeau’s unprecedented body count was as much a function of ambitious gangsters acting with relative impunity as the inexperience of the police and prosecutors. Supported by painstaking research, this book is a must read for anyone seeking to understand Canadian organized crime and some of the lessons learned from the shocking case of Apache Trudeau.
-Andy Richards, former inspector of the British Columbia Organized Crime Agency
“A must-read for those interested in true crime … The authors have highlighted how Yves (Apache) Trudeau’s influence extended far beyond his actions; it shaped the very landscape of the biker underworld in Quebec and, by extension, across North America. The authors have served to remind us of the complexities of criminal life, where ambition, violence, and betrayal intertwine, leaving an indelible mark on the world of organized crime.”
-Garry Clement, former RCMP Superintendent, National Director, Proceeds of Crime
“I can’t think of a more loathsome representative of Canada’s underworld than hitman Yves Trudeau. Thanks to Julian Sher and Lisa Fitterman for deftly capturing his important, chilling story.”
- Peter Edwards, Toronto Star crime reporter and author of A Gangster’s Life
In Hitman, Julian Sher and Lisa Fitterman not only document the crimes and collateral damage of a remorseless underworld assassin, but uncover the institutional failures and sweetheart deals which helped him game the system. A smart and fascinating true crime story with some unpredictable twists.
-Sam Wiebe, author of Ocean Drive and The Last Exile.