deadmonton 2006 - michael robert rieger
Michael Robert Rieger, 37, was shot to death June 18th, 2006.
Case status is open and active.
Police were called out at about 1:30 a.m. on June 18th, 2006 to a road near the Kings Knight Pub at 9221 34th Avenue after calls came in reporting multiple gunshots.
A man was found lying on his back dead from gunshot wounds.
Another man also suffered gunshot wounds. A police spokesman said he underwent abdominal surgery at the University of Alberta hospital and is expected to survive.
Numerous witnesses speculated the shooting may have been biker-related as up to thirty Hells Angels members from Alberta and Saskatchewan were seen outside the bar at the time of the gunfire.
Police Inspector Dan Jones said he spotted about 10 bikers outside the pub after the shooting.
A woman interviewed by the Edmonton Sun who was at the pub two days before the shooting said the bikers “were just everywhere.”
An autopsy completed June 19th concluded that Michael Robert Rieger, 37, of Surrey, British Columbia died of gunshot wounds.
Police said Rieger is considered to be an associate of the Hells Angels, although the level of gang involvement in this incident has yet to be confirmed.
The second victim, a 32-year-old male, remained in hospital following surgery.
Rieger's body remained in place for most of Father's Day as a ballistics unit called in from RCMP Regina scoured the scene.
The unit was brought in to determine the position and number of shooters and weapons involved.
Police said they had no leads, weapons, suspects or motives and were trying to determine what may have happened at the bar that sparked this round of violence.
A police spokesman said initial word was that the victims had been at the pub, "but officers are still trying to determine the incident that led up to this shooting" and what their relationship was.
Surveillance tapes from the bar were seized.
Kings Knight Pub manager Kevin Radomski told the Edmonton Journal the video captured a group of people in a nearby rugby field who appeared to be involved in the shooting.
"It was unclear if those people came from inside the Kings Knight. They didn't come back into the parking lot (at the time) to get their vehicles," Radomski said.
Reiger was not wearing a Hells Angels vest but police suspect he may have been a gang "hangaround" or associate.
Inspector Jones said Hells Angels detained at the scene for questioning were polite and helpful.
The Edmonton Sun reported the motorcycle club was in Edmonton for a drag racing event.
Quoting a police source, there are "101" possible reasons that Reiger and the other man was shot.
"It's got something to do with the business they're in. It's all over drugs and control of territory. It's just something these guys do."
As to who carried out "the business," the source said it was not likely a full-patch member that was behind the shooting.
"As a hangaround or prospect or associate you're expected to carry out member's wishes."
Within the Hells Angels structure, a hangaround or associate is someone who is -- or has been -- useful to the gang, and may attend parties and events. They cannot wear colours.
On June 21st, 2006 the Edmonton Sun carried a story saying it was contacted by Bill Paide, webmaster of the www.realdealnews.com web site.
Paide demanded in an e-mail to the Sun, "If this turns out that the man [Reiger] was the victim of a shooting that has absolutely nothing to do with Hells Angels, are you going to report that?"
"It seems we can't even bury a man who is an innocent victim without (the media) giving a forum to those that make their lucrative living trashing us," the e-mail to the Sun said.
The web site contains articles charging police corruption and suggests that police intimidate the public and politicians into giving them bigger budgets by portraying bikers, and the Hells Angels in particular, as terrifying criminal bogeymen.
"Ask your unnamed source just how big a police budget he's shooting for," the e-mail suggested.
www.realdealnews.com is registered to a post office box in Vancouver, Washington. Further exploration of the site suggests it is the web presence of the Toronto chapter of the Hells Angels.
Armchair grammar detectives puzzled over the spelling of the motorcycle club's name may find this answer from the Hells Angels web site to be of interest:
Should the Hells in Hells Angels have an apostrophe, and be Hell's Angels? That would be true if there was only one Hell, but life & history has taught us that there are many versions and forms of Hell.
Reiger's death was the first biker-related shooting since Joey Morin aka Joey Campbell (left) and Robert Charles Simpson were shot to death January 30th, 2004 in the parking lot of the Saint Pete's strip club in Edmonton's west end.
Media reports quoted sources as saying there were multiple shots to almost every part of their bodies.
At the time of the killings the Bandidos motorcycle gang web site identified Joey Morin as a "probationary" member and Robert Simpson as a "hangaround." The Bandidos have since been absorbed into the Hells Angels organisation.
The status of their cases remains open and active.