About 275 people, most sporting biker jackets showed up in Shubenacadie Thursday for the funeral for murder victims Ellen and Rustie Hall, whose bodies were discovered in their Barr Settlement home Feb. 26.
Police in one RCMP cruiser and a forensics van watched from across the street as the overflow crowd of about 75 people stood in quiet groups in the parking lot of the Ettinger Funeral Home hearing the words via loudspeaker.
“We are stunned by the sudden and violent deaths of Rustie and Ellen,” said Pastor Paul Vanderkooy in his remarks at the beginning of the service.
“You were my source of life and my everything… I love you mom and dad and I miss you so much,” cried the couple’s daughter Ange.
“My dad was an honest man, a hard working man and an opinionated man,” said Canadian Forces Cpl. Mike Hall, recently returned from deployment in Afghanistan. Though the two had their disagreements, Mr. Hall had given his son one of his rare “full-on” hugs just before his deployment.
“My mom had the heart of an angel,” he added. “She was always there for me.”
After testimonials the crowd listened to Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
In the parking lot, bikers shivered in quiet groups, often exchanging hugs and greetings with one another. Some had traveled from as far as Hamilton, Ont., to judge by the patches on their backs and license plates on their cars
By their patches bikers could be identified as members of the Red Devils in Chatham, NB, the Highlanders in Antigonish, Bacchus Motorcycle Club in New Brunswick and the Hells Angels. There were even four members of a Christian bike club from Dartmouth.
We’re an eating and drinking club with a motorcycle problem - Bacchus motorcycle club member
Some bikers were willing to share their views on the murder as long as they weren’t identified. “It was a random psycho,” said one, “the police don’t know anything.”
And neither, said one burly Bacchus member, did they. “I’d love to catch him,” he said, then corrected himself lest he sound too threatening. “I hope the police catch him.”
Several Bacchus members insisted they were just ordinary working men with jobs and families who simply liked riding bikes. “We’re an eating and drinking club with a motorcycle problem,” joked one. “A lot of us are fat.”
Police have a different view. They say Bacchus is an organized crime group and the murders weren’t random.
