April 7, 2020 – Montreal hit man Jean-Claude (The Fly) Gauthier has been transferred to a less-restrictive halfway house in Quebec after spending the last year in a high-security re-entry facility. He was locked up in 1992 and has five months left to serve out on his sentence. The man they called The Fly is serving his remaining prison time on a 22-year old homicide conviction on day parole. His recent move is reportedly linked to the COVID-19 virus outbreak and an order from the Canadian government to trim the country’s prison population in an effort to stem exposure and contagion rates. The 68-year old Gauthier was found guilty of a gangland murder at trial back in 1997 and pleaded guilty to a manslaughter count in 1993. He admitted to killing 42 men in a police interview. Gauthier was connected to Montreal’s Irish mob, known locally as the West End Gang, and worked directly for West End Gang narcotics boss Ray Desfosses. On April 12, 1987, Gauthier shot drug dealer James Hainey to death inside Hainey’s car. Before fleeing the scene, Gauthier killed Hainey’s dog. Inside Gauthier’s vehicle, police found a piece of paper with the words, “The Fly” written on it next to Gauthier’s phone and pager numbers. In October 1992, Gauthier killed a debtor when he went to collect West End Gang loansharking money at an apartment in the Montreal suburb of Laval. The following year, he took a plea that dropped the charge down to second-degree murder. Gauthier backed out of a cooperation deal with authorities two years later where he would have copped to carrying out 34 contract hits and killing 8 others for personal reasons.
