bike-gang member serving life sentence for bandidos murders dies of natural causes
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the sign at the entrance to millhaven and bath institutions on friday, nov. 21, 2025.
meghan balogh
/
postmedia
a convicted murderer serving a life sentence in bath institution died of apparent natural causes monday, according to correctional services canada.
marcelo aravena, 50, had been sentenced in 2009 to life in prison without possibility of parole for 25 years.
a one`-time mixed martial arts fighter based in winnipeg, aravena was convicted on one count of manslaughter and seven counts of first-degree murder. he was a member of the bandidos, a texas-based bike gang that had two chapters in canada, one in winnipeg and the other in toronto. in an internal power struggle between the chapters, members and probationary associates in winnipeg were directed to “pull the patches” of those in toronto who had fallen out of favour of the gang’s leadership in the u.s.
eight members of the toronto chapter were murdered in april 2006, their bodies stuffed into vehicles in elgin county in southwestern ontario.
aravena and five other men were tried and convicted in the bike-gang executions. he chose to make a statement to the families of the victims prior to his sentencing and expressed remorse, according to reports from the court. “i truly am sorry for what i’ve put you through,” aravena said. “i know that nothing i can say will bring your loved ones back, but i did not know this was going to happen.”
appeals of the convictions on the grounds that the jury wasn’t instructed to consider “duress” as a defence—the threat of death if the winnipeg bandidos didn’t follow on their orders to murder the toronto members—were denied.
csc is reviewing the circumstances of aravena’s death as is standard practice in the death of an inmate.
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