B.C. Hells Angel facing new Ontario murder charge
He’s been charged in the U.S. for allegedly agreeing to send hitmen to kill two Iranian dissidents. He was convicted in Manitoba of trafficking cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl.
By Kim Bolan Vancouver Sun April 3, 2026
https://vancouversun.com/news/crime/bc-hells-angel-ontario-murder-charge
B.C. Hells Angel Damion Ryan.
PHOTO BY MANITOBA RCMP /PNG
It’s been a rough few years for B.C. Hells Angel and Wolfpack gangster Damion Ryan.
A would-be hitman tried to kill him in the food court at Vancouver Airport in April 2015.
Since then, he’s been charged in the U.S. with agreeing to send hitmen to kill two Iranian dissidents. He was convicted in Manitoba of trafficking cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl. He was named as a defendant in a B.C. government lawsuit targeting three Hells Angels clubhouses.
And now he has been charged in Ontario with first-degree murder in connection with a January 2021 slaying in Bolton, about 50 kilometres northwest of Toronto.
Ontario Provincial Police announced the new charges against Ryan, 45, on April 1. He is set to make a first appearance in an Ottawa courtroom on April 13.
Meanwhile Ryan’s sentencing hearing in the drug trafficking conspiracy is due to begin in Winnipeg on May 6, after his conviction on five counts in December 2025.
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The new charges against Ryan also include counts of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder in 2020 and 2021.
The OPP said they relate to a shooting on Nov. 12, 2020, on Steeles Avenue West in Vaughan. One person was injured and taken to hospital.
Then on Jan. 18, 2021, in the early afternoon, OPP officers were called about a shooting on Harvest Moon Drive in Bolton.
“Two people sustained gunshot wounds inside the home, including the victim from the Vaughan incident,” the OPP news release said.
Giovanni Costa, 65, was found dead at the scene. His son Michael was the target of the murder conspiracy but survived both attempts on his life.
Ryan was the fifth person charged. Two others charged, Filmon Fesshaghirgis, 27, and Waheed Barakziye, 48, remain fugitives.
“With a fifth person arrested, the OPP’s investigation continues as officers work to identify the whereabouts of two wanted individuals. If anyone has any information, we urge you to contact police immediately,” OPP Detective Inspector Steven Martell said in the release.
Also charged in the case are Christopher Brown, of Barrie, Neheniah Tirfe, of Toronto.
Ryan, who grew up in east Vancouver, was wounded in a 2010 shooting at a restaurant on Oak Street. He eventually moved to Ottawa, where he was a member of Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels before it was disbanded over an internal dispute.
He then joined the biker gang’s Attica, Greece chapter, before transferring back to B.C. to join the Haney chapter, of which his uncle is a long-time member.
Ryan was arrested in February 2022 at an Ottawa house once owned by the family of fellow Wolfpack gangster Rabih Alkhalil on the Manitoba drug conspiracy charges. Alkhalil has been convicted of two counts of murder in both Ontario and B.C.
While in custody awaiting trial, Ryan was charged in January 2024 in the U.S. with having a role in the unsuccessful murder plot targeting the unnamed Iranian dissidents. The indictment in the case alleges Ryan was working for Iranian drug lord Naji Zindashti — on orders from the Iranian government — and alleges he was recorded on an encrypted device agreeing to put together a team to do the hit for US$350,000, plus $20,000 in expenses.
kbolan@postmedia.com
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