Hells Angels allegedly used ‘pizza oven’ funeral home to get rid of victims’ bodies
The notorious Hells Angels biker gang allegedly used a California funeral home dubbed the “pizza oven” to get rid of bodies, federal prosecutors claim.
Merl Hefferman, a member of the Sonoma County Hells Angel, told Levi Phipps, manager of Yost & Webb Funeral Home in Fresno, that he wanted to make things disappear — which Phipps understood to mean human bodies, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Prosecutors allege Hefferman, 54, used the funeral home’s crematorium to incinerate the remains of Joel Silva, a member of the biker gang who was murdered in 2014, as well as three others.
“Merl Hefferman arranged to have Joel Silva’s body illegally cremated. This was purposeful, premeditated conduct,” prosecutors wrote in court documents obtained by the Times.
“Hefferman obstructed justice. He also caused immense pain to Silva’s family: they had no body to mourn, no closure, and no certainty about what had happened to Silva until … nearly eight years after Silva disappeared.”
Hefferman pleaded guilty to obstructing justice by disposing of Silva’s body in December — but he has not yet been charged or convicted in connection to the three other alleged cremations of people killed by members of the outlaw club.
Three Hells Angels were convicted of murdering Silva in part: Brian Wendt was convicted of shooting Silva in the head and two senior Hells Angels members — Jonathan Nelson and Russell Taylor Ott — were convicted of murder for orchestrating the killing, the LA Times reported.
Phipps testified that he did not know who the three other bodies were but claimed Hefferman directed him to cremate them.
The timeline of the cremations coincides with the disappearances of three Hells Angels members: Robbie Huff — who helped in the coverup of Silva’s murder — and Art Carasis, who went missing in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
Hefferman’s attorney identified the fourth missing person as Juan Guevara, another Hells Angels member, according to the newspaper.
Phipps’ testimony matched call records between himself and Hefferman, who contacted the funeral home manager around the time of each disappearance, prosecutors said.
“The nearly identical pattern of contact between Hefferman and Phipps near the time of both the Silva murder and Huff disappearance is powerful corroboration for Phipps’ grand jury testimony,” prosecutors wrote.
Hefferman’s attorneys accused prosecutors of pulling a “Hail Mary” attempt to tie him to the disposal of the other bodies he has not been charged with.
The judge had refused to allow prosecutors to mention the three other cremations during the trial.
“Despite ample opportunities to do so, it is clear that the government did not find Phipps credible enough to seek additional charges by way of the grand jury or for inclusion in the conspiracy charge,” his attorneys claimed.