The Sault Ste. Marie Chapter of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club held a funeral service this afternoon for 1%er William Hulko.
Known to the biker community as Wild Bill, and to women acquaintances as Handsome Huck, Hulko was remembered at a 2 p.m. service at the Outlaws clubhouse on Spruce Street.
No funeral procession was held after the service, and Hulko is expected to continue resting at the clubhouse until burial later in the week.
The funeral was conducted entirely by the Outlaws, who took out a small advertisement in Friday's Sault Star to announce today's service.
We were unable to get even an approximate count of the Outlaws and affiliated Black Pistons in attendance because our photographer was advised his camera would be destroyed if he continued taking pictures from a sidewalk across the street.
At the time he appeared to be alone in the neighourhood with the bikers and thought it prudent to withdraw immediately with the photos already taken.
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Ride ... free for eternity
Over the weekend, condolences poured in from Outlaws chapters across North America and Europe.
Wolf, an Atlanta-based Outlaws supporter, sent the following to the club's U.S. web site:
"Break on through to the other side, Wild Bill 1%er. No bars or walls can confine you now for you are truly wild and free.
"Ride the lightning and hear the thunder as you roll on with the Forever Chapter.
"Ride hard, fast and free for eternity with the love, loyalty and respect of those you leave behind."
Well known to police throughout most of his 59 years, Hulko was convicted during the past decade of attempted murder.
Found dead in his cell
The Ottawa Citizen reports that he was "the reputed president of the Outlaws motorcycle gang's Kingston chapter" and that Hulko was "found dead in his cell at Quinte Detention Centre in Napanee."
"Guards found the man unconscious and unresponsive inside his cell. Attempts to revive the notorious biker were unsuccessful and Mr. Hulko was pronounced dead at the scene," the Citizen's Don Campbell reports.
Foul play is not suspected, police said, but toxicology tests were done.
Hulko was awaiting trial on charges of sexually assaulted a girl under the age of 14 in 1992 while in a position of trust, and with using a weapon during the assault.