Denis Jerome Labossiere said the killings were connected to his involvement in the drug trade

Denis Jerome Labossiere said the killings were connected to his involvement in the drug trade but he later retracted that suggestion, saying that linking any criminal organization to the crimes could "bring retaliation upon myself and my family.''
Joel Labossiere and other relatives had also been involved in a dispute with his cousin over the parents' will. An August 2000 will left proceeds from the estate, valued at about $1.3 million, to six nephews and nieces. A second will, dated July 2005, left all of the property to Denis Jerome Labossiere and his wife, Claudette.
He served just 18 months of a six-year sentence for trafficking cocaine for the Hells Angels before he was granted day parole. However, a short time later he was arrested and charged with breaching a court order prohibiting him from contacting any relatives.
The relatives had obtained a no-contact order. "None of us are comfortable with having him out,'' Joel Labossiere said at the time.