A Fresno funeral home was used to cremate the body of a murdered member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, according to documents filed in federal court in San Francisco last week.

Yost & Webb funeral home in Downtown Fresno was the site of four illegal cremations facilitated by Hells Angels Fresno chapter member Merl Hefferman, 54, according to testimony from the Yost & Webb crematory manager included in a sentencing memorandum filed Oct. 12.

The murder of Hells Angels Sonoma Chapter member Joel Silva occurred on July 15, 2014, when he was lured to the Fresno Hells Angels clubhouse and shot in the head for “creating problems” for his home club, according to federal prosecutors.

A jury found three motorcycle club members – two from Santa Rosa and one from Tulare – guilty of Silva’s murder after a nine-week trial that concluded in June 2022.

The sentencing memorandum filed last week provides more details about how Silva’s body was illegally cremated.

The crematory manager at Yost & Webb testified in court that Fresno Hells Angel Hefferman became “fascinated with the crematory.” The manager said Hefferman asked for the key to the crematory and said that “someday,” he wanted to “mak[e] something disappear.”

On July 14, 2014, the day before Silva was murdered, Hefferman texted and called the manager. On July 16, 2014, the morning after Silva’s murder, Hefferman called the crematory manager to tell him he “better be” at the crematory.

Later that morning two young men came to the crematory, threatened the manager with a gun and loaded Silva’s body into an incinerator, according to the manager’s testimony.

The crematory manager testified that three other bodies were delivered to the crematory following much the same pattern, which included threats to the crematory manager not to talk. Federal prosecutors believe two of the people illegally cremated were Hells Angels Fresno members Robbie Huff and Art Carasis.

Federal prosecutors believe Hefferman put in months of effort to gain access to Yost & Webb to make bodies disappear without a trace.

Hefferman, who led the Hells Angels annual bicycle charity drive in Fresno, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in the Silva case. But he has not been charged in connection with any other crime, reported sfgate.com.

Hefferman’s attorney argued in an Oct. 13 filing that the government did not find the Yost & Webb crematory manager credible enough to seek additional charges against his client.

Hefferman’s sentencing is scheduled for Thursday, reported sfgate. The government is seeking a prison sentence of more than seven years.