A man who took part in two cold-blooded murders carried out in an apparent response to a failed attempt to take control of the Montreal Mafia more than a decade ago found himself having to explain a chilling text message he sent to his accomplices after the second victim was killed.

Olivier Gay, 42, a man long tied to Reds-affilated street gang called Unit 44 in northern Montreal appeared before the Parole Board of Canada on Thursday. He is seeking day parole on the sentence he received for taking part in the murders of Gaetan Gosselin, a man who was killed in front of his home on Jan. 22, 2013, and Vincenzo Scuderi, a man who was killed nine days later.

In 2017, Gay pleaded guilty to being part of a conspiracy to kill both men. Five men in all pleaded guilty to conspiring to kill Gosselin, but Gay was the only one to admit he was also part of the conspiracy to kill Scuderi. He received the longest sentence of the five — 18 years. He had 11 years and 10 months left to serve when he was sentenced in 2017.

Besides asking for day parole, Gay will soon reach the two-thirds mark of his sentence, which means he will automatically qualify for a statutory release. If he is turned down for day parole, the board will have to determine if surveillance conditions should be attached to his statutory release.

At the end of his long hearing Thursday morning, Gay was informed the parole board will deliberate on the matter before making a decision in writing. The board can deliberate for a maximum of 15 days.

As part of the evidence entered into the court record during his guilty plea, the court was informed that, after Scuderi was killed, Gay sent a text message to his accomplices in which he wrote: “Never two without three. Bring on the next one.”

Gosselin was a longtime friend of Montreal Mob boss Raynald Desjardins, a man who, back in 2013, was a leading member of a group that tried to take control of the Montreal Mafia from the Rizzuto organization. Scuderi was a close associate of Giuseppe (Ponytail) De Vito, another leader who was part of the failed takeover.

If both men who were murdered could be considered to be enemies of the Rizzutos, Gay’s message implied there could have been another hit planned.

On Thursday, one of the parole board members who presided over Gay’s hearing asked him to explain what he meant by “never two without three.”

Gay said the text messages he sent were mostly in Creole and that he used a lot of slang when he communicated with his friends. He said that when the messages were translated by interpreters, the context was often lost.

“It was about something else. Drugs,” Gay said of the message. “I was having a good day (dealing drugs) that day.

“I wasn’t charged (with the murders) because of that message.”

When asked further questions about the timing of the message, Gay said it was just a coincidence it was sent minutes after Scuderi was killed.

Gay also told the parole board he merely did surveillance before both homicides were carried out.

“I didn’t ask more questions. I didn’t think of what might happen (as a consequence of his surveillance on the men who were ultimately killed),” he said. “My satisfaction was in making money.”

Gay said money was the motivation behind most of the decisions he made growing up in Rivière-des-Prairies. He recounted how he quit school at 15 and ended up working in a Loblaws while he watched as people he knew were “driving around in nice cars” and being paid for committing crime.

“I came from R.D.P. Crime was everywhere and I was attracted to it,” Gay told the parole board. Other street gang members “were friends who grew up together. We went to the same schools. We went to the same churches. We made bad choices together.

“Most of the people from my circle are dead or are now serving life sentences.”