Toronto Sun: Theories Abound on Musitano Powerplay, Mob War
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Pat Musitano clings to life following shooting outside his office
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Violence linked to organized crime has surged in Hamilton and southern Ontario in recent years
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2013 death of reputed Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto created a power vacuum within the criminal organization
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Notorious Hamilton mobster Pat Musitano was shot in Mississauga, Ont last week in what authorities believe is a powerplay within the Mob.
The 51-year-old is clinging to life after the attempted assassination outside his office.
The hit on Musitano brings to five the number of attempted — and successful — underworld slayings in the past two years, the Sun observed.
Brad Hunt of the Toronto Sun writes:
There’s a war raging in the shadows and back alleys of southern Ontario
Ruthless underworld factions are battling for control of the fertile Golden Horseshoe and casualties are mounting.
A lucrative bounty of dope and vice are the pots of gold at the end of the rainbow
Angelo Musitano (right) and Pat Musitano (left) leaving Provincial Court for lunch in 1998. Musitano was shot in Mississauga Thursday.
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From The Sun: Pat Musitano inherited his family’s empire after the death of his father Domenic Musitano in 1995. His first order of business was to take longtime underworld overlord Johnny “Johnny Pops” off the board in a brazen daylight hit in Hamilton. Papalia’s Niagara capo Carmen Barillaro joined his boss in the morgue three months later. “There’s an old Sicilian saying that revenge is a dish best served cold,” mob doyen James Dubro told The Toronto Sun, adding mobsters have long memories. |
Peel Regional Police said on Twitter last week following the shooting that officers were called to the area of Hurontario Street and Matheson Boulevard East during the early morning hours of Thursday, April 25 for reports of a man with gunshot wounds.
Musitano was rushed to a trauma centre where he remains in life-threatening condition, police said.
Peel police would not confirm the man's identity, but Shahid Malik, a lawyer who shares the office where the shooting took place, said Musitano was there to meet with his lawyer, Joseph Irving.
"I hope Mr. Musitano is OK," Malik told CBC News. "It's very concerning, very upsetting, very unnerving."
Peel police said at a news conference that the victim was shot multiple times outside his vehicle. An SUV parked in front of Malik's office was towed from the scene Thursday morning. Officers would not say why he was there.
Malik would not say what Musitano and Irving were meeting about, citing "solicitor/client privilege." The person who answered the phone at Irving's office hung up on a reporter. Subsequent calls went to voicemail.
Malik also said he has provided security camera footage to police.
Violence linked to organized crime has surged in Hamilton and southern Ontario in recent years.
Musitano's brother, Angelo, was gunned down in the driveway of his Waterdown, Ont., home on May 2, 2017.
A Hamilton man is facing a murder charge in connection with his death. Two other suspects are wanted on Canada-wide warrants, but police believe they may have fled to Mexico.
Weeks after Angelo Musitano was killed, Pat Musitano's home on St. Clair Boulevard in Hamilton was also shot up.
Neighbours walked their dogs past the home Thursday morning. Multiple security spotlights surround the front porch.
At one point a man in a grey SUV drove up to the house, looked it over then headed for reporters standing on the other side of the street.
"F--k off," he yelled. "Don't you think they've been through enough? I'm asking you a question, don't you think this family has been through enough?"
Musitano's uncle, Tony, died two weeks ago of natural causes. His funeral was held just yesterday at Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King in Hamilton.
It was revealed on Monday that a convicted mobster was caught on tape discussing the fate of the notorious Musitano brothers.
In a secretly recorded conversation from September of 2017 where the police agent is infiltrating the New York City-based Bonanno crime family, he and drug trafficker Dom Violi discuss the Musitanos. This happened just months after Angelo Musitano was killed.
"The [police agent] stated that [he] would have thought that 'they' would have gotten rid of [Pat Musitano] before his brother, [Angelo Musitano]. D Violi stated that 'they' wanted to show [Pat Musitano]; that it was a message, D Violi thought," the court documents say.
"'They had told D Violi that before Christmas [Pat Musitano] would be gone; that that would be one headache out of the way."
From CBC News:
In the court documents, Violi is quoted as saying the Musitanos were supporting the Cuntrera's — a crime family that has roots in Montreal and Toronto. Someone set a fire and shot up the home of Giuseppe Cuntrera, who is called "Big Joe" in the court documents, in 2017.
"'They' said, ok you support [them] we would fix you too. The [police agent] asked if [Pat Musitano] was around. D Violi stated that [P Musitano] was around, but that he was in hiding; that he was not in Hamilton, he was outside," the court documents say.
CBC News noted that the 2013 death of reputed Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto created a power vacuum within the organization, and now warring factions have weakened the once mighty Montreal Mafia. That left the Musitanos to fend for themselves.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com (The CBC was used for this article)
