Friends of Ours

Montreal Mafia Don Nicolo Rizzuto Slain At Home During Supper: “The Family Is Finished”

Nicolo Rizzuto, the 86-year-old patriarch of the Montreal Mafia for the last thirty years, was assassinated last night at his home as reported by Les Perreaux for The Globe and Mail. A gunman had set up in a wooded area behind Rizzuto's home, and shot him through a window as reported by Jessica Murphy and Brian Daly for QMI Agency. Video

It's been a tough year for the Rizzuto clan while Vito Rizzuto – the son of Nicolo and reputed boss – serves a ten-year term at a federal penitentiary in Florence, CO following his 2007 racketeering conviction involving the 1981 murder of three Bonanno capos in NYC. Last December Nick Rizzuto Jr. – Nicolo's namesake and Vito's son – was gunned down. And a slew of other top leaders have met similar fates. Last September associate Ennio Bruni was gunned down; last July family leader Agostino Cuntrera and his driver and body guard Liborio Sciascia were shot to death; last June reputed consigliere Paolo Renda apparently was kidnapped into oblivion; and in August 2009 associate Frederico Del Peschio was murdered.

Investigators believe that interloping 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian mobsters from Ontario – perhaps with the blessing of some boys from New York – may be responsible for the ongoing massacre against the Sicilian Montreal Mafia. The Rizzuto legacy has come to an inglorious end, and retired RCMP intelligence analyst Pierre de Champlain stated: "It's the end of the Rizzuto crime family. The killing is probably not over, but the family is finished."

Sal Vitale Took Down The Montreal Mafia

Earlier this month former Bonanno underboss Salvatore Vitale was rewarded by the feds for his cooperation, and it turns out that Good Looking Sal not only was responsible for bringing down his own crime family in NYC but also the Montreal Mafia and its reputed boss Vito Rizzuto as reported by Adrian Humphreys for the National Post: "His evidence was . . . crucial in the U.S. obtaining the extradition of Rizzuto for his role in three gangland murders in New York that took place in 1981. Vitale and Rizzuto were two of four gunmen who burst into a Brooklyn social club and killed three rebellious [Bonanno] mob captains. The murders were colourfully recreated in the Hollywood movie Donnie Brasco, starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp." Vitale further dished the dirt on the Montreal Mafia to Canadian investigators who in 2006 pursuant to Project Colisee arrested Vito's father Nicolo Rizzuto, his brother-in-law Paolo Renda, and "a wide swath of the criminal organization's leadership and foot soldiers."

It's been a tough year for what has remained of the Montreal Mafia. Last September associate Ennio Bruni was gunned down; last July family leader Agostino Cuntrera and his driver and body guard Liborio Sciascia were shot to death; last June reputed consigliere Paolo Renda apparently was kidnapped into oblivion; last December Nick Rizzuto Jr. was gunned down; and in August 2009 associate Frederico Del Peschio was murdered. Investigators believe that interloping 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian mobsters from Ontario may be responsible for the ongoing massacre against the Sicilian Montreal Mafia, and the latter is powerless to defend its turf with reputed boss Vito serving a ten-year term at a federal penitentiary in Florence, CO and many of his purported Bonanno allies from NYC similarly incapacitated. The Rizzuto legacy comes to an inglorious end.

The Rudderless Montreal Mafia

Things have gone to hell in a hand basket for the Montreal Mafia since 2007 when its reputed boss Vito Rizzuto was convicted in the United States on racketeering charges involving the 1981 murders of three Bonanno crime family capos as reported by Henry Aubin for The Gazette: "No one knows who'll fill the void left by Rizzuto." In the last year opportunists – most likely interloping 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian mobsters from Ontario – have popped off several individuals tied to the Sicilian Rizzuto clan to exploit the power vacuum left by Vito as he serves a ten-year term in a federal penitentiary in Florence, CO. Last September associate Ennio Bruni was gunned down; last July family leader Agostino Cuntrera and his driver and body guard Liborio Sciascia were shot to death; last June reputed consigliere Paolo Renda apparently was kidnapped into oblivion; last December Nick Rizzuto Jr., the son of the imprisoned reputed boss, was gunned down; and in August 2009 associate Frederico Del Peschio was murdered. And Vito Rizzuto's purported friends in New York City apparently are just sitting back and letting it all happen.

Another Rizzuto Mobster Gunned Down

Early Wednesday morning Rizzuto crime family associate Ennio Bruni was gunned down outside Café Bellerose in the Montreal, QC Canada suburb of Laval as reported by Tim Snow for the Montreal Gazette:  "Bruni had been named as a money-runner in Laval gaming houses for the Rizzuto clan - and also as a bodyguard for Francesco del Balso, an alleged bookmaker and Mafia underboss who court documents linked with attempts to launder illegal gambling and drug profits."

At the current rate Rizzuto mobsters quickly may become an extinct species.  Last July family leader Agostino Cuntrera and his driver and body guard Liborio Sciascia were shot to death; last June reputed consigliere Paola Renda apparently was kidnapped into oblivion; last December Nick Rizzuto Jr., the son of the imprisoned reputed boss Vito Rizzuto, was gunned down; and in August 2009 convicted drug trafficker Frederico Del Peschio, a close associate of the family, was murdered.

Bloodshed In Montreal: Rizzuto Family Feud?

Police in Montreal, QC Canada are theorizing that all the recent attacks against senior reputed Rizzuto crime family members may be the result of an internal conflict rather than a Mafia war as reported by Paul Cherry for The Gazette:

In an article penned by Pierre de Champlain in yesterday's Journal de Montreal, the retired RCMP analyst listed the theory, among four, that "certain members of the Montreal Mafia have decided to do some interior cleaning of their own house." * * * Montreal police Deputy Chief Jacques Robinette said all theories are being looked at. But Robinette also emphasized there are no signs that two different groups are at war. * * * "Please come to us (to help) us try to understand what is happening on the street. Because I read (in the media) that it's war. But a war between who? The Sicilians vs. the Calabrians? So far it's only the Sicilians who have been taken down," he said. The leaders of the Rizzuto organization are of Sicilian origin. "For now, there is no war. To my knowledge you need two (sides) to have a war. We still don't understand what is really going on," Robinette said. * * *  Organized crime expert and veteran crime reporter Michel Auger said it is still early to jump to conclusions. "But I think it is a conflict between generations - young people who want to get rid of the old. It could be internal, a difference of opinion."

In any event, it's been a brutal few months for the Rizzuto clan:  last week family leader Agostino Cuntrera and his driver and body guard Liborio Sciascia were shot to death; last month reputed consigliere Paola Renda apparently was kidnapped off the streets; last December Nick Rizzuto Jr., the son of imprisoned reputed boss Vito Rizzuto, was gunned down; and last August convicted drug trafficker Frederico Del Peschio, a close associate of the family, was murdered. 

Meanwhile, police in Montreal are theorizing that some of the fire bomb attacks primarily against Italian cafes in the north end since last September may not be part of a Mafia war but the result of "street gangs demanding a share of drug profits" as reported by CBC News:

"They wanted a cut on every [dollar] of drug sales," said Deputy Chief Jacques Robinette. Robinette said arrests have been made in five of the attacks, but 13 cases remain unsolved. He stressed that the attacks were against the specific cafés and not against the broader Mafia, as gang members tried to apply pressure on businesses where they presumed drugs might be sold. None of the incidents resulted in damage or injuries. In the initial aftermath of the attacks, police admitted they were stumped by the cases. The shop owners weren't talking much.