Nick Rizzuto Jr. Murdered in Montreal

American organized crime groups included traditional groups such as La Cosa Nostra & the Italian Mafia to modern groups such as Black Mafia Family. Discuss the most organized criminal groups in the United States including gangs in Canada.
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Carmelo_Sicily
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Nick Rizzuto Jr. Murdered in Montreal

Unread post by Carmelo_Sicily » December 28th, 2009, 9:45 pm

Man gunned down in Montreal was son of mafia boss Vito Rizzuto

By James Mennie and Max Harrold, Canwest News ServiceDecember 28, 2009

The life of Nicolo (Nick) Rizzuto Jr. was nowhere near as notorious or scrutinized as that of his father, Vito Rizzuto — a man described as the reputed head of the Mafia in Montreal. But the younger Rizzuto’s sudden death Monday has sparked a very public flurry of speculation over who would commit the murder and who might profit from it.

“He didn’t have the respect his father had, but he did have respect. He operated while using the family name. There was no doubt about that,” said one police source who speculated that reprisals are likely to follow.

“The (Rizzuto) family has gone down (in terms of power). It’s clear now.”

Police sources said Nick Rizzuto, 42, was believed to be handling the financial aspects of his father’s business while Vito Rizzuto was in a U.S. prison, where he continues to serve a 10-year sentence for a racketeering conviction involving the 1981 killings of three Mafia captains.

The family’s influence appears to have been significantly weakened by the absence of Vito Rizzuto, its charismatic leader who is behind bars in a federal correctional complex in Colorado.

His extradition to the United States was soon followed by arrests in 2006 in Project Colisee — an investigation into the Montreal Mafia.

Six men portrayed as leaders in the organization have since been convicted of crimes related to the investigation. Only one of the six, Nick Rizzuto’s grandfather, Nicolo, is not currently behind bars.

But his actions are limited because he is still on probation as part of a sentence he received in 2008, also linked to Project Colisee.

The police perimeter erected around the spot where Nick Rizzuto fell, shot anywhere from four to six times in the upper body, has blossomed out for two blocks.

According to witnesses, Rizzuto was attacked by a single male assailant who, after he finished shooting, fled on foot.

By 6 p.m., witnesses had described Rizzuto’s assailant as a black male wearing a hood, dark coat and blue jeans.

In a building just a few metres away from where Rizzuto was found sprawled beside a black Mercedes sports car, police could be seen walking through the second floor offices of FTM Construction, owned by Antonio Magi, who, in an interview this month with The Gazette, acknowledged his business relationship with the victim.

“We had bought a piece of land together which we are developing,” Magi said of Nick Rizzuto. “He’s studied law and he’s a smart kid. He’s smart in real estate.

“The poor guy. He tries to do something in his life and, because of his family’s past history, every time he turns around he gets hit with something.”

That sentiment was echoed by some of those who posted their comments on The Gazette’s website after news of Rizzuto’s killing had become public.

“If anyone knew Nick they could tell you he was the nicest guy around,” wrote one person, who identified himself as Vincenze. “He was a loving father, a wonderful husband and a fantastic human being. . . . I certainly will miss the one in a million guy who didn’t deserve the fate that was laid upon him this afternoon.”

On Monday, police did not officially identify Rizzuto as the city’s 31st homicide victim, describing him only as “someone known to police.”

But they did acknowledge investigators would have their work cut out for them hearing from those who saw what happened to Rizzuto.

“There’s no question that we have a lot of witnesses,” said Montreal police spokesman Olivier Lapointe.

“A lot of people are (home) on holidays, it happened in the middle of the day — 12:10 p.m. — we have people who heard the shots and people who saw things.”

Rizzuto’s murder occurred within a direct line of sight of six back balconies on a nearby apartment block and possibly within the focus of two surveillance cameras — one overlooking the entrance to a store and another affixed to the facade of Magi’s construction offices.

For the last three years, Rizzuto had been seen frequently at the building.

Magi did not specify in his interview which parcel of land they had purchased, but police sources have said in the past that they believe Rizzuto was involved in two major residential projects.

Magi told The Gazette he asked Rizzuto to take part in a meeting he had with a Montreal police investigator last summer. The investigator told Magi the police were trying to link a murder attempt against him on Aug. 11, 2008, to similar events in the city.

“The reason I did bring him in to meet (the investigator) was so she could ask him questions about me,” Magi said.

One police source said Monday that Magi recently appeared to be expecting trouble.

“Since last week (Magi’s) been walking around with three bodyguards,” the source said.

In 2005, while investigators were working on Project Colisee, recording devices placed at a Mafia hangout captured conversations in which Mafia leaders appeared to be discussing a kidnapping where Magi was handcuffed and briefly held against his will. In subsequent recorded conversations, Rizzuto was overheard showing a personal interest in Magi’s well-being.

Rizzuto’s murder is the third carried out in Montreal this year involving a victim who was close to the Rizzuto organization.

In January, Sam Fasulo, a high-level drug trafficker, was shot while driving through Montreal and died two days later. And on Aug. 21, Federico Del Peschio, who served time with Nicolo Sr. in 1988, was shot while he arrived to a restaurant he co-owned.

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Re: Nick Rizzuto Jr. Murdered in Montreal

Unread post by VsichkoEBosh » January 29th, 2010, 8:03 pm

AT LEAST NOW WE KNOW WHY THERE WAS AN EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI :P

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Re: Nick Rizzuto Jr. Murdered in Montreal

Unread post by J1n » February 9th, 2010, 8:34 am

Things are going to be CRAZY this summer :D

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Re: Nick Rizzuto Jr. Murdered in Montreal

Unread post by patronius » July 12th, 2010, 12:31 pm

they started off the canada day weekend with a bang-Montreal gangster gunned down in brazen daylight shooting July 1, 2010

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A reputed Montreal gangster with ties to the Rizzuto crime family was gunned down in a brazen daylight shooting, police said on Wednesday.

Agostino Cuntrera, 66, and his 48-year-old bodyguard were shot on Tuesday afternoon outside an east-end Montreal restaurant said to be owned by Cuntrera.

Two men in a black Chevrolet Impala similar to one spotted leaving the scene were arrested shortly after the slayings. One of them was released while the other is still being held on unrelated charges, police told AFP.

Advertisement: Story continues belowCuntrera was believed to have taken over the helm of the Rizzuto clan after the 2006 extradition to the United States of crime boss Vito Rizzuto on murder charges, according to public broadcaster CBC.

Cuntrera was described by local media as being "old school", low-key and shy of the limelight. He is the third high-profile Mafioso to be murdered since Rizzuto's arrest in 2004.

Vito Rizzuto is currently serving a 10-year sentence in Colorado for racketeering, related to three underworld murders in Brooklyn in 1981.

In December, Rizzuto's son Nick Rizzuto Jr was gunned down in broad daylight in Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grace district.

An elderly man associated with the powerful Rizzuto mafia was also reported missing in May. Paolo Renda, 70, had been recently released from prison after a serving a sentence for criminal association among other charges, but did not arrive home one night, police sources said.

His wife - sister of Vito Rizzuto - found his car near their home and alerted police, who found the car doors open and keys on the dashboard.

Montreal's Sicilian Mafia is facing new competition for criminal spoils from a Calabrese clan, street gangs, and even Haitian groups, according to crime experts.

Each wants a piece of Rizzuto territory, possibly with the backing of the New York Mafia which cut ties to the Rizzuto family after a falling out over the Brooklyn murders.

Born in Sicily in 1944, Cuntrera moved to Canada in 1965 and helped establish the Rizzuto clan's criminal reign in Montreal. He served five years in prison for conspiracy in the 1978 murder of then crime boss Paolo Violli, who headed a rival Calabrese clan.

Upon his release, Cuntrera started several small businesses in Montreal, including restaurants.

AFP

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