The bloodshed continued in the Montreal mafia this week with another in a long line of gangland slayings dating back to the late 2000s and related to a seismic clash for power in the Canadian mob underworld. On Thursday, Rizzuto crime family soldier Antonio De Blasio was killed in a suburb of Montreal, shot to death outside his son’s football practice at a local park. Let’s take a look at the history of the unrest in the ranks of the mafia in Montreal: THE MONTREAL MOB WAR TIMELINE (2004-2017) Jan 24, 2004 – Long-reigning Canadian Godfather Vito Rizzuto is arrested at his Montreal mansion, charged with his participation in the infamous 1981 Three Capos Murders (a Bonanno crime family internal purge) in New York Aug 11, 2005 – Johnny Bertolo, a racketeer, builder and construction union rep aligned with Raynald Desjardins, Rizzuto’s longtime right-hand man and best friend, is killed as he left a Montreal gym Aug 17, 2006 – Vito Rizzuto is extradited to New York to face homicide and murder conspiracy charges, which he is convicted of and ordered to serve 5-to-10 years in prison for Aug 30, 2006 – Rizzuto crime family enforcer Domenico Macri is killed in a drive by as he sat at a traffic light in downtown Montreal Sep 7, 2007 – Frank Velenosi, a main lieutenant of Rizzuto crime family underboss, Francesco (Compare Frank) Arcadi, is found stabbed to death in the trunk of his Volvo Jan 15, 2008 – Rizzuto crime family enforcer Constantin (Big Gus) Alevizos is killed Dec 4, 2008 – Rizzuto crime family soldier Mario (Skinny) Marabella is killed as gunmen open fire on him as he exits his vehicle and goes to fill up his tank at a suburban Montreal gas station Jan 16, 2009 – Sam Fasulo, a top henchman under Rizzuto crime family administrator Compare Frank Arcadi, is murdered in Montreal April 12, 2009 – Bonanno crime family boss Salvatore (Sal the Ironworker) Montagna, the young, brash Godfather and native Canadian, is officially deported from the U.S. and lands in Quebec. He joins forces with Desjardins to try to wrestle control of the Montreal mob away from the incarcerated Rizzuto Aug 21, 2009 – Freddy Del Peschio, a Rizzuto confidant, is slain Dec 28, 2009 – Nicolo (Ritzy Nick) Rizzuto, Jr, Vito’s son and protégé, is shot dead in broad daylight while getting into his car in suburban Montreal March 19, 2010 – Pete Christopulous, a bodyguard for Haitian gangster Ducarme Joseph, (a one-time Rizzuto ally-turned-enemy, founder of the feared “67s Gang” and suspected shooter in the Rizzuto, Jr. hit) is killed in an assassination attempt on Ducarme inside Ducarme’s women’s clothing boutique located in a Montreal shopping plaza May 19 2010 – Rizzuto crime family consigliere and Rizzuto brother-in-law, Paolo Renda vanishes and is presumed murdered June 29, 2010 – Rizzuto crime family acting boss Agostino Cuntrera and his bodyguard Liborio Sciascia are killed outside Cuntrera’s office in a hail of bullets in the middle of the afternoon Sep 29, 2010 – Rizzuto enforcer Ennio Bruni is killed, gunned down in a crowded Montreal strip mall Nov 10, 2010 – Montreal mafia patriarch and elder statesman, Nicolo (Uncle Nick) Rizzuto, a mafia dignitary on multiple continents, is shot dead in his kitchen by a sniper shooting from his backyard Jan 31, 2011 – Arcadi lieutenant Antonio Di Salvo killed outside his home Oct 24, 2011 – Rizzuto ally-turned-rival Larry Lopresti, the son of a slain Rizzuto lieutenant, is killed on his home balcony in suburban Montreal while smoking a cigarette Nov 24, 2011 – Salvatore Montagna is assassinated near a woodsy riverbed as he runs from an ambush in suburban Montreal after he and Desjardins’ palace coup goes awry (Desjardines eventually pleads guilty in the murder plot) March 1, 2012 – Rizzuto lieutenant-turned-Desjardins loyalist Giuseppe (Joe Closure) Colapelle is killed: Joe Closure was a double agent for Desjardins, spying on Montagna May 4, 2012 – Stealthy Rizzuto ally-turned-Montagna-backer Joe Renda disappears and is presumed dead July 16, 2012 – Former Rizzuto crime family money launderer Walter Gurierrez is killed in a barrage of bullets as he walks towards his house in a West End Montreal neighborhood Aug 14, 2012 – Street gang leaders Chenier Dupuy & Lamartine Paul are gunned down within hours of each other, Dupuy is killed as he sat in his truck outside a restaurant, Paul was murdered as he left his apartment. They were suspected of providing muscle for the anti-Rizzuto wing of the Montreal mafia Oct 5, 2012 – Vito Rizzuto is released from “supermax” U.S. prison in Colorado and flies back to Canada, landing in Toronto and going into hiding Nov 5, 2012 – Giuseppe (Smiling Joe) Di Maulo, a one-time top Rizzuto capo that joined forces with Montagna and Desjardins (Smiling Joe’s brother in-law) to remove the imprisoned Rizzuto from his throne, is murdered by gunmen outside his home Nov 17, 2012 – Desjardins associate Mohamed Awada, who on had been on the frontlines of the war, is slain Dec 8, 2012 – Rizzuto crime family lieutenant Emilio Cordeleone is killed Jan 22, 2013 – Desjardins ally and builder Gaetan Gosselin is murdered in Montreal outside his home Jan 31, 2013 – Desjardins lieutenant Vincenzo Scuderi is murdered in Montreal outside his home May 8, 2013 – Deported Rizzuto clan enforcer and Ontario crew leader Juan (Joe Bravo) Fernandez is found dead in Sicily, his corpse and that of his bodyguard charred, after Fernandez, also a confidant of Desjardins’, attempted to stay neutral in the war between his two close friends July 8, 2013 – Powerful Montreal mob figure and Rizzuto rival, Giuseppe (Ponytail) De Vito, is poisoned to death in his cell in a Quebec prison July 12, 2013 – Up-and-coming Toronto Mafioso Sam (The Young Gun) Calautti and his right-hand man Jimmy Tusek – are murdered outside a bachelor party in Woodbridge, Ontario while a suspect in the slayings of a number of Rizzuto crime family members, including Vito Rizzuto’s father and son and his one-time Toronto capo Gaetano (Guy) Panepinto in the early 2000s Nov 10, 2013 – Rizzuto ally-turned-rival Moreno (The Turkey) Gallo is killed in Acapulco on the three-year anniversary of the murder of Uncle Nick Rizzuto inside his estate Dec 18, 2013 – Gallo and Smiling Joe Di Maulo loyalist Roger Valiquette is murdered in broad daylight in suburban Montreal Dec 23, 2013 – Vito Rizzuto dies in a Montreal hospital, allegedly of an aggressive form of cancer but amidst rumors of possible foul play April 24, 2014 – Highly-feared Toronto mobster Carmine (The Animal) Verducci is shot dead on the sidewalk outside of his restaurant in Vaughn, Ontario Aug 1, 2014 – Ducarme Joseph, powerful street gang leader, Rizzuto-ally-turned-enemy and possible Nick Rizzuto, Jr.’s murderer, is killed in suburban Montreal March 1, 2016 – Rizzuto crime family administrator Lorenzo (Skunk) Giordano is shot to death outside his fitness club in suburban Montreal May 27, 2016 – Rizzuto crime family administrator Rocco (Sauce) Sollecito is shot to death as he sat at a stop sign in his luxury SUV within less than 100 yards from a suburban Montreal police station June 2, 2016 — Semi-retired Rizzuto crime family lieutenant Angelo D’Onofrio, 72, is shot to death while sitting outside a suburban Montreal coffee shop (Café Sinatra) drinking an espresso October 15, 2016 — Rizzuto crime family lieutenant Vince Spagnolo, 65, a Vito Rizzuto confidant and one of the don’s most trusted advisors and messengers, is shot to death outside his home May 2, 2017 — Hamilton, Ontario mobster Angelo Musitano is shot to death in his driveway August 17, 2017 — Rizzuto crime family soldier and Sollecito crew member Antonio De Blasio, 45, is gunned down outside his son’s football practice in the Montreal suburb of St. Leonard. November 2, 2017 — Jacques Desjardins, the brother of Raynald Desjardins, disappears. June 28, 2018 — Rizzuto crime family lieutenant Steve (Stevie the Jew) Ovadia is shot to death in the parking lot of a suburban Montreal strip mall parking lot June 29, 2018 — Cosimo Commisso, the nephew of Toronto mob boss Cosimo (The Quail) Commisso, and his girlfriend are killed *Source: Business Or Blood: Mafia Boss Vito Rizzuto’s Last War by P. Edwards & A. Nicaso
