Speculation surrounds Rizzuto slaying
In extraordinary days for Montreal's notorious family, organized
crime observers consider why there has been no retaliation for
eldest son's shooting
Monday, Jan. 04, 2010
Bertrand Marotte and Tu Thanh Ha
Montreal and Toronto -
Speculation continues over the fallout - and what seems to
be a lack of retaliation - in the targeted daylight killing
of the eldest son of senior gangland player Vito Rizzuto.
There was a large turnout at the solemn funeral service for
Nicolo (Nick) Rizzuto Jr. on Saturday in Little Italy - mourners
overflowed into aisles at Notre-Dame-de-la Défense church.
Among them, plainclothes police videotaped those who came to
pay their respects.
Mr. Rizzuto, 42, was shot last Monday standing next to a black
Mercedes near the offices of a construction-industry associate
in a Montreal suburb. The hit was a direct blow to the authority
of the Rizutto family in an already turbulent climate, including
challenges from other crime syndicates and pressure from the
justice system.
Mr. Rizzuto's father, Vito, is serving time in a U.S. prison
at a time when other leaders of the clan are also in prison.
He did not attend the funeral, according to reports, but 85-year-old
family patriarch Nicolo Sr. was there despite being under stringent
probation restrictions.
The work of finding those behind Mr. Rizzuto's murder will
not be easy, say observers of Montreal's organized crime scene.
Nor will mapping out how any possible turf wars will erupt and
play out.
"This was an unprecedented challenge to the Rizzuto family
because, for the first time, they are in defensive mode,"
said Mafia expert Antonio Nicaso.
"In normal circumstances, this would lead to immediate
retaliation, but these are not normal circumstances. The murder
took place at the weakest moment for the Rizzuto family."
Montreal police are not commenting on their progress.
"We can't say at what stage the investigators are right
now," said Montreal police spokesman Constable Daniel Lacoursière.
The casket bearing the remains of Nick Rizzuto is carried out
of church following funeral services Saturday, January 2, 2010,
in Montreal. Rizzuto was the son of Vito Rizzuto, the alleged
head of the Montreal mafia.
Julian Sher, an investigative reporter who covers organized
crime, said there appears to be a "wait-and-see" attitude
in Montreal's underworld community.
"Traditionally, if there is no obvious sign of retaliation
or revenge, it's a sign that [the hit] was sanctioned inside.
It could also mean, if it was done from outside, that the ones
who did it are just too powerful and no one is going to go up
against them."
"Sometimes, not responding sends as powerful a signal
as responding."
The speculation so far centres on the attack coming from street
gangs taking advantage of the weakened Rizzuto clan.
While the hit man was described by witnesses as a dark-skinned
man, it wasn't known for whom he was working.
It may have been the killer was a gun for hire. In August 2006,
one of its captains Domenico Macri was ambushed by two gunmen
riding a motorcycle, ,while driving near the home of acting
godfather Francesco Arcadi.
A few hours later, a call between two Rizzuto followers, Giuseppe
Torre and Ray Kanho, was intercepted on a police wiretap.
Mr. Kanho asked whether the hit was done by white or black
men. "Mr. Torre said it was black men but that didn't mean
anything because everyone hires those people," according
to an RCMP court affidavit.
Nevertheless, Frictions between the Montreal Mafia and Haitian
street gangs aren't a new phenomenon.
