Business or Blood
PUBLISHED BY RANDOM HOUSE CANADA
Copyright © 2015 Peter Edwards and Antonio Nicaso
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
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Random House Canada and colophon are registered trademarks.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Edwards, Peter, 1956–, author
Business or blood : Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto’s last war / Peter Edwards and Antonio Nicaso.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-345-81376-3
eBook ISBN 978-0-345-81378-7
1. Rizzuto, Vito. 2. Bonanno family. 3. Mafia—Québec (Province)—Montréal—History. 4. Mafia—New York (State)—New York—History. 5. Mafiosi—Canada—Biography. I. Nicaso, Antonio, author II. Title.
HV6453.C32Q8 2015 364.1092 C2014-905934-5
Cover images: (police car) © Reuters / Christinne Muschi;
(mugshot) © Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York
v3.1
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Epigraph
Chronology
Dedication
Maps
Introduction
CHAPTER 1: Blow to the heart
CHAPTER 2: Nick Jr. and Nicolò
CHAPTER 3: El Padrino
CHAPTER 4: Going to war
CHAPTER 5: Invisible enemy
CHAPTER 6: Dangerous new associates
CHAPTER 7: Gangs
CHAPTER 8: Blood trail
CHAPTER 9: Unravelling
CHAPTER 10: Undeclared war
CHAPTER 11: Ponytail’s nightmare
CHAPTER 12: Who’s next?
CHAPTER 13: Foreign shore
CHAPTER 14: Administrative meeting
CHAPTER 15: Northern aim
CHAPTER 16: Friends like these
CHAPTER 17: Clearing space
CHAPTER 18: Man in the shadows
CHAPTER 19: Steel bracelets
CHAPTER 20: Lupara bianca
CHAPTER 21: Home fire
CHAPTER 22: Reluctant mob boss
CHAPTER 23: Home front
CHAPTER 24: Tale of betrayal
CHAPTER 25: Outlaw in-laws
CHAPTER 26: Fault lines
CHAPTER 27: Time for Tims
CHAPTER 28: The hunt for Mickey Mouse
CHAPTER 29: Mickey’s bad day
CHAPTER 30: Someone’s watching
CHAPTER 31: Homeward bound
CHAPTER 32: Vito’s return
CHAPTER 33: Old haunts
CHAPTER 34: The other mediator
CHAPTER 35: Friends in high places
CHAPTER 36: Greasy pockets
CHAPTER 37: Trusted few
CHAPTER 38: BFF
CHAPTER 39: Public spotlight
CHAPTER 40: Non-stop hits
CHAPTER 41: Triangle of death
CHAPTER 42: Man in the middle
CHAPTER 43: Several churches
CHAPTER 44: Hit man gets hit
CHAPTER 45: Unholy trinity
CHAPTER 46: Circle of corruption
CHAPTER 47: Business of death
CHAPTER 48: Home for Christmas
Photo Insert
Postscript
Cast of Characters
Endnotes
Acknowledgements
About the Authors
The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of moral crisis preserve their neutrality.
AMERICAN PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY,
interpreting Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy
Men of honour are neither evil nor schizophrenic. They are people like us. The tendency of the Western world … is to exorcise the evil by projecting on ethnic groups and behaviours that seem different from ours.
But if we are to effectively combat the Mafia, we should not turn it into a monster nor think it’s an octopus or a cancer.
We must recognize that the Mafia resembles us.
JUDGE GIOVANNI FALCONE
Murdered by the Mafia in 1992
CHRONOLOGY
OCTOBER 16, 1828: Attorney General’s office in village of Cattolica Eraclea in Agrigento province, Sicily, notes presence of criminal organization with more than one hundred members, bound by oath of secrecy that calls for death of anyone who even divulges its existence.
APRIL 12, 1901: Vito Rizzuto’s grandfather, Vito Rizzuto Sr., born in Cattolica Eraclea to Nicola and Giuseppa Marra.
JUNE 23, 1921: Vito Rizzuto Sr. sentenced by a military tribunal to two months in jail for theft.
MARCH 9, 1923: Vito Rizzuto Sr. marries Maria Renda of his hometown. She’s the daughter of Paolo Renda Sr. and Grazia Spinella.
FEBRUARY 18, 1924: Nicolò Rizzuto born to Vito Rizzuto Sr. and Maria Renda in Cattolica Eraclea.
DECEMBER 1924: Nicolò Rizzuto is just ten months old when his father departs for North America with a forged passport, leaving his young family behind.
AUGUST 1933: Vito Rizzuto Sr. buried in pauper’s grave in Patterson, NY, after his body found hidden in a nearby swamp.
MARCH 20, 1945: Nicolò Rizzuto marries Libertina Manno, daughter of Antonino (Don Nino), Mafia boss of Cattolica Eraclea. Nicolò is twenty-one and Libertina eighteen.
APRIL 22, 1946: Vito Rizzuto baptized in Cattolica Eraclea. His paternal grandmother, Maria Renda, stands up for him in place of his late paternal grandfather, Vito Rizzuto Sr.
FEBRUARY 21, 1954: Vito Rizzuto arrives in Canada at Pier 21 in Halifax on his eighth birthday, with his parents Nicolò and Libertina, and his six-year-old sister, Maria. Nicolò lists his occupation as “farmer” and declares he has just thirty dollars. Vito doesn’t speak English or French. He’s to be educated in English, considered the language of business.
FEBRUARY 1956: Nicolò Rizzuto declares that he is a “cement contractor” as he buys a fourplex on Montreal’s De Lorimier Avenue.
SEPTEMBER 11, 1964: Nicolò Rizzuto’s father-in-law, Antonino (Don Nino) Manno, immigrates to Canada.
SUMMER 1967: Nicolò Rizzuto is now a partner in four construction-related firms and works on Expo 67 world’s fair. His mob counterparts Paolo Violi and Vic (The Egg) Cotroni are also involved at Expo, supplying hot dogs made from tainted meat.
LATE 1972: Nicolò Rizzuto learns there are plans afoot to murder him that were put in motion by Violi. He relocates to Venezuela, getting farther from Violi and closer to South American drug-smuggling routes. The move also puts distance between him and a public inquiry into organized crime under way in Montreal. By this time, Nicolò Rizzuto is a partner in five construction-related companies in the city.
JANUARY 22, 1978: A shotgun blast kills Violi as he play cards with supposed friends at the Reggio Bar at 5880 Jean-Talon East in Montreal. His murder clears the way for Nicolò Rizzuto to return from Venezuela and assume the top spot in the Montreal underworld.
OCTOBER 1, 1980: Nicolò Rizzuto’s father-in-law, Antonino Manno, dies of natural causes at the age of seventy-six. He had sponsored many immigrants to Canada. He is entombed in a mausoleum crypt in Montreal alongside his wife, Giuseppa Cammalleri Manno. Beside them is the body of their daughter Giuseppina Manno, younger sister of Libertina and Domenico Manno.
AUGUST 2, 1988: Nicolò Rizzuto and four others arrested and imprisoned for cocaine trafficking in Venezuela.
MAY 23, 1993: Nicolò Rizzuto greeted by thirty friends and family as he returns to Montreal, a few months after he is finally freed from Venezuelan prison.
OCTOBER 24, 1994: Québécois mobster Raynald Desjardins hit with a fifteen-year prison term for massive marijuana-smuggling conspiracy. While boss Vito Rizzuto is strongly suspected in the operation, Desjardins takes the fall.
MARCH 1999: Vito Rizzuto’s friend George (George from Canada) Sciascia murdered in New York City by Gambino crime family, with no reaction from Vito’s bosses in Bonanno crime family.
JANUARY 19, 2004: Montreal strip club owner and former Rizzuto friend Paolo Gervasi shot dead. He was a mentor for several local mobsters, including Giuseppe (Ponytail) De Vito, who was once also considered part of the Rizzuto group.
JANUARY 20, 2004: Vito Rizzuto arrested at his Montreal mansion and told he faces deportation to New York in relation to the 1981 Three Captains Murders. He immediately begins prolonged legal battle to stay in Canada.
APRIL 21, 2004: Louise Russo, a forty-five-year-old mother of three, paralyzed by a stray bullet while standing at the counter of a California Sandwiches shop in North York, Toronto. The intended target of the hit team, mobster Michele (Mike, The American) Modica, escapes unscathed. Also in the sandwich shop and uninjured were Michael Marrese, convicted of mortgage fraud, Modica’s bodyguard Andrea Fortunato Carbone and mobster Pietro Scaduto. Modica, Scaduto and Carbone are later deported from Canada to Sicily.
JUNE 2, 2004: Raynald Desjardins freed from prison on statutory release.
JULY 30, 2004: Joseph Massino of the Bonanno crime family quietly becomes first New York mob boss ever to work as a police agent. His switch immediately follows his conviction for murdering George Sciascia of Montreal. Massino secretly begins wearing a listening device while in custody.
FEBRUARY 11, 2005: Italian police allege Vito Rizzuto planned to launder money in a multi-billion-dollar project to build a bridge across the Strait of Messina, connecting Sicily to mainland Italy. Italian authorities accuse Vito of engineering the plot while in custody, fighting extradition to the United States.
MARCH 10, 2005: Rizzuto family enforcer Mike Lapolla shot dead in upscale Moomba nightclub in bar fight with Thierry Beaubrun of the 67’s street gang. Beaubrun shot dead trying to flee.
2005: Brothers Salvatore, Giuseppe and Antonio Coluccio quietly arrive in Woodbridge, north of Toronto. They’re immediately treated with great respect by the region’s ’Ndrangheta, or Calabrian Mafia.
MAY 25, 2005: Frank Martorana, a luxury car dealer connected to Vito and Nicolò Rizzuto, abducted from barbershop by four men. He is released after several days but refuses to co-operate with police.
AUGUST 11, 2005: Giovanni (Johnny) Bertolo, a construction union representative close to Raynald Desjardins, shot dead while leaving a Montreal gym.
AUGUST 17, 2006: Vito Rizzuto finally extradited to USA to answer charges for Three Captains Murders.
AUGUST 30, 2006: Rizzuto soldier Domenico Macri killed in Montreal. Within weeks, Rizzuto crime family members begin to buy armoured cars and underboss Francesco (Compare Frank) Arcadi takes an extended European vacation.
NOVEMBER 22, 2006: Police hit Rizzuto crime family with eighty-two arrests at culmination of Project Colisée. Top-level members taken into custody include Paolo Renda, Rocco (Sauce) Sollecito, Lorenzo (Skunk) Giordano, Francesco Arcadi and Nicolò Rizzuto
AUGUST 15, 2007: Six men murdered in German town of Duisburg in latest stage of ’Ndrangheta feud that began in Calabria two decades earlier over an egg-throwing incident. The murders put an international spotlight on the ’Ndrangheta, which is particularly strong in Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and dominates the European cocaine market. Despite its low profile, the ’Ndrangheta is now considered Italy’s most dangerous Mafia group.
AUGUST 2008: Giuseppe Coluccio arrested in GTA. Italian authorities say he heads powerful ’Ndrangheta family.
AUGUST 11, 2008: Antonio (Tony) Magi, a former associate of Vito Rizzuto’s son Nicolò (The Ritz) Rizzuto Jr., survives murder attempt.
JANUARY 16, 2009: Gunman murders Sam Fasulo, a close associate of imprisoned Rizzuto leader Francesco Arcadi.
APRIL 2009: Salvatore (Sal the Ironworker, The Bambino Boss) Montagna, head of the Bonanno crime family, quietly moves from New York to Quebec.
MAY 3, 2009: Former GTA resident Salvatore Coluccio arrested in a bunker in Calabrian town of Roccella Ionica, on the Ionian Sea. Italian authorities say he’s one of country’s thirty most dangerous fugitives.
AUGUST 21, 2009: Rizzuto close family friend Federico (Freddy) Del Peschio shot dead.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2009: Member of powerful Commisso crime family from GTA flies to Montreal and meets with Vittorio (Victor) Mirarchi, the son of a deceased underworld figure.
OCTOBER 7, 2009: Meeting held in Woodbridge, Ontario, home for members of camera di controllo, ruling body of the GTA ’Ndrangheta.
DECEMBER 15, 2009: Antonio Coluccio of Richmond Hill, Ontario, told he is inadmissible to live in Canada because close family members are considered members of the ’Ndrangheta.
DECEMBER 28, 2009: Nicolò Rizzuto Jr., forty-two, shot to death in broad daylight. His murder is considered Montreal’s most audacious gangland slaying since the killing of Paolo Violi thirty-one years earlier.
MARCH 19, 2010: Street-gang leader Ducarme Joseph escapes murder attempt in Old Montreal. He had been suspected in murder of Nicolò Rizzuto Jr. Joseph’s bodyguard, Peter Christopoulos, killed. Move comes as street gangs push for old Rizzuto turf in wake of Vito’s incarceration.
MAY 19, 2010: Rizzuto family consigliere Paolo Renda abducted near his home on Vito Rizzuto’s street and never seen again.
JUNE 29, 2010: Long-time Rizzuto family loyalist Agostino (The Seigneur of Saint-Léonard) Cuntrera and his bodyguard, Liborio Sciascia, murdered at midday walking from Cuntrera’s Montreal business. At the time, Cuntrera is in charge of Rizzuto family’s day-to-day operations.
JULY 13, 2010: Italian authorities charge 304 people—including some GTA residents—at culmination of two-year probe code-named Operazione Crimine, which targeted ’Ndrangheta. Organization begins shuffling GTA leadership in response.
NOVEMBER 2010: Antonio Coluccio returns to North America from United Kingdom. He travels first to New York City, then Niagara Falls, NY. Canadians travel to United States to see him, including a former moneyman for Vito Rizzuto.
NOVEMBER 10, 2010: Nicolò Rizzuto murdered in his home by sniper in front of his wife and daughter. The killing bears startling similarities to murder of Rizzuto enemy Rocco Violi three decades earlier.
FEBRUARY 1, 2011: Stockpile of weapons seized in Montreal warehouse tied to Vito Rizzuto, who remains in Colorado prison.
APRIL 13, 2011: Bonanno crime family boss Joseph Massino appears in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, becomes first boss of a New York crime family to take witness stand against a former confederate.
SEPTEMBER 16, 2011: Former Vito Rizzuto ally Raynald Desjardins survives murder attempt outside his home. Would-be assassin escapes on a Sea-Doo.
OCTOBER 4, 2011: Police in Reggio Calabria, Italy, seize ’Ndrangheta property and business assets. The seizure comes amidst an ongoing offensive against the Aquino clan. The clan retains deep roots in the GTA.
OCTOBER 24, 2011: Vito Rizzuto’s neighbour turned enemy Salvatore (Larry) Lo Presti, forty, shot dead when he steps out to smoke a cigarette on balcony of his Saint-Laurent condo.
NOVEMBER 24, 2011: Salvatore Montagna, head of the Bonanno crime family of New York, murdered near
Montreal.
DECEMBER 13, 2011: Vito Rizzuto’s ally turned rival Antonio (Tony Suzuki) Pietrantonio shot but not killed.
DECEMBER 20, 2011: Raynald Desjardins and wealthy café owner Vittorio (Victor) Mirarchi among six men arrested for Montagna murder.
MARCH 1, 2012: Former Vito Rizzuto ally Giuseppe (Closure) Colapelle murdered. He had spied on Montagna and followers for Raynald Desjardins and was considered close to Giuseppe (Ponytail) De Vito.
MAY 4, 2012: Giuseppe (Joe) Renda from the Montagna camp disappears after going to a business meeting. He had once been close to Vito Rizzuto.
SEPTEMBER 2012: Charbonneau Commission begins hearings on corruption in Quebec construction industry.
OCTOBER 5, 2012: Vito Rizzuto released from Colorado prison. Flies to Toronto and immediately drops out of public view.
NOVEMBER 5, 2012: Giuseppe (Joe) Di Maulo, a key figure in consortium that challenged Rizzuto’s dominance in Montreal during Vito’s imprisonment, murdered outside his home. Di Maulo was Desjardins’s brother-in-law.
NOVEMBER 17, 2012: Mohamed Awada killed. He had earlier been implicated in kidnapping of Rizzuto soldier.
DECEMBER 8, 2012: Former Rizzuto ally Emilio Cordeleone killed in Montreal.
JANUARY 22, 2013: Gaétan Gosselin murdered outside his Montreal home. Gosselin was involved in construction industry and close to Raynald Desjardins.
JANUARY 31, 2013: Anti-Vito mobster Vincenzo Scuderi murdered outside his home in Montreal.
FEBRUARY 1, 2013: Anti-Vito residential building contractor Tonino (Tony) Callocchia survives gun attack in Montreal.
MAY 8, 2013: Burned, bullet-riddled bodies of former Toronto residents Juan Ramon (Joe Bravo) Fernandez and Fernando Pimentel found in Casteldaccia, just outside Sicilian capital of Palermo. Fernandez had tried to sit on the fence and not take sides in Rizzuto–Desjardins war.