'Revenge doesn't have a statute of limitations': Mafia expert on Musitano killing
Angelo Musitano was killed in the driveway of his home in Waterdown on Tuesday
Tuesday's shocking killing of notorious Hamilton mobster Angelo Musitano — gunned down in daylight in the driveway of his suburban home — might have been, according to one expert on the Mafia in Ontario, revenge 20 years in the making.
Antonio Nicaso, a Mafia expert who teaches about organized crime at Queen's University, spoke with the CBC's Matt Galloway, host of Metro Morning, on Thursday morning about Musitano's death, the history of violence that preceded it and what might be a new struggle for power.
Listen to the full interview by clicking the image at the top of the page, or read an edited and abridged transcript below.
Antonio Nicaso, a Mafia expert who teaches at Queen's University
To a lot of people shocking: somebody gunned down in their driveway in broad daylight, are you surprised by this?
Not at all. Organized crime is more alive than ever in Canada. We receive many indication reports from a lot of the world that identify Canada as a perfect place for money laundering, for narcotics business. Montreal is the major port of entry for the narcotics business in North America. Ontario is the perfect place to launder money. Virtually every major criminal group in the world is active here.
Who was Angelo Musitano and why do you think he was targeted?
Angelo was born into a family with long ties at organized crime. His great uncle, his uncle, his father were all involved with violent crime. I think the life of Angelo changed completely in 1997 when he decided to join the plot that ended with the murder of two major bosses in Ontario and he joined the Rizzuto crime family. At the time the crime family was the most powerful Mafia family in Canada. I think if we'd like to understand this murder we have to contextualize that period of time, the late 1990s, and understand that it can be a possible revenge. In the Mafia revenge doesn't have a statute of limitations. Sometimes the grief, the mourning process only ends with the other blood, with revenge.
The neighbours say Musitano gave them a fake name. They had no idea he was part of the Mafia. He had a family, a wife, and three kids. By some accounts seemed to be trying to leave his past behind. How did he keep such a low profile?
In the Mafia revenge doesn't have a statute of limitations.- Antonio Nicaso, Queen's University
Lately he was working on a book about his life, telling the story of overcoming his criminal past and this is another possible reason for the murder. We want to explore any possible option. He wrote in this alleged book that he was born into a family, not just any family but a family associated with organized crime. It can be seen as a sign of weakness. Weakness is not allowed in the Mafia. It's quite normal that a mobster has this double life. Trying to be very community oriented at home and very violent in this criminal war. People describe Angelo Musitano as a man of merciless act but also capable of gracious mercy.
As you mentioned there's no statute of limitations of revenge in the Mafia. With someone gunned down in their driveway, do you expect more violence to follow this?
It's quite possible. Canada is undergoing a war that is rewriting the geography of a Mafia power. The violence was mostly focused in Québec now we start feeling some waves in Ontario as well.