Suspect in crash that killed three children and their grandfather remanded in custody
• An accused drunk driver involved in a car crash that claimed the lives of three children and their grandfather has been remanded in custody until his bail hearing on Oct. 19.
Marco Muzzo, 29, was in handcuffs when he entered the courtroom wearing jeans and a black short-sleeved shirt over a white one. He glanced at his fiancée — whom he was scheduled to marry on Oct. 17 — but did not speak at the hearing.
His mother, Dawn Muzzo, and other family members were accompanied inside the Newmarket courthouse by men who appeared to be private security guards, and were escorted out by police officers.
A woman shouted “Justice!” at the family as they got into their vehicles.
Outside the courthouse, Muzzo’s high-profile defence lawyer, Brian Greenspan, said his client wants to express his condolences to the family of the victims following Sunday’s crash at a rural crossroads north of Kleinburg.
“Marco is, first of all, devastated by the horrific loss of life and has expressed to me on numerous occasions his condolences and sympathy to the family. This is obviously a tragic situation,” he said.
Greenspan said it was “premature” to discuss how his client would plead and would not comment on where Muzzo was before the crash, saying only that the information would come out in court.
The Toronto Sun reported it was told by a source that prior to the afternoon accident, Muzzo, a resident of King Township, had been at a bar with friends after returning from his bachelor party in Las Vegas on a private jet.
He is facing a dozen impaired-driving offences and six charges related to the dangerous operation of a motor vehicle after he allegedly smashed his Range Rover into the family’s minivan.
The Muzzo family owns the construction company Marel Contractors and is worth nearly $1.8 billion, according to Canadian Business magazine.
Earlier this week, Muzzo’s mother released a statement expressing the family’s sorrow and sympathy. “We are all greatly saddened by yesterday’s tragedy and express our deepest sympathy and condolences to the Neville, Lake and Frias families,” she said.
Candlelight vigils were held Thursday for Daniel NevilleLake, 9, his brother Harrison, 5, their sister Milly, 2, and the children’s 65-year-old grandfather, Gary Neville, who died following the crash.
Greenspan said the fact the date of the bail hearing coincides with the federal election — Oct. 19 — is purely coincidental.