Bullets pelt home of reputed Mafia boss
Older brother of man killed in driveway in May
The home of reputed Hamilton Mafia boss Pat Musitano was repeatedly shot at overnight Monday in what appears to have been a driveby shooting. Damage from several bullets that pierced the front windows of the detached home in the city’s east end could be seen from the street.
The violence suggests the Musitano crime family remains under attack. Musitano’s younger brother, Angelo Musitano, was shot and killed in the driveway of his own home last month.
Hamilton police were called to St. Clair Boulevard shortly before 2: 30 a. m. Tuesday.
“It was indicated that the sounds of multiple gunshots could be heard outside,” said Staff Sgt. Mike Cunliffe. Police found several spent bullet casings in the street. No one was injured in the shooting, police said.
Police believe a vehicle was used to aid the shooter or shooters and detectives believe the home was specifically targeted. Police confirmed the home is associated to the Musitano family.
“Detectives continue to investigate and are considering the possibility that information and or evidence may be connected to other ongoing investigations including the murder of Angelo Musitano,” Cunliffe said.
Pasquale Mus ita no, known as Pat, is the eldest of three sons born to Mafia boss Dominic Musitano, who forged the clan into one of three Mafia families that ran Hamilton’s underworld for decades. Dominic died of natural causes in 1995 and Pat Musitano is seen as his successor.
Angelo Musitano was shot dead in his pickup truck after pulling into the driveway of his home in Hamilton’s suburb of Waterdown on May 2. Police said his killing was targeted and well organized. It remains unsolved.
Pat Musitano appears to have known his family was under threat.
About two months before his brother’s murder, Pat Musitano inquired about having his cars bulletproofed, sources in the auto industry told the National Post last month. He asked about the cost of adding bulletproof shielding in the doors, replacing the windows with resistant glass, and having steel reinforcements in the tires that allow cars to drive even if the rubber tires are blown or shot out.
The day after his brother’s death, he returned his grey Ferrari California hard- top convertible with orange and beige interior to a leasing agent, according to a source with knowledge of the transaction. He allegedly said his reason for returning it was he was trying to stay low key.
Taken together, the two alleged incidents suggest not only that the Musitano family was bracing for violence prior to the first shooting, but remained concerned the violence was not over.
Shortly after Angelo Musitano’s shooting, the Musitano clan declined police help. “We have been in touch with the family and they haven’t asked for any assistance from police,” said Det.Sgt. Peter Thom, lead investigator in the killing.
In 2015, Pat Musitano’s SUV burned to a husk in his driveway in a suspected arson attack. Fire spread to houses on either side of the driveway but no one was injured.
That suspected arson attack upset the quiet surrounding him since leaving prison in 2006 for organizing a storied mob hit.
On May 31, 1999, John “Johnny Pops” Papalia, a veteran Mafia boss and leading mob figure in Ontario, was shot dead in the parking lot of his vending machine business in central Hamilton. Both Pat and Angelo Musitano were charged in the murder after the hit man, Ken Murdock, said he was ordered by the Musitanos to kill Papalia and his righthand man, Niagara crime lord Carmen Barillaro.
The brothers struck a plea deal that saw them plead guilty in Barillaro’s killing in return for charges in Papalia’s being dropped.
MAY BE CONNECTED ... INCLUDING THE MURDER OF ANGELO.