Musitano criminal history three generations deep in Hamilton

The Musitanos are legendary.

Their criminal history in this city spreads across three generations and includes gambling, protection rackets, bombings, arson and murders.

There isn’t a cop, a lawyer, a crime reporter, or a member of a competing crime family in Hamilton who hasn’t brushed up against them in one way or another.

At one time, the Musitanos, Luppinos and the Papalias fought — sometimes to the death — for control over the Hamilton turf.

Decades ago, an Angelo Musitano, nicknamed “The Beast of Delianova,” fled to Hamilton from Italy after murdering his widowed sister. He believed she had disgraced the family by becoming pregnant out of wedlock.

His two nephews, Tony and Dominic Musitano, had criminal histories based here in our city. Tony was found guilty in 1983 of bombing a number of businesses in Hamilton, including bakeries. While in prison, he orchestrated the murder of Toronto mobster Dominic Rocco. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and was granted full parole in 1990.

Dominic was jailed for being an accessory after the fact in the slaying of a Toronto gangster. Dominic, who died in 1995, was the father of Pat and Ang, who moved up to take over the business. Pat, the older of the two siblings, was always protective of his baby brother Ang. Yet the two launched one of the bloodiest chapters in Hamilton’s mob history by allegedly taking out notorious mob boss Johnny ‘Pops’ Papalia in 1997. The brothers were accused of ordering hit man Kenny Murdock to take him out.

At the time, Ang was just 21 and still living with his mother. The brothers were charged with first-degree murder, but struck a deal, pleading instead to conspiracy to commit murder in the 1997 shooting death of Niagara crime boss Carmen Barillaro, who was Johnny Pops’ lieutenant. He was gunned down at his home.

Each brother served two-thirds of their 10year sentences and were released from prison on Oct. 4, 2006. The brothers had parole conditions not to have any contact with each other, conditions that they breached, which sent Ang back to prison for a time. But once they were released for good, Ang — and Pat — kept a low profile. The last time a Musitano made headlines was in September 2015 when Pat’s SUV was torched in his own driveway on St. Clair Boulevard.