Murder linked to 2017 mob hit
A former Hamilton organized crime cop says the targeted murder of a man in an upscale home in Ancaster on Thursday night is Mafia retaliation for an unsolved 2017 killing.
“This is not finished,” tweeted Paul Manning, a former Hamilton undercover cop who worked on organized crime cases.
Sources told him the murder of the Ancaster man at his home on Thursday night was “Mafia retaliation” for the murder of Waterdown resident Angelo Musitano in May 2017, Manning tweeted.
Hamilton police identified the victim as Albert Iavarone, a real estate agent.
“Mr. Iavarone has no criminal record but is known to police as he is associated with individuals involved in Hamilton’s traditional organized crime,” police said in a prepared statement.
“The motive is not known at this time and police are in the early stages of the investigation, but will be looking at any potential connections to organized crime,” the statement continued.
In an earlier statement, police said the shooting at 32 Sunflower Cres. was “a targeted incident and the general public is not in danger,” adding the weapon used has not been recovered.
Police said they responded to reports of shots fired shortly before 10 p.m. on Thursday, and arrived to find a 50-year-old man suffering from a gunshot injury.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, with an autopsy scheduled for Friday.
Police said they are gathering surveillance video from the neighbourhood and appealed for witnesses.
On May 2, 2017, Angelo Musitano, 39, was shot at close range several times while in his truck outside his home in the Hamilton suburb of Waterdown.
In January, York Region Police said they believe the same hit man who gunned down Musitano also killed veterinary technician Mila Barberi, 28, who was in “the wrong place at the wrong time” two months earlier in Woodbridge.
“We’re confident that there was a link between these two,” Det.-Sgt. Jim Kilby of York police said at the time.
Barberi wasn’t believed to be the hit man’s intended target, Kilby said.
Her 40-year-old boyfriend sat beside her on March 14, 2017, in a BMW SUV when she was shot in a parking lot of an industrial park on Caster Ave. near Weston Rd. and Highway 7 in Woodbridge.
“I think it’s a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Kilby said.
Her boyfriend was treated with minor hand injuries.
His name has not been released by police and Kilby said at the time police believed a threat still exists against his life.
Barberi had no criminal record.
Musitano, a father of three, claimed to have found God and inner peace shortly before he was shot dead in the driveway of his suburban home, sources said.
Musitano’s family has convictions for extortions and bombings in the 1970s, the 1983 gangland hit of Toronto mobster Domenic Racco, and the murders of mobsters John (Pops) Papalia and Carmen Barillaro in 1997.
Several theories were given by police and other sources about the Musitano murder.
One police source said some key players in illegal gambling in Niagara Falls have been arrested, creating a turf war to replace them.