Hamilton man charged in Mafia slayings

Two other men wanted in the case are believed to have fled to Mexico

HAMILTON— A Hamilton man has been arrested on two counts of first-degree murder and one of attempted murder in a sprawling Mafia investigation that wound through the GTA into Niagara Region and south to the Mexican Riviera.

“Organized crime is worldwide,” Hamilton police Det. Sgt. Peter Thom told a news conference Thursday after Jabril Hassan Abdalla of Hamilton appeared briefly in court.

Abdalla, 27, was charged in the slayings of Mila Barberi, 28, in a Vaughan parking lot in March 2017 and mobster Angelo Musitano, 39, outside his home in the Hamilton suburb of Waterdown two months later.

Canada-wide warrants have been issued for the same offences for Michael Graham Cudmore, 37, of Hamilton, and Daniel Mario Tomassetti, 27, of Ancaster.

Investigators believe Cudmore and Tomassetti fled separately to the Mexican Rivera, where York Region mobster Daniele Ranieri was living under an assumed name.

Ranieri’s bound and lifeless body was found in a ditch in Cancun on March 4. At one time, he was considered by po- lice to be the top Ontario lieutenant for Montreal mob boss Vito Rizzuto, who died of reportedly natural causes in December 2013.

Anyone helping Cudmore or Tomassetti evade police can expect to be charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder, Thom said.

The investigation, called Project Scopa — which means broom in Italian — involved police forces in Hamilton, Toronto, York and Niagara regions, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canada Border Services Agency, as well as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security.

“This was a particularly difficult crime to solve, given the complexity of the investigation across various jurisdiction,” Hamilton police Chief Eric Girt said.

Abdalla, Cudmore and Tomassetti are all also charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit murder.

Musitano was described as a known mobster and part of a long-standing organized crime family.

But Barbieri was a bystander whose boyfriend, Saverio Serrano of York Region, is believed to have been the intended target.

The veterinarian’s assistant was in a parked BMW with tinted windows outside of a com- mercial building on Caster Ave., near Hwy. 7 and Weston Rd. when her killer opened fire.

Serrano suffered two gunshot wounds to his arm in the attack.

Serrano’s father, Diego, was sentenced in January to four years and six months in prison. The Vaughan restaurateur was convicted of two counts of drugs conspiracy and one possession of proceeds of crime after he attempted to sell cocaine to an undercover officer.

Cudmore joined up with Ranieri in May 2017 and disappeared on March 4, police said.

Tomassetti, who operated a travel business, fled to Cancun on Jan. 27, and was booked to return to the GTA on Feb. 2, but failed to do so.