Police creating video timeline of getaway car
Videos from cameras in vicinity of murder being scoured for images
HAMILTON — Homicide detectives and forensic video experts are painstakingly reviewing hundreds of hours of security images to reconstruct the stolen getaway car’s route in the hit on mobster Angelo Musitano.
Hamilton police have seized security video from homes and businesses in an effort to piece together the car’s journey to Musitano’s home in Waterdown, then after- ward to the nearby street where it was abandoned.
“There’s a lot of video,” says Det. Sgt. Peter Thom, overseeing the homicide investigation.
A technician does the initial review of each video, identifying areas that deserve a closer look. Then Michael Plaxton, the Hamilton police forensic video analyst, works frame by frame through the often grainy images, trying to discern matches between the dumped vehicle and cars that appear in the videos. He is also looking for any images of the occupants. And he will put together a time line after verifying timestamps from the various videos.
It is a complicated and potentially valuable process that is becoming a standard part of any major crime investigation. Security video evidence presented by Plaxton during the Tim Bosma murder trial last year was critical to establishing the movement of his killers, Dellen Millard and Mark Smich, on the night of his murder as well as in the days following when they attempted to cover up their crime.
Musitano, a member of a wellknown traditional organized crime family, was gunned down in the driveway of his own home on Chesapeake Drive in the late afternoon of May 2 while his wife and three small children were home.
When he was 21, Musitano was charged with two counts of firstdegree murder for allegedly ordering a hit on Hamilton crime boss Johnny “Pops” Papalia and on his Niagara Falls lieutenant, Carmen Barillaro, in 1997.
He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of conspiracy to commit murder for the shooting of Barillaro in exchange for the Papalia charge being dropped.
Police have previously released video of the killer’s car slowly driving down Musitano’s street before pulling over in front of his house. The video was captured by a security camera mounted on the mobster’s own house.
Thom now says detectives have confirmed the four-door burgundy 2006 Ford Fusion was stolen from a business, although he won’t say which business or in what city.
Thom says the three homicide detectives assigned to the case along with four other Hamilton officers seconded to the investigation and the video experts are working with other police services across Ontario.
He declined to say which ones, but did say no services outside Canada are involved.
The getaway car was found five days after the shooting, parked in a residential area not far from the murder scene.
It was taken to the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto and processed for evidence.
Thom says he has no plans at the moment to release the portion of the Musitano video that shows the murder actually happening.
“I don’t want to taint any potential witnesses,” he says.
“I don’t want them to adopt the video into their version of events.”
He adds that if, at some point, he decides to make a visual of the killer public he would release only a still image, not the recording of the murder.
“Out of respect for the family,” he says.
The Musitano family, which includes Angelo’s brother Pat, who also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit Barillaro’s murder, have not spoken with the homicide team.
Thom says he has reached out through their family friend, criminal lawyer Dean Paquette, but has not received a response.
Friends have said Musitano had turned his life around, living quietly as a family man, becoming a devout Christian and staying clear of crime.
Thom has said police had no interaction with Musitano for a long time prior to his murder and that “he was involved in the construction business.”
“To what extent — if he owns the business or was running it — I don’t know,” says Thom.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Jason Cattle at 905-546-4167 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.