Suspect in N.D.G. shooting has violent record
The man being sought on a Canada-wide arrest warrant in connection with a fatal shooting outside a strip bar in Notre-Dame-de- Grâce is a violent career criminal who has spent most of his adult years behind bars.
Montreal police announced on Friday they are seeking to arrest Frédérick Silva, who turns 37 on Monday, for the slaying in the early morning hours of May 24. The victim, a 28-year-old man, was shot during an altercation between two groups of men in the parking lot of Cabaret Les Amazones, a strip bar on St-Jacques St. in N.D.G.
In the statement, Montreal police allege Silva shot the victim and then left the scene with three other suspects in a sport-utility vehicle. Montreal police has advised the public to call 911 if he is spotted because he is considered armed and dangerous. A report published by La Presse identified the victim of the shooting as Daniel Armando Somoza Guildea and cited sources who described him as having ties to Mustapha Danach, a 30-yearold man who was killed inside an apartment in Anjou on May 26.
Silva has a lengthy criminal record that began long before he turned 18. In June 1998, he was serving a sentence for assault at a youth detention centre in Laval when a longtime friend pulled up in a stolen van and helped him flee. The pair went on a prolific crime spree that came to an end a month later when they were arrested on July 17, 1998, (a little more than a month after Silva had turned 18).
When they were apprehended, Montreal police said they suspected Silva and his friend had carried out several armed robberies inside banks and at Italian cafés where soccer fans had previously gathered to watch World Cup matches. During some of the robberies, victims were ordered to lie on the floor and had a sawed-off shotgun pointed at their faces.
In 1999, Silva pleaded guilty to taking part in a dozen of the armed robberies — including at least two carried out while he was only 17 — and was sentenced to an overall prison term of more than six years. Parole Board of Canada records reveal Silva was a serious problem for authorities. While out on parole on July 15, 2001, he was inside a Montreal night club when a fight broke out and one of his friends was stabbed in the melee. Montreal police suspected Silva stabbed his friend by accident while trying to flee the club before officers would arrive and learn he had violated his parole by being at an establishment that served
alcohol. He was charged with aggravated assault, but a judge tossed out the case after ruling witness accounts of what happened were unreliable.
Silva’s first sentence as an adult expired in April 2004 and eight months later he and two other men began a series of violent home invasions in Laval and Rivière-desPrairies. In one case, in February 2005, armed men stormed into a home in Rivière-des-Prairies and tied up two brothers while threatening them with firearms. The robbers gathered several items, including large quantities of drugs like cocaine and heroin. A woman who was also inside the home was ordered to hand over her ATM card along with its PIN code. As soon as they left the house, the men headed to a Caisse Populaire and withdrew as much money as they could from the woman’s account.
Silva and two other men were arrested later the same day and an investigation linked them to other home invasions in Laval. In 2007, Silva pleaded guilty to several charges and was sentenced to a 60-month prison term.
He also admitted, while he was out on bail on the home invasion charges, he was part of a sophisticated fraud scheme that involved the cloning of hundreds of credit cards. Silva was found to have the numbers of 800 credit cards on his computer when search warrants were performed in the fraud investigation.
While serving his second sentence inside a federal penitentiary Silva told the parole board he didn’t actually take part in the home invasions, but “counselled” the two men who did. Despite this claim, he was denied parole on Sept. 3, 2010. A summary of the decision described Silva as someone who has “needs for domination and power” when he executed his crimes.
He was also assessed as an immature man who could be easily influenced and who led a “disorganized lifestyle.”