Suspected triggerman in two Ontario mob murders found dead in Mexico ditch
Drug overdose possible in death of Hamilton man
A second fugitive wanted for killing an Ontario mobster in 2017 has been found dead in Mexico.
Michael Graham Cudmore, 39, of Hamilton, Ont., was accused of being the triggerman in two organized crime murders: Angelo Musitano, 39, the brother of a significant Mafia boss in Hamilton, and, seven weeks earlier, Mila Barberi, 28, who was shot inadvertently in Vaughan, north of Toronto, by bullets meant for someone who was involved in organized crime.
Before Cudmore could be arrested, however, he fled to Mexico, to meet up with another suspect in the murders, Daniele Ranieri, 34, a volatile gangland enforcer from Toronto known as Dani, seen as his mentor and boss.
Ranieri's body was found trussed up, executed and dumped in a ditch in Mexico in 2018.
Cudmore was reported missing by his family, who feared for his safety.
Hamilton police say Cudmore's body was found inside a vehicle abandoned at the side of a rural road at the end of June.
Police released no cause of death but a lawyer involved in the case said Cudmore is believed to have died from a drug overdose rather than direct gangland retribution.
“Members of the multi-jurisdictional task force, which was formed to solve the two murders, have received limited information from the Canadian embassy or Mexican authorities surrounding the circumstances of Cudmore's death,” Hamilton police said.
There were two others accused by police of the Musitano and Barberi murders.
Daniel Mario Tomassetti, 29, who owned a travel company in Hamilton selling yacht vacations in the Caribbean, is also wanted for the two murders. He similarly fled ahead of his arrest.
He left for Mexico on Jan. 27, 2018, and has not returned to Canada, police said. Members of his family have told police they don't know where he is, but are aware he is scared. An international arrest warrant remains active.
The only man actually arrested for the two murders when police came knocking was Jabril Abdalla, 27. He was arrested Sept. 19, 2018, at his Hamilton home and charged with two counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder.
Since then, Abdalla was released on bail in April and, this month, committed to stand trial. His trial date has not been set.
Leora Shemesh, Abdalla's lawyer, said she heard about Cudmore's death in June and notified the Crown and asked for information. She said she was told the Crown had no information about it.
“I had a good and credible source tell me in June that he had died of a drug overdose,” Shemesh said.
She called the timing of Wednesday's police announcement suspicious.
“I don't know if it is to try to get Tomassetti to come forward or to try to pull him out from hiding. The timing is interesting. My client has been out (of jail) since April and the Crown attorneys brought an appeal to the Court of Appeal to try to put him back in custody. We argued that just last week.”
The court's decision is pending.
Despite the deaths in Mexico, her client is not living in fear, she said, because he wasn't involved in organized crime.
“The others were involved in criminal organizations to some degree,” she said. “I think the writing was on the wall for people who were involved in those types of criminal organization, they seem to be killing each other.
“The people on the street know who's truly responsible.”
At the time of the arrest and arrest warrants in the two murders, Det. Sgt. Peter Thom of Hamilton police's homicide unit said the cases highlight the innate danger of underworld life.
“This case is about traditional organized crime — the Mafia, the mob, whatever handle you want to call it,” Thom said. “Organized crime continues to thrive in our communities; they are successful, well structured with a hierarchy which insulates those higher up the organizational ladder.
“With the rest of the incidents that've been happening around the province over the last few years,” Thom said, “not only with murders but arsons and bombings, there definitely appears to us, although we don't know the exact motive, there seems to be some kind of power struggle going on.”
Police said Cudmore's family has been notified of his death and officers are assisting them in bringing his body back to Canada and trying to find out the circumstances of his death.
Police have also notified the Barberi and Musitano families.
Angelo Musitano, known as a mobster in his own right, was also a younger brother of Mafia boss Pasquale (Pat) Musitano, who made many enemies in the underworld with his bold expansion plans.
Pat Musitano was shot dead in July in a parking lot in Burlington, just outside Hamilton, beside his armour-plated SUV. His murder remains unsolved.
The intended target in the shooting of Barberi is believed to have been her boyfriend, Saverio Serrano, who was injured in the attack, or his father, Diego Serrano, who is known as one of Canada's “cocaine cowboys” for high volume trafficking.