OPP sets $50,000 reward in murder probe
The Ontario Provincial Police are hoping a $50,000 award will yield tips about the identity of two hooded hit men wanted for the murder of retired grocer Giovanni (John) Costa at his home in Bolton a year ago.
The award was announced on Tuesday on the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 18, 2021, murder, as photos of the hit team were made public.
“We’re aware of some alleged connections to organized crime and we’re exploring those avenues but I can’t comment on specifics,” Det. Insp. Kurtis Fredericks, Major Case Manager with the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch, said in an interview.
Injured slightly in the 12:26 p.m. attack was Costa’s son Michael. It was the second attempt on his life in two months.
Giovanni Costa, 65, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The security photos released on Tuesday don’t show the faces of the men with pistols as they run into the house on Harvest Moon Drive, a quiet residential street of detached brick houses.
The gunmen fled in an older black BMW motor vehicle, police said.
Michael Costa was previously shot at least twice on Nov. 12 in the parking lot of a café on Steeles Avenue West near Yonge Street.
“We are aware of it and we have been in contact with York Region throughout the investigation,” Fredericks said.
Fredericks would not comment on the number of bullets in the attack in the Costa home, or which Costa was the target.
Fredericks also could not comment on Michael Costa’s current whereabouts. “I can’t comment on that for his safety,” Fredericks said. “We have maintained contact with him throughout.”
Asked if the Costas were armed at the time of the attack, Fredericks said, “Not that we’re aware of.”
Fredericks said he hopes the $50,000 reward yields useful tips about the hit team.
Court documents state that Michael Costa fled to Rome in 2011 and stayed out of Canada an undisclosed amount of time because he believed there was a “hit on his head.”
He fled the country five days after the murder of gangster Alex Kucovic on July 2, 2011, in Vaughan, according to court documents.
Kucovic, 37, lived under the name of “Kosto Barjaktarovic” in the lower mainland of B.C.
Michael Costa suspected a killer might be after him because he was romantically involved with Kucovic’s wife, court papers state.
Real estate records show Giovanni Costa bought the house where he was slain in July 2019 for $730,000.