Rizzuto lieutenant Desjardins charged with murder of Salvatore Montagna

MONTREAL – Raynald Desjardins was charged at the Joliette courthouse Wednesday morning with the first-degree murder of Salvatore (Sal the Ironworker) Montagna in what is believed to have been a settling of accounts within the Mafia in Montreal.

Desjardins, known to be a loyal right-hand man to reputed Mob boss Vito Rizzuto, appeared relaxed as he joked with his lawyer, Jonathan Meunier, a former crown prosecutor.

Quebec Court Judge Michel Duceppe set Jan. 4 as the next date in the case.

Desjardins has a long history of health problems and asked the judge to order that he be supplied with a device that helps him breathe as he sleeps.

A prosecutor also asked the judge to modify the charge sheet to accuse Desjardins, and three other men charged with Montagna’s murder, of a conspiracy that began Sept. 16, an indication that Montagna’s murder is alleged to be linked to an attempt on the life of Desjardins.

Someone tried to kill Desjardins in Laval on Sept 16.

Montagna was killed Nov. 24, at a house on Île Vaudry, just east of Montreal.

Vittorio Mirarchi, 34, and Felice Racaniello, 27, both of whom are also charged with murder and conspiracy in the Montagna case, appeared in court Wednesday with Desjardins.

A fourth man charged with murder, Jack Arthur Simpson, owner of the house where Montagna was killed, is in a federal penitentiary for cocaine trafficking. He was arrested for a parole violation after Montagna was killed.

Calergo Milioto, 40, and Pietro Magistrale, 59, two other men arrested in the Montagna case, are expected to appear before the same Quebec Court judge Wednesday.

Milioto and Magistrale are accused only of a long list of firearms-related charges.

Members of a Sûreté du Québec SWAT team, dressed in plainclothes, were present all over the courthouse – including the courtroom where Desjardins appeared.