An alleged mafia member has been gunned down at his Laval home in what appears to be “a settling of accounts by organized crime,” according to the Sûreté du Québec.
Laval Police were called to a house on Antoine-Forestier Street at around 5:30 p.m. concerning a man who had been struck by multiple gunshots.
The man has been identified as Vincenzo Spagnolo, 65, who was pronounced dead in hospital.
“He was very close to Vito Rizzuto, he was one of his advisors,” John Galianos, a retired SQ officer who worked on mafia-related cases, said.
“In fact, he was rumored to be one of the rare ones who could visit him in jail, he had his confidence.”
Saturday’s incident appears to be part of a Montreal mafia cleanup, according to Galianos.
READ MORE: Presumed head of Montreal mafia, Rocco Sollecito, killed in Laval
In late May, Rocco Sollecito – another alleged mafia boss with rumoured ties to the Rizzuto clan – was also gunned down at a stop sign in Laval, in broad daylight.
In March, Lorenzo Giordano was shot at a gym’s parking lot off Highway 440.
Giordano was considered a successor to Vito Rizzuto, who died of natural causes in 2014.
READ MORE: Timeline: Life of reputed Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto
“They’re trying to eliminate everyone who has ties to Vito Rizzuto,” Galianos said.
“It could be some of the younger guys or from the opposing group in Toronto who is trying to take over, the Paolo Violi group,” Galianos said.
“His sons are in Ontario and taking care of things there, there is some sort of revenge going on.”
The head of the Canadian Calabrian Mafia in the 1970s, Paolo Violi was shot and killed at close range at a Montreal cafe.
His death and the murder two years later of Rocco Violi, allegedly marked the beginning of the Rizzuto organization’s hold over Montreal.
For the next 30 years, the Rizzuto clan ran the Quebec underworld but as Galianos said, “the mafia has a long arm and a long memory.”
The Sûreté du Québec has taken over the investigation.