MONTREAL — A man who was shot and killed in Montreal’s Notre-Dame-De-Grace borough Monday afternoon is Nick Rizzuto Jr., a police source who spoke on condition of anonymity has confirmed to The Montreal Gazette. Nick was the son of Vito Rizzuto, the reputed head of the Montreal Mafia who is serving a prison term in the United States.
Mr. Rizzuto Jr., 42, was hit by at least one bullet at about 12:10 p.m., police said.
Mr. Rizzuto Jr.’s body was found sprawled alongside a black Mercedes parked behind a three-storey apartment block.
While police refused to immediately confirm the identity of the victim, word spread quickly through the largely residential neighbourhood.
Police say eyewitness descriptions they have are not conclusive and in some cases, contradictory.
One witness told reporters she heard at least six gunshots and then the sound of tires from a vehicle screeching away from the scene.
Crime-scene technicians combed the area around the scene of the shooting, photographing nearby buildings and paying particular attention to a surveillance camera located over the entrance to a basement convenience store located a few yards from the scene of the shooting.
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While the camera’s apparent line of sight doesn’t focus on the shooting itself, it might cover an area of sidewalk some witnesses claim the shooter might have used in making an escape.
The presence of the two-block police perimeter, which contained a forensics command post, half a dozen squad cars and a score of uniformed officers, was a stark contrast to the Christmas decorations that could be seen for blocks around the site of the shooting.
Despite the cold, about a dozen onlookers stood along the police perimeter, although none seemed to be aware of what happened until informed by locals.
“This is an unprecedented challenge to the Rizzuto family …nobody challenged their authority,” Antonio Nicaso, a crime expert, told Global News. “They killed the first in line, the successor of Vito Rizzuto. Nobody before challenged the authority of Rizzuto and so by killing family … this is personal. They killed a member of the family.”
Mr. Nicaso said Nick Jr. was a little bit more aggressive compared to the rest of the family and that whoever killed him wants to send a strict message to the family.
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“When you kill the son of the Vito … When he learns somebody shot his son to death in Montreal, how he will feel?
“Of course, the natural feeling of losing a son … but here, you are removing the guy next in line in the Rizutto family. This is something that requires retaliation … because you accept that someone killed your son and you do anything to show you’re still in power.”
Mr. Rizzuto Jr. was shot near the offices of FTM Construction, owned by business associate Antonio Magi. In an interview with The Gazette this month, Mr. Magi, 50, discussed his relationship with the victim.
“We had bought a piece of land together which we are developing,” Mr. Magi said of Mr. Rizzuto Jr. “He’s studied law and he’s a smart kid. He’s smart in real estate.
“The poor guy. He tries to do something in his life and, because of his family’s past history, every time he turns around he gets hit with something.”
Mr. Rizzuto, named for his grandfather Nicolo, was the eldest of Vito Rizzuto and Giovanna Cammalleri’s three children.
Although his father and grandfather have been convicted in connection with organized crime, Nick Jr. as he was called, had never been charged.
Mr. Rizzuto Jr.’s death brings to 31 the total number of homicides recorded on the Island of Montreal in 2009.
Montreal Gazette with files from Global News
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