Hamilton Mob boss Pat Musitano shot dead in Burlington

Hamilton Mob boss Pasquale (Pat) Musitano has been shot dead in a Burlington parking lot, just over a year after surviving a previous attempt on his life amid ongoing mafia violence.

Halton Regional Police have confirmed Musitano, 52, died after being gunned down Friday afternoon.

A second shooting victim is in hospital in serious condition, police say.

The Spectator has learned the second victim is Musitano's longtime bodyguard, John Clary.

A third man is in hospital with undetermined injuries, The Spectator has learned.

Police were called to 484 Plains Rd. E., a plaza at King Road that houses several businesses, including Pro Patio Furniture, around 1 p.m.. Two men were found with gunshot wounds. Musitano died at the scene. His body was covered with a tarp.

Musitano was the reputed boss of Hamilton's Musitano crime family.

Police said one male suspect fled the scene westbound on Plains Road East in a grey sedan. Police say they are looking for four-door grey sedan that is a newer model - similar to an Infiniti Q50 - with a sunroof.

This vehicle will have fresh damage to the driver's side in the area of the door," a news release said.

If you spot this vehicle, call police immediately.

One woman who refused to be named was at the Tim Hortons about a half-block from the scene when she heard 10 gunshots.

Then all of a sudden cops started coming from everywhere," the woman said.

Another man said he saw police take a blanket off of a man who was limp and blood-covered under a billboard in the parking lot.

They turned him to his side and took photos of his back," said the man, who also requested anonymity.

At least 10 police cruisers were scattered along Plains Road East.

Investigators could be seen in the parking lot of Pro Patio Furniture placing yellow placards on what appeared to be bullet holes on the roof of a black vehicle.

A handful of vehicles, some unmarked, made an enclosure around a body which was covered by a white tarp. Two hands could be seen poking out of the tarp.

The owners of Pro Patio Furniture declined to comment when reached by phone Friday afternoon.

Musitano's black GMC Yukon Denali was in the parking lot where the shooting happened. It is the same vehicle he was getting into when he was shot in a failed attempt on his life in Mississauga last year.

He survived being shot in the parking lot outside his lawyer's office in Mississauga on April 25, 2019. A little more than a week after the attempted hit, he was released from hospital and there have been few sightings of him since. No one has been charged in that shooting.

Musitano's younger brother, Angelo (Ang) Musitano, was killed in a hit in the driveway of his Waterdown home on May 2, 2017. One man, Jabril Abdalla, is charged with first-degree murder in that case and there are outstanding arrest warrants for two others.

Abdalla is also charged with murder and attempted murder in a failed hit in Vaughn, where 28-year-old Mila Barberi - an innocent victim - was mistakenly killed. It is alleged an accomplice pulled the trigger.

Angelo Musitano's murder was the beginning of a resurgence of mafia violence in Hamilton that has included several other murders and acts of violence, including the shooting deaths of Albert Iavarone and Cece Luppino.

In March, realtor Giorgio Barresi, who in the past was tied to the Musitanos, was fatally shot outside his Stoney Creek home.

The Musitanos are one of three traditional mafia families that stretch back generations in Hamilton along with the Luppinos and Papalias. However, with Pat Musitano's death, it's unclear what will happen with the once prominent Mob family.

Pat Musitano took control of the family business when his father, Dominic Musitano, died in 1995.

He and his younger brother Ang spent time in prison after being accused of taking out notorious Mob boss Johnny (Pops) Papalia in May 1997. They were accused of ordering hitman Ken Murdock to commit the murder.

However, the brothers struck a deal, pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Papalia's lieutenant, Carmen Barillaro, in July 1997. They were sentenced to 10 years and served two-thirds of that time in prison.

After their release the brothers kept a low profile. Pat's SUV was torched outside his St. Clair Boulevard home in September 2015, but there were no other headlines about the brothers until Angelo's 2017 murder.

On June 27, 2017, less than two months after Angelo's murder, Pat Musitano's house was sprayed with bullets in an apparent warning to the Mob boss. Yet despite the violence the family has never co-operated with police on any investigations and Pat refused police protection.

After surviving the attempt on his life in Mississauga last year, Musitano's St. Clair home was put up for sale. In a bizarre incident on July 22, 2019, Clary, a 76-year-old close friend and protector of Pat's, was checking on the house when there was an altercation. He allegedly accelerated his car across the street and crashed into a Mercedes from Montreal - three men got out of the vehicle and ran.

Hamilton police have noted a pattern of traditional organized crime using people from Quebec to carry out jobs.

Police said Clary had visited Pat Musitano in hospital after he was shot in Mississauga.

Stephen Metelsky, a criminology professor at Mohawk College who spent 21 years with Halton police, including specializing in organized crime, said Pat was lucky to have survived the attempted hit last year.

Since the attempt on Pat's life he has been keeping an extremely low profile - with very few loyal street soldiers in his crew ... aside from John Clary and a sparse crew," he said.

The once powerful Musitano crime family had been reduced to Pat and very few others."

But while alive, Pat was still a threat, said Metelsky. Now it appears the Musitano crime family has been completely decimated."

There was already a power vacuum here, that is part of the reason for the ongoing violence.

But with so many Hamilton mobsters either dead or behind bars, the future is more uncertain.

Halton police say there is no ongoing threat to public safety, but were asking the public to stay away from the area where the shooting happened on Friday.

Plains Road East was closed in both directions between King Road and Waterdown Road.

Sebastian Myslin, who works at an insurance brokerage firm just down the block from 484 Plains, was returning from lunch at about 1:15 p.m. when he saw two police cruisers zip by him. He said he pulled over and looked toward the lot.

I saw one guy unconscious on the ground," Myslin said. There was blood all over his back."

Myslin said when he returned to the office, colleagues told him they had heard a number of gunshots.

I didn't know if the (suspect) was still loose on the street, so I locked the doors and made sure we were OK," he said.

Residents of the area said the shooting comes as a surprise.

The neighbourhood is nice and quiet, often peaceful. Two modern condominium complexes and a public school sit across the street from the scene.

I've lived here 28 years and this is definitely unusual," said Al Hannaford, 64. Stuff happens, but a murder is ... uncommon."

I go out for bike rides every night and never feel scared," said Daniella Di Flaviano, who moved to a condo on Plains in December. I've never heard of any stabbings or shootings here, no crime really."

Anyone with information or video of the area between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. is asked to call Halton Regional Police Service at 905-825-4777 or via the homicide tip line at 905-825-4776.

Nicole O'Reilly is a Hamilton-based reporter covering crime and justice for The Spectator. Reach her via email: noreilly@thespec.com

Sebastian Bron is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbron@thespec.com
-With files from Susan Clairmont