Hamilton man charged with accessory after the fact in Marko Bakir murder

Hamilton police have charged a 43-year-old man with accessory after the fact in the murder of 31-year-old Marko (Mark) Bakir, who was shot in the driveway of his Mountain home nearly four years ago.

Mark Buzzelli, 43, of Hamilton was arrested at his landscaping workplace in Burlington shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday, said Det. Sgt. Steve Bereziuk of the Hamilton police homicide unit.

Police allege Buzzelli helped his friend Alessandro (Gino) Giammichele, who is charged with first degree-murder in the case.

Bereziuk would not specify how the 43-year-old is alleged to have helped Giammichele, but said the allegation is that he helped his friend within a short period of time" following the 2018 shooting. It did not involved a vehicle.

Buzzelli was not previously known to police.

This marks the third arrest in the case.

Abdelaziz Ibrahim also faced a first-degree murder charge in the case. However, he was found dead at Central East Correctional Centre in Kawartha Lakes in August. The 25-year-old was the alleged shooter, police have said. He also faced two other first-degree murder charges in unrelated cases in York Region and Brantford that happened over a span of less than eight months in 2018 and 2019.

Bereziuk said Hamilton police were not involved in the investigation into Ibrahim's death. However, it means the charge against him cannot proceed.

Giammichele remains in custody, and the case against him is proceeding.

In a Facebook profile, where Buzzelli spells his first name as Marc, it indicates he studied pre-service firefighting in college and there is a 2015 photo of him posing in gear next to a fire truck. However, it is believed that was volunteer work and he was not employed as a firefighter. He worked in landscaping.

Police say Giammichele and Bakir were acquaintances who had not known each other long.

Bakir was fatally shot on the driveway of his Clifton Downs Road home on the night of Nov. 22, 2018. No one heard gunshots and Bakir was found later by a neighbour.

Police have previously said Bakir's death is not tied to organized crime, drugs, weapons or robbery. Bereziuk would not comment on a financial motive. Before his death, Bakir received a settlement due to a serious car crash.

Bakir's family have described him as loving, caring and altruistic." He loved spending time with his family and two dogs.

Bereziuk said he spoke with Bakir's father Thursday morning and the family continues to be very gracious and thankful for the police investigation."

Detectives believe there are more people who have information about the murder who have not come forward. The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Robert Di Ianni at 905-546-3836.

To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or crimestoppershamilton.com.

Nicole O'Reilly is a crime and justice reporter at The Spectator. noreilly@thespec.com