The innocent bystander killed in a Mob war
When Angelo Musitano was gunned down in his Waterdown driveway, it triggered a Mob war in Hamilton. Now, with the conclusion of the court case against the only person ever arrested and charged in Musitano's murder and the murder of innocent bystander Mila Barberi, The Spectator's Nicole O'Reilly can report never-before heard details of the homicides, the complex police investigation into the killers and the sophisticated inner workings of the Mafia. Part five of five.
When Mila Barberi was two- or three-years-old, her mom would take her to the mall and the little girl would run up to strangers and hug them.
As she got older, Mila would make best friends" wherever she went, camping with grandparents, or travelling - her favourite place was Walt Disney World. At 28, this hadn't changed, she was still a hugger, someone who loved big and was loved. Her smile, her laughter - to her family she was sunshine.
She saw the best in people right up until the afternoon of March 14, 2017, when she was shot outside her boyfriend's black BMW with bullets meant for the Serrano family of York Region. Mila's cause of death was multiple gunshots to the torso.
When she started dating Saverio Serrano, he told her who his father was - known traditional organized crime figure Diego Serrano. But he insisted he had nothing to do with that life and Mila believed him, she told her family.
In the six to eight months they dated before Mila was killed, her mother, Elvira, said the family only met Saverio once or twice, despite them moving in together. She tried to convince her daughter to stay away from him.
I had a bad feeling," she said, in a recent interview.
When Mila told her family who Saverio was related to, Elvira told her daughter that it doesn't matter if he's not involved, it's his family and you can't get out of that.
Mom, I'm 28-years-old, I know what I'm doing," Mila said to her mom.
Now, Elvira can't help but wonder if she could have done more to save her daughter, killed because she was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong people. Friends and family tell her she can't blame herself, but it's hard to not return to that thought when you lose a child. For Mila's parents, Elvira and Alessio, and her younger sister, Mara, the pain only gets worse over time.
Mila was caught up in a Mob war and a world she knew nothing about. Police said the same people who planned the Serrano hit and shot Mila also carried out another Mob murder nearly two months later when Angelo Musitano was gunned down in his pickup truck just outside his Waterdown home.
Last month, the only man ever arrested and charged with the slayings pleaded guilty to participating in a criminal organization. Jabril Abdalla was given credit for 46 months in pretrial custody, including extra credit for time in jail during the pandemic, and sentenced to time served.
He admitted to registering two cars in his name and acting as a chauffeur for members of a criminal organization in the weeks leading up to each killing. But he insisted he did not know about any murder plans and he did not know exactly who he was working for. Court heard he didn't know Mila's name before being arrested. He was motivated by money.
Abdalla's co-accused fled to Mexico before Abdalla was arrested in September 2018. Michael Cudmore, who police say was the shooter in both incidents, was found dead there last summer. Daniel Tomassetti, a high-school friend of Abdalla's who brought him into the criminal group, is still wanted.
At the plea, Mila's parents and sister read victim-impact statements, each hitting a different but powerful emotional note ranging from anger to sorrow.
Mila used to call her sister my same same but different." The sisters were very similar in how big they loved and were very close. In court, Mara was angry. Abdalla still has his two brothers and she has no sibling, she said.
Elvira said she wasn't sure she could read her statement without breaking down. But when she walked up to the witness box she looked Abdalla in the eye.
I'm proud of all of us," she said.
The family is upset Abdalla didn't get additional time in jail. The prosecution had asked he serve another 14 months, the balance of the maximum available sentence (five years) for that crime.
I feel like I'm back to the beginning four years ago," Alessio said.
After Mila's death, the family was connected with a victim support group. Elvira recalls the dad of another homicide victim who had already been through the court process saying: the justice system is not about us, it's all about the accused and his rights."
But the family was optimistic. Even now, after years of winding through an exhausting court process, they have some faith.
A lot of that has to do with the prosecution team. The York Region police detective who investigated Mila's killing, Det. Peter Cheung, is like a member of their family, Alessio said.
And through every hurdle, assistant Crown attorneys Warren Milko and Andrew Scott kept them informed and were kind.
Alessio said he believes his family would be much more angry had they not felt heard and involved in the court process. They understand why the plea deal happened.
Of course there are still unanswered questions, including why police did not arrest the suspects before they fled to Mexico. Tomassetti had been under surveillance for months when he fled in early 2018.
Alessio went to every court appearance except one. Mara attended many hearings too. It was important for them to be there for Mila and also to know what happened.
For Elvira, being in court was harder. She wants justice, but she also couldn't bear to see some of the evidence, especially the surveillance video that clearly shows her daughter's shooting. She never wants to watch the video of that day and leaves the room when people talk about it.
Diego Serrano, an organized crime figure in York Region known for cocaine trafficking, has three sons. One, Francesco, is also known to police for criminal activity. But the other two, Silvio and Saverio, were not. It was the latter two who owned Teknika Group, a lighting store at 155 Castor Ave., in Woodbridge.
It's not clear which one of the Serranos was the true target. In other cases, family members have been targeted as a way to send a message to made" Mafia members.
Court heard that the murder plot began back as far as August 2016 when Tomassetti asked Abdalla to register two cars in his name. But things really ramped up in March 2017.
Piecing together data from trackers, cellphones, surveillance video and Highway 407 records, police said in court that Tomassetti and Cudmore were working around the Woodbridge lighting store in the two weeks before Barberi's death.
Two weeks before Barberi's shooting, on March 1, a blue Infiniti - one of two vehicles Abdalla registered in his name for the criminal group - took Highway 407 and exited near Teknika.
The next day, the other car registered in Abdalla's name, a black Honda Civic, got on Highway 407 near Teknika.
Early the next morning, a mapping app on Abdalla's phone searched for directions to the address of Silvio Serrano's Bradford home. Between 3:22 and 3:48 a.m. Tomassetti's phone pinged off a cell tower near Silvio's residence.
Around 5 a.m. that morning, Abdalla, in Hamilton, and Tomassetti texted back and forth.
Abdalla: Just let me know you got home safe"
Tomassetti: Home bro"
Thanks man"
Abdalla: No problem"
Later that day, March 3, Cudmore checked into the Pinecrest Motel, near Teknika, using his brother Shawn's name. He stayed until March 6 during which time police said he was doing surveillance. That same day, Tomassetti was captured on video walking through Teknika.
On March 13 - the day before the shooting - a black Jeep Grand Cherokee and licence plates were stolen in Etobicoke.
Video from the murder scene March 14 shows three vehicles driving near Teknika: a white Honda Civic, the black Honda Civic and the stolen Grand Cherokee. Police believe Tomassetti drove the white Honda and Cudmore the black one. It's not clear who was driving the Grand Cherokee, but it's not Abdalla.
Their movements appear synchronized," Det. Cheung said in court.
At 4 p.m., Mila pulls into the parking lot driving Saverio's black BMW and waits for him.
Two minutes later, the driver of the black Honda - who police say is Cudmore - gets into the passenger seat of the Jeep Grand Cherokee. They park adjacent to Teknika.
At 4:10 p.m., Saverio walks out into the parking lot with a family member's dog. Mila - an animal lover - opens the car door to the dog and gets out to greet her boyfriend.
At that moment, the shooter - identified by police as Cudmore - runs over and begins firing into the passenger side of the car. Then he walks around back and starts shooting toward Saverio and Mila. Saverio runs away and Mila collapses, motionless, on the ground.
Of all the things he saw in court, Alessio said it was Saverio running away, scared, and leaving his daughter to die that has stuck with him the most. It stunned him.
If that was me, I would try to protect someone, especially someone you claim to love," he said.
As the shooter fled, Tomassetti's phone placed a 94-second call to a New York telephone number and four minutes later, a 67-second call to Abdalla, who was in Hamilton.
Police have never named who they believe hired Tomassetti and Cudmore to carry out the shooting. But in the Mob world the hits would have to be approved by a boss. There are numerous calls to New York and also to Mexico, where police believe Tomassetti was calling mobster Daniele Ranieri, who was later also found dead in Mexico. Ranieri was publicly identified as a person of interest" in the shootings and police believe he played a role in ordering the hits against Musitano and the Serrano family.
When police arrived at Teknika after the shooting, they found Saverio, who had been shot in the arm, inside the store. He told police his brother Francesco often borrowed his car for a week, and did so about two weeks before the shooting. He would sit in the front passenger seat. He thought perhaps his brother was the target. The shooter wore a mask, he said.
Police found 10 shell casings in the parking lot, the back passenger window of the BMW was blown out and there were two bullet holes in the headrest of the front passenger seat.
The stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee was found in an industrial area in Toronto March 16.
Police said seven trackers were purchased from a spy shop in Toronto before the murders under an account set up by Michael Cudmore. Several were used to track Musitano family members before the May 2, 2017, murder, but none were found on Serrano vehicles. Police did find one on a black BMW, with a similar licence plate to Saverio's, that appears to have been mistakenly put on the wrong car at a restaurant near Teknika.
After Mila's death, the Barberi family said Saverio and anyone associated with the Serrano family were not welcome at her memorial.
Alessio said he blames Saverio for putting his daughter in that situation. Both parents feel there is a lot of blame to go around.
The family has never spoken with Saverio since Mila's death. Alessio said he texted him once asking if they could meet and talk, he said Saverio replied that he would think about it. But there was no further communication. Police told the family he left the country for a while, it's unclear where he is now.
Elvira often thinks about a time, not long before the shooting, when she dropped her daughter off at their apartment. She never invited her mom up.
She was walking away ... I looked at her and thought what are you doing?" she remembers.
Her daughter seemed a bit lost, but they all thought she would have time to figure out Saverio wasn't right for her. Saverio was older and seemed more traditional" and there was conflict over her dog, Midas. The Golden Retriever was Mila's life, but Saverio didn't like his fur getting in his car and she would often drop the dog off at her parents.
As a little girl, Mila always asked for a dog, but her mom used to say never in my house," Elvira said.
So they settled for two turtles that Mila named Flipsy and Flopsy. A few years later they got her a guinea pig she named Cocco. She would take him for walks on a leash just like a puppy.
Finally, when she turned 21, the family said yes to getting her a dog. Now having Midas in their home is like having a little bit of Mila.
Mila loved nature and animals, especially dogs and horses. For a while she worked at a horse ranch and also a doggie daycare. She landed her dream job as a veterinary technician.
A year after her death, the family held a memorial at one of Mila's favourite nature spots: Kortright Centre for Conservation in Vaughan.
We will continue to fight and keep our beautiful angel, Mila's memory alive," Elvira said. This is not over for us."
With the case against Abdalla done, the numerous files that were sitting in the Crown's office go into storage, where they will remain until Tomassetti is arrested.
Alessio said part of him wants Tomassetti captured and brought back to Canada to face trial and the other wouldn't care if he befell the same fate as Cudmore.
Tomassetti remains wanted on an international warrant. Canadian police do not have jurisdiction to search for him there, and it is unclear to what extent Mexican authorities have assisted in trying to look for him. The only thing known is there is no record of him leaving Mexico. His family has not reported him missing and there is no evidence he is not alive.
It's hard to imagine enduring another three-year court case, but the family would like to know why the shooting happened.
Beyond the fact that both families are known to police for involvement in traditional organized crime, is there a connection between the Musitanos and Serranos?
These shootings were the start of a Mob war that has seen several murders in Hamilton and other areas - murders that mirror the style of these first shootings that police believe may be retaliatory violence.
This includes shootings that have killed members of multiple different families, including the deaths of Albert Iavarone, Cece Luppino and Angelo Musitano's big brother Mob boss Pasquale (Pat) Musitano.
It's a world so foreign to the Barberis, including Mila.
I used to pray for justice, I still pray for justice, now I really pray for karma," Elvira said.
Nicole O'Reilly is a Hamilton-based reporter covering crime and justice for The Spectator. Reach her via email: noreilly@thespec.com