Hamilton, Ont. mobster in 'life-threatening' condition after shooting: reports

A convicted mobster who was shot in a Mississauga, Ont. parking lot continues to fight for his life in a Toronto hospital, according to reports.

Pasquale (Pat) Musitano of Hamilton, Ont. was shot multiple times after leaving the office of his lawyer about 7 a.m. on Thursday, according to The Hamilton Spectator. Peel police said Friday morning that a shooting victim is still in “life-threatening condition” but did not confirm his identity.

Sources told reporters at The Spectator that Musitano, 51, was hit as many as four times, including to his head, and was in critical condition when he was transported to a trauma centre.

The shooting of Musitano comes almost two years after the death of his younger brother Angelo, who was fatally shot to death May 2, 2017 while sitting in his vehicle in the driveway of his home in Waterdown, a neighbourhood in Hamilton. He was 39.

Investigators in the latest shooting are accessing video surveillance footage from the commercial complexes surrounding the parking lot. They also towed away a black GMC Denali for forensic examination.

The Musitano brothers have been well-known fixtures on Ontario's organized crime scene for many years.

They were charged with first-degree murder in the 1997 deaths of Hamilton mob boss Johnny “Pops” Papalia and his underboss Carmen Barillaro. The hitman who pleaded guilty in both shootings said the Musitano brothers had ordered the killings. As part of a plea deal, the brothers pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in Barillaro’s death, while the charges relating to the Papalia murder were withdrawn.

They were sentenced to 10 years in 2000 and released from prison in 2006.

There has been a spike in mob-related crime in Hamilton in recent years that experts say paints a picture of a crime underworld in turmoil.

Cece Luppino, a man whose family has well-known ties to organized crime, was gunned down at close range outside his Hamilton home in February in what police called a targeted killing.

In September, Albert Iavarone was shot and killed outside his home in the Hamilton neighbourhood of Ancaster, amid speculation it was retaliation for the Musitano murder and part of a mafia power struggle centred in Hamilton.

One man has been arrested in the Musitano murder, and another two are wanted on Canada-wide warrants.

In 2015, Pat Musitano’s SUV was torched in his driveway and a month after his brother was killed, Pat Musitano’s home in an upscale Hamilton neighbourhood was sprayed with bullets.

The patriarch of the family, Pat and Angelo Musitano’s uncle Tony Musitano, described as a former mobster, was buried on Wednesday after dying of natural causes at 72.