One person has been arrested and two others are wanted on Canada-wide warrants in connection with a pair of deadly shootings in southern Ontario.
Police say the shootings, which occurred two months and 70 kilometres apart, are linked by ties to organized crime.
Jabril Hassan Abdalla, a 27-year-old man, was arrested Wednesday at his Hamilton home on two charges of first-degree murder, two charges of conspiracy to commit murder and one charge of attempted murder.
Police allege Abdalla is one of three people responsible for the shooting deaths of Mila Barberi and Angelo Musitano.
Barberi was shot and killed in March 2017 in a parking lot in Vaughan, Ont. She had just picked up her boyfriend, Saverio Serrano, from work. Serrano was hit by two bullets and has been called the “intended target” of the shooting.
Musitano was also in a vehicle when he was killed two months later. In his case, he was sitting in a pickup truck outside his home in Waterdown, a small community in a rural part of Hamilton.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Hamilton Police Det.-Sgt. Peter Thom said he believed both shootings were linked to “traditional organized crime … the Mafia, the Mob, whatever handle you want to give it.”
Thom said Musitano’s “very public execution” was connected to his involvement in “the family business.” Police have previously said that the Musitano family has been involved in organized crime for several generations, and Musitano himself spent several years in prison in connection with the killing of Hamilton crime boss Johnny “Paps” Papalia.
One suspect is a missing person
In addition to Abdalla’s arrest, police say Canada-wide arrest warrants have been issued for 37-year-old Hamilton resident Michael Cudmore and Daniel Michael Tomassetti, a 27-year-old man from Ancaster, on the same charges Abdalla is facing.
Cudmore and Tomassetti are not believed to be in Canada. According to police, Cudmore flew to Cancun, Mexico 18 days after Musitano was killed. Once there, he allegedly connected with Daniel Ranieri, who police say fled to the same area in 2015 after a warrant was issued for his arrest in Canada.
Thom said Ranieri’s body was found in a ditch in Mexico in March, after he was apparently “bound and executed.” Cudmore has not been in touch with his family since then, and his family has reported him as a missing person.
Tomassetti, who ran a travel business, is believed to have flown to Mexico in January, shortly after police announced they had found connections between the shootings of Musitano and Barberi.
He was supposed to return to Canada one week later, Thom said, but has not been spotted since. Unlike Cudmore, he has not been reported missing.
While the three men are accused of devising and carrying out the shootings, Thom said they “were not the masterminds behind the plan.”
Police have identified several other persons of interest as part of their investigation into the deaths of Musitano and Barberi, which they have dubbed Project Scopa – using the Italian word for broom. Investigators have not been able to determine exact motives for either shooting.
“We believe there are members of Mr. Musitano’s family, and his associates, that know the exact motive for his murder. They, however, have chosen to remain silent,” Thom said.
Is there a turf war in Ontario?
Thom described existing organized crime groups as “successful” and “lucrative” ventures despite their criminality and the potential danger of their activities.
He pointed to a series of recent shootings, arsons and bombings around the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area as a sign that organized crime groups appear to be engaged in a battle for control.
“It definitely appears to us … there seems to be some kind of power struggle going on,” he said.
If that is indeed the case, then last week’s shooting of Hamilton real estate agent Albert Iavarone could also be connected to the turf war. Police have said the shooting was linked to organized crime, and Thom said Thursday that Iavarone knew Musitano, knows two of the three people accused in his death, and “is very close to” a person of interest in the case.
“I’m not saying that the two cases are connected. It’s something that we are very interested in following up on,” he said.
Shots were fired into a home of one of Angelo Musitano’s relatives a few weeks after his death. Nobody was injured in the incident, which police considered a targeted attack and which remains unsolved.
Project Scopa involved police agencies in Hamilton, Toronto, York Region and Niagara Region, as well as the RCMP, the Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. authorities including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Agency and Department of Homeland Security.
