Reputed Hamilton mafia boss found dead
By Andrea Lawson - July 10, 2020 9:36 pm
Reputed Hamilton mafia boss Pasquale "Pat" Musitano was found shot dead just outside of a Burlington shopping center in what police are calling a "bloody power struggle" amongst Hamilton's organized crime syndicates."
Residents of Hamilton understand that our city has a long history of gang activity, more specifically, deep mafia roots. The Musitano crime family dates back to the early 1940's when family patriarch Angelo Musitano Sr was rumored to have fled Italy and came to Canada after the murder of his younger sister. The elder Musitano utilized his affiliations with the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta to build one of Hamilton's most notorious criminal organizations. At the time of his grandson's rise to power, it's believed that the Musitano's were earning approximately $30,000,000 in illicit activities such as gambling, loan sharking, and extortion.
There is no consensus as to what was the catalyst to this deadly conflict however, some mafia experts point to the 2017 slaying of at the time Underboss Angelo Musitano Jr who was also found dead in the driveway of his Waterdown home. A joint task force of Canadian law enforcements agencies made the connection that the murder of both Angelo and Pat Musitano were directly connected as retribution to the 1997 murder of Johnny Papalia. Papalia was murdered by the Musitano brothers for a debt of $250,000, both Angelo and Pat were found guilty of first-degree murder charges.
Following the murder of Pat Musitano mafia experts say to anticipate a raise in violet crime and hinted at the homicide rate as they expect a power struggle to shift from numerous organizations throughout the city and transfer within the Musitano Crime Family as power is consolidated to new leadership. They believe many loyalists of the Musitano era of Hamilton's organized crime scene to be planning or have already fled the province.
