Birth: February 21, 1946 - Cattolica Eraclea, Sicily
Death: /
Vito Rizzuto is the son of Nicolo Rizzuto and is a leading member of the Montreal Mafia. He is currently jailed for his involvment in the 1981 murders of 3 Bonanno capo's.
Rizzuto Family
Vito was born on February 21, 1946, in Sicily. In 1954 his family moved to Montreal where others of their Sicilian associates would follow. 1972 he was sentenced for arsoning. Together with his brother-in-law Paolo Renda he had burned down Renda's own barbershop in 1968 for the insurance money. However, the building caught fire to early and both suffered burns on their body.
During the 1970's the Sicilian faction of Montreal's organized crime, headed by his father, and the Calabrese faction began to form a threat to eachother. Vito's father left Canada after he learned there was a price on his head and moved to Venezuela to live with relatives. Vito in the meantime headed his fathers organization and controlled a large part of Montreal's massive drugbusiness. In 1978, backed by the New York Bonanno Family, the Rizzuto's got the upper hand by killing Calabrese leader Paolo Violi. After Violi's death the Calabrese slowly vanished and the Sicilians proved to be superior. However, now that the Bonanno's gave the "ok" for the Violi hit, the Rizzuto's owed them a favor.
In 1981 the Bonanno's eventualy asked Vito Rizzuto to pay the price. Together with a couple of Bonanno members he had to forge a plan to kill 3 of their capo's because of their retaliating behavior towards boss Phillip Rastelli. Vito went to New York where he became part of the hitsquad which killed Philip Giaccone, Dominick Trinchera and Alphonse Indelicato. A crime for which he would only stand trial for after more than 25 years.
Involvment with the Hells Angels
After Paolo Violi was murdered the Sicilians of Montreal became dominant in the million dollar drugbusiness. The demand for drugs grew in the years to come and soon they became short of men to keep on selling the drugs. Therefore Rizzuto had to find help on the street. He ultimatly found help from bikergangs who would act as drugdealers and bodyguards to the Rizzuto Family. By this the Sicilian mafiosi didn't had to go to nightclubs in their 2000$ suits to sell drugs and if there were any troubles they could rely on the rough and violent behavior of the bikercrews.
Soon the Hells Angels became intrested and started to battle smaller bikergangs for territory. The Hells Angels were led by a man named Maurice Boucher who wasn't afraid to use violence on whomever stood in his way. In 1994 the Hells Angels and a rival bikergang named "Rock Machine" started a war which would last for about 8 years. Rizzuto in the meanwhile stayed on the background but did try to reason with Boucher, without success. The Rizzuto family on the other hand didn't need to worry about them because their cooperation was still good business. The "Quebec bikerwar", which would claim over 150 lives, came to an end in 2002 after several members from both sides were arrested and jailed, including Boucher.
Conviction
Vito Rizzuto
On May 25, 2007, Vito Rizzuto was sentenced to 10 years in prison not due to his connections with the violent Hell's Angels or his involvment in the narcotics trade, but for his part in a crime which took place 26 years prior to his conviction, the killing of the 3 renegade Bonanno capo's.
Sentencing Rizzuto, the judge said: "Today marks the final chapter in the sad story of the execution of three people some 26 years ago in pursuit of power and money. It has been the subject of books, multiple prosecutions and at least one motion picture. Despite such efforts to glamorize these incidents, as the history of these events unfolded in this courthouse it is apparent to the court that such a sordid and cynical act deserves only our scorn and condemnation".
The Rizzuto challenge
On December 27, 2009, Vito's oldest son Nick Jr. was shot to death in Montreal near his car. Nick Jr. was
believed of having partially taken over his fathers financial business eversince his sentence, but was not believed to be the next in line to take over the family. Nick Jr's wake was held at a funeral home owned by his mother and was visited by hundreds of people. Some say he was killed by rival gangs who want to muscle in on the massive Rizzuto drug affair.
Now with a disabled Rizzuto family, from which many of it's top members are jailed, gangs and other Mafia groups are benifitting from the situation.
In weeks before Nick Jr's murder there were also several molotov cocktail attacks against mostly Italian style cafes. On the 20th of May Paolo Renda was kidnapped near his house and there hasn't been a trace of him eversince.
Birth: February 21, 1946 - Cattolica Eraclea, Sicily