The writer states that the other two names of the suspects arrested for the murder of Montagna were unnamed, which is incorrect. The other names, besides Mirarchi, Racaniello and Desjardins are Calogero Milioto and Pietro Magistrale. Magistrale was later released. Desjardins nephew Hugo Desjardins was also arrested for possession of a firearm.
Also, the article lingers on the theory of Calabrian groups being behind it. Montagna or any other individuals in Montreal, most of whom are connected to the New York Bonanno family, wouldn't necessarily need support from Calabrian groups outside Montreal to make a move inside Montreal.
I think Montagna's trips to Toronto were only meant to consult with individuals or groups with ties to the Rizzuto family in Montreal. Without doing so he could have risked retaliation.
Sonny:
We don't know what Montagna was doing in Toronto. In my long post in the "Mob chieftain's return sparks concerns" thread, I declared that Montreal is still the hub for Italian organized crime in Canada, as I don't believe Toronto has taken over the top spot. (Nor do I subscribe to the theory that a coalition of crime groups in Ontario took over.) But Toronto is still an important centre of Italian organized-crime activity in Canada. Always has been.
The Rizzuto organization has long-established roots in Toronto and other cities in Ontario. The Rizzutos have always had blood relatives, close
paesani, and criminal associates in the Toronto area. Lee Lamothe, co-author of
The Sixth Family, once posted on the Real Deal about how the Rizzuto organization also consisted of Calabrian crime cells -- he was probably referring to the Toronto-area Commissos, the Musitano group in Hamilton, and 'ndranghetisti living in Montreal who probably are part of the Siderno Group in the Toronto area.
Mostly everyone of significance that Montagna could have talked to in Toronto -- whether members of Sicilian Cosa Nostra, of the 'ndrangheta, etc. -- would have tipped off the Rizzuto organization about his intentions. But I would agree with you that he could have talked with select individuals in the Toronto area (whose names have never appeared in books or articles) and with people who would have no love for the Rizzutos, e.g., Paolo Violi's sons and nephews (Violi's brothers' sons). The
Mafia inc. co-authors stated only that Violi's sons were not opposed to Sergio Piccirilli's murderous desires, not that Violi's sons were behind the murders of Nick Rizzuto Sr., Paolo Renda, and Agostino Cun trera.
I suspect Montagna already knew people in the Toronto area before he ever chose Montreal as the city to which he would be deported. But the theory his trips to Ontario must have been to plot the ouster of the Rizzutos is as tenouous as the theory that Vito Rizzuto's meetings with Pat Musitano in 1997 meant Vito and other Montrealers wanted John Papalia killed.
