Article excerpts below are in relation to the recent murders of Salvatore Calautti and James Tusek in Vaughan (just north of Toronto); these excerpts also touch on the GTA-Montreal angle to the story.
Link:
http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/3897956-vaughan-double-homicide-tips-trickle-in-policeExcerpts:
Vaughan double homicide tips trickle in: policeBy Jeremy Grimaldi
Vaughan CitizenJuly 18, 2013
Limited public response in regards to a suspected mob hit last Friday in Vaughan is complicating York Regional Police’s investigation and is igniting potential conflict between the Calabrian and Sicilian mafia in Vaughan.
The double homicide’s case manager, Det. Dave MacDonald, said police have had information passed along, but intelligence tips have been few and far between in relation to the brazen double shooting of Salvatore “Sam” Calautti, 41, the man suspected of killing reputed Montreal’s Sicilian mob boss’ Vito Rizzuto’s father, Nick, in 2010.
[snip]
“To say there’s been no co-operation is not accurate,” he said. “We’ve received limited co-operation from the public and from witnesses.”
[snip]
Meanwhile, officers continue to comb through video surveillance that has been seized from the bloody murder scene, a mere 250 metres from police headquarters, in which both men’s bodies and a BMW X6 they were driving were riddled with gunshots.
He also admitted he is speaking to police agencies from Montreal and elsewhere in regards to Mr. Calautti’s past, which he compared to drinking water from a fire hydrant.
“There’s so much information coming in, you need to separate the good from the bad,” he said.
[snip]
Det. MacDonald would not confirm if the investigation is an international one or not at the moment.
[snip]
Earlier this year, a York senior intelligence officer said that while Vaughan and York Region has a mafia presence from all three major Italian gangs, including the Cosa Nostra from Sicily, the ’Ndrangheta from Calabria and the Camorra from Naples, he added that mob figures in the region have been known to collaborate, avoiding bloodshed and police preoccupation.
He added there is evidence of representatives from different factions meeting to resolve problems.
“I can’t say they’re all working together, because they are competing, but we do know various groups are working together on various enterprises,” the detective said. “They ... understand that if there happens to be a street war, our attention will be focused more on them.”
However, this double murder may prove the opening salvo in the GTA, a spillover from the gangland war that has ravaged Montreal....
— With files from Toronto Star
