1. The suspicion that the Musitanos were behind the turmoil in Montreal, either directly or indirectly, is just one of numerous suspicions about how Hamilton mobsters collectively (!) were involved in the Montreal war. The theory that the three crime groups in Hamilton--the Papalia group, the Luppino group, and the Musitano group--would decide to stop hating one another's guts just long enough to participate in very risky moves for all involved is provocative but very unlikely to ever be corroborated.
2. The theory that Vito Rizzuto was behind the killings in Ontario of Johnny Papalia, Carmen Barillaro, and Enio Mora is attractive because of the contiguity of events, including the surveillance of Pat Musitano and Vito meeting in Ontario almost five months after Papalia was hit, but there are other competing theories that seem to hold more water about each individual murder case--especially the one about Pat's massive debt to Papalia, which was information Barillaro gave in one of several sworn statements to police. I, for one, do not buy that the Papalia group ever forgave Pat and brother Angelo for plotting the murder of Papalia in particular. There seems to be conflicting reporting of whether Vito met with Pat Musitano in a restaurant in Hamilton in October 1997 or whether they met in Toronto; there even seems to be conflicting information about whether Giuseppe "Pino" Avignone was also present. In the interest of balance, I should add that the Crown withdrew both murder charges against Pat and Angelo in relation to Papalia's death.
3. Paolo Renda and Giuseppe "Joe" Renda, who both disappeared from the Montreal area and have never been seen again, were not brothers. Humphreys and Lamothe wrote in The Sixth Family that Joe Renda was a nephew of Gerlando Sciascia, but initial reporting at the time of this Renda's disappearance has led to confusion about whether he was related to Paolo, even distantly. Articles published later in the French-language press in Quebec seem to declare that Joe and Paolo are not related, further mentioning that Joe was born in the US.
4. In the early 2000s, when Joe Renda was involved in an extensive Montreal Mafia-backed gambling ring that took took bets in Hamilton, Toronto, and Ottawa, he was not based in Hamilton but, rather, in Toronto. Renda got caught up in two trials in 2002 regarding gambling, not just one, and he ended up returning to Montreal that year. I don't know that he ever set foot in Toronto again or was involved in Hamilton's gambling rackets ever again.
5. There may be some specific evidence of the collaboration between the Siderno Group ('ndrangheta) in Toronto and the Rizzuto organization in Montreal regarding the extensive gambling ring uncovered in 2001 if we look at testimony given at Pino Avignone's 2004/2005 trial regarding a charge of keeping a common gaming house. From Barbara Brown and Paul Morse's December 15, 2004 article in The Spectator:
The undercover officer [Amicone] said Avignone told him the satellite signals came from three places that acted as casinos -- Toronto, New York and Israel -- where a live dealer would spin a roulette wheel.
Amicone said Avignone told him the house received 30 per cent of the profits while Avignone got 20 per cent for himself. The rest went to the "casino" sending the satellite signal.
Avignone bragged about operating five monitor roulette locations in Hamilton, and that he runs the town with monitors, the officer said.
"I told him I was from Ottawa, and he became interested in me setting up shop in Ottawa," Amicone said.
"Avignone said the Toronto area was already looked after by Cosimo Commisso," the undercover officer testified.
"Avignone was mocking gaming commission officers who would come in, look at monitors thinking they were Internet games, and not knowing any better."
Months later, Amicone ran into Avignone at the Gli-Azzurri club, where the topic of setting up roulette game monitors came up again. This time, though, Avignone told him the opportunity had slipped away.
"He said Cosimo Commisso had set up in Ottawa, and it was too late," the officer testified.
"If I wanted, I'd have to go to a place where there weren't any (monitors), and I'd have talk to Cosimo Commisso."
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The criminal figures in the underworlds of Toronto, Montreal, and Hamilton have always interacted for at least six decades despite what you read in the media about this vast organized-crime chasm between Ontario and Quebec. I think that any gripe the Musitanos might have had about being cut out of gambling rackets in Hamilton before or after getting out of prison would be taken up with the Commissos in Toronto, not with Vito Rizzuto, Paolo Renda, Francesco Del Balso, or anyone else in Montreal.
I don't think Pat and Angelo were stupid enough to participate in any move against the Montreal Mafia, especially against an ally like Rizzuto. Rizzuto chose blood over business when he was released from prison--look how that turned out for those who sided against him.
