4 charged with murder of Salvatore Montagna

Raynald Desjardins and three others arrested in connection with the death of Mafia boss Salvatore Montagna have been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy.

Three of the accused made an appearance in a Joliette courtroom Wednesday, one day after the arrest of six men allegedly connected to Montagna’s death.

Desjardins and his co-defendants, Vittorio Mirarchi and Felice Racaniello, are accused of having hatched the plot to murder Salvatore Montagna, who was killed in November on a property in Charlemagne, east of Montreal.

Jack Simpson, the owner of the Charlemange property, was also charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He remains in custody in Ontario after he was picked up on parole violations.

Two other people arrested in the police sweep Tuesday, Calogero Milioto and Pietro Magistrale, were charged with 29 offences related to possession and storage of firearms.

All of the accused have been detained.

Montagna shot

Montagna’s body was pulled from the Assomption River on Nov. 24. He had been shot several times.

U.S. authorities have described him as the once head of New York’s powerful Bonanno crime family.

Desjardins, 59, is a close associate of Montreal’s reputed Mafia don, Vito Rizzuto.

He was arrested in 1993 and sentenced to 15 years in prison for importing 700 kg of cocaine.

He was the apparent target of an assassination attempt in Laval in September.

Desjardins escaped that incident with minor injuries.

So should we assume Vito ordered Sal's departure from this earth?

I wouldn't say so, even though it can be assumed Mr. Rizzuto would want Mr. Montagna dead. However Rizzuto is under heavy watch in US prison, to get such an order out so close to his release is both risky and nearly impossible to go undetected.
However Desjardins has been extremely close to the Rizzuto family for years, it seems he is just trying to keep Montreal in line until Rizzuto's return.

Rizzuto is in a medium-security prison. Difficult, not impossible.

Ah my mistake, but I can't see him taking such a risk when he is so close to being released. The Rizzuto's are a patient bunch

Many sources indicate he went against the Rizzutos back in 2005 after they killed his protege Giovanni Bertolo.

He went against Arcadi, who was then running things.

Vittorio Mirarchi
Felice Racaniello
Calogero Milioto
Pietro Magistrale
what about these guys?new young affiliated in rizzuto family?


i read this on corriere canadese:
"Last week, Anthony Pietrantonio, also known as Tony Suzuki into organized crime in Montreal, was seriously wounded during a shootout in a restaurant on Jarry Street East, in a district in the north-east of the city. Close to the shooting found a charred vehicle.
His name appears several times in interceptions Colisée collected for the operation in 2006 involved more than 100 people".
anyone knows him?

They seriously need to set a GTA in Montreal...

yeah, youre right. Its possible that Desjardins may have been behind the Domenico Macri hit. It doesnt necessarily mean that he didnt go against the Rizzutos as well. One of the articles I posted in the Pietrantonio thread said "He turned against the old Nick Rizzuto and his associates after the murder of his friend Giovanni Bertolo, drug dealer and union representative painters of the FTQ-Construction."

Based on the information available to us, it would seem highly unlikely that Desjardins is "just trying to keep Montreal in line until Rizzuto's return." Its been widely reported that Desjardins and Di Maulo were actively plotting to install a new regime. We also know that at one point Desjardins had an alliance with Montagna. Maybe its just me, but I find it hard to believe that Vito Rizzuto would still have a partnership with someone who was quite likely involved in some of the killings of those close to him, or at the very least was allied with the guy responsible for those murders.

There was some info about Mirarchi in an article I posted in the Pietrantonio thread. He is of Calabrian descent, and his family was close to the Violis and Cotronis. His father was known in Ontario apparently. Here is the article:

http://fr.canoe.ca/infos/societe/archives/2011/12/20111221-062501.html

Theres not a whole lot about the other guys. Milioto was arrested in a major drug bust in 08. I think I read that one of them is a full time construction labourer. Not much info about those guys.

You can find plenty about Pitrantonio just from using search engines. Hes been around for a while.

The writers of Mafia Inc. made that statement. Other journalists are repeating that Montagna, Desjardins and Di Maulo "tried to create a consensus over who should rule the mafia in Montreal". Interestingly, when Tony Suzuki was hit, he replaced Montagna. Many journalists seem to base their statements on the same source. It's better to keep an open mind as these news articles are indictations at best. Criminals change their allegiance faster than journalists change their articles.

It seems there are two cells vying for power in Montreal, the Arcuri-Montagna ``Sicilians`` vs Desjardins and the ``Calabrian`` Di Maulo-Mirarchi cell. Take into consideration that the Di Maulo group includes old Cotroni allies such as Vanelli, Volpato, Mucci, Gallo, Frank Cotroni Jr, Nick Cotroni and may other sons of these people. They represent for the most part what is considered the Calabrian faction.

What makes this whole situation interesting is the murders seem to be threefold in their timing and approach.

- First came the murders of Del Peschio and Rizzuto Jr by a rival construction mafioso
- Secondly we have the big names in the Rizzuto clan([BadWord]-rera, Rizzuto Sr, Renda) eliminated by a coalition of groups, including the Sicilian faction, Calabrian faction and Ontario elements which would explain how professional and effective the hits were.
- The recent violence seems to an attempt by Montagna-Arcuri to get rid of Desjardins and assume control over Montreal for the Sicilians and Bonnanos.

There are other names out there who will take over for the time being and I doubt we will see any more murders for some time.

The so called Calabrians AKA old Cotroni faction are now stronger because many of the Rizzuto's muscle are in jail.

I wonder on which side Rocco Sollecito is now. Apparantly, the police also warned him some time ago that his life was in danger. We haven't heard from him since then. I think some of these guys are keeping a low profile until Rizzuto is released.

They are stronger mainly because they`ve operated under the radar for so long and were able to prosper while the Rizzuto clan was constantly under siege by law enforcement. Arcuri and the remaining Sicilians grew in courage mainly because of Montagna`s arrival. It`s not everyday that a Bonnano boss comes to Montreal, but like many have said before me, there is a clear reason he chose Montreal over Italy when the U.S. goverment deported him.

It`s interesting that so many elements and groups were behind the fall of the Rizzuto empire, but eliminating such big names does require some sort of external approval, which according to sources came from Ontario mainly, but NYC should be included without a doubt.

Posted some photos from Salvatore Montagna funureal in the thread Rare Photos here: http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=626635&#Post626635


Can anyone tell me who are those guys,are they family or mafia friends etc ?

They operated in the shadows of the dominant Rizzuto faction. For the remaining Montreal mafiosi it would be smart to put their ego's aside before things really get out of hand.

i don't think the calabrian faction si much stronger
montagna groups tried to kill desjardins first and it means they felt strong enough
it's not clear if pietrantonio was on montagna or desjardins first
but desjardins himself and most of his groups was arrested

I can tell you that those 4 men arrested are but a small fraction of some other big names still on the street, besides the obvious Di Maulo brothers, Cotronis, Volpato, Vanelli, Mucci, Gallo etc...

Pietrantonio was close to Lopresti and they were part of the Arcuri-Montagna alliance. Arcuri was actually the next guy they were gonna hit, the police even warned him.

Most of these guys are in their sixties and seventies now. It's isn't clear that the remaining Cotronis are still actively involved in organized crime. I don't remember reading anywhere about the Cotronis involvement. Doesn't mean that they aren't, but I'm just saying.



I have yet to read one news article that stated Pietrantonio was on Montagna's side. I keep finding it interesting how someone one this board stated Montagna was looking to kill Suzuki and that Suzuki might be hit next.

I'm theorizing that LoPresti might have initially joined Montagna, along with Suzuki, but that they later distanced themselves from Montagna when he was involved in killing Rizzuto. One news article stated that Pietrantonio visisted Nick Rizzuto's funeral, and LoPresti's funeral was organized by Loreto. Montagna made several trips to Ontario (Hamilton and Toronto) and visisted Nick Rizzuto one week before he was killed. Also, his funeral wasn't organized by Loreto.

i think that desjardins (or dimaulo behind him) were the leaders of that faction and important people included the leader are in jail now
it's not even sure if cotroni, morello, morielli, vanelli, gallo and whoever are involved and which side are on
pietrantonio was close to desjardins in the past

lopresti was killed by the same group who killed nick rizzuto sr... the modality seems the same
i think the murders was carried by montagna men, the modality like the rival group killed montagna let me think they are not so professional

any idea of who pulled the trigger? racaniello, simpson? any ideas

According to one French-language newspaper, it was told by sources that the prosecution will show Simpson held the gun used in the murder; however, the article to which I've linked below does not make clear whether Simpson was in possession of the gun used to commit the murder or was the actual gunman.

Link to French-language article:

http://fr.canoe.ca/infos/societe/archives/2012/01/20120106-202728.html

However, please note that in the original thread on this subject (http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=625841#Post625841), I posted Wednesday morning that Calogero Milioto has now also been charged with murder.

i also read that article which mentions simpson possibly did the shooting. found that kinda odd, figured a younger guy would have been tasked with doing the dirty work...

so its fair to assume that desjardins is going down for murder, alot of years in prison. who is going to step in and take over montreal?