[snip]

One theory about the murder of Albert Iavarone was that the killing was revenge for the murder of Angelo Musitano. I think Iavarone belonged to a group that consisted of criminal associates who were not made--but even if this opinion is right, who knows whether this group in turn is tied to an actual mafia group whose leader ordered Musitano's murder?

There have been many theories as to why Musitano was killed, not just the few that are reported in newspaper articles. Here's the list I've been compiling since his murder (in no order of which theory I favour):

1. Revenge for plotting the murders of John Papalia and Carm Barillaro (mobwatchers neglect to mention the latter's death).

2. A newer 'ndrangheta cell from Italy that, at some point before Angelo Musitano's murder last year, seems to have established itself in Hamilton in order to possibly wrest drug territory from the Musitano crime group. (James Dubro's theory)

3. Mostly Calabrian organized-crime groups, including the Siderno Group, violently fighting over profits and territory in the medical-marijuana industry in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) or the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). The 'ndrine in the Siderno Group could be fighting with one another--Carmine Verduci's murder might be an example of this.

4. The same type of jockeying for control of cocaine trafficking--in particular as a result of the aforementioned 'ndrangheta cell from Italy that could be encroaching on the Musitanos' territory.

5. A pre-emptive strike by hitman Ken Murdock, hired by the Musitanos to kill both Papalia and Barillaro and successful in his attempts, who might have been worried after his release about retribution by the Musitano brothers.

6. A joint effort by the Wolf Pack and Rizzuto loyalists in Montreal to push their way into the Niagara Region, having already possibly made an incursion into the GTA.

7. An all-out war, over a number of rackets in southwestern Ontario, involving 'mostly ndrangheta groups and/or Calabrian-Canadian crime groups, with the 'ndrangheta internal war in the GTA somehow spilling over into the Hamilton area.

8. Rivalry between the Musitano crime group and the Luppino-Violi group, which might have intensified after Domenico and Giuseppe Violi were sentenced and imprisoned.

9. A kill-or-be-killed scenario in which the Iavarone group decided it had to kill Angelo Musitano because a member of the group owed Angelo a large gambling debt and was being squeezed by Angelo for a stake in the group's gambling activities. (A still very credible theory as to why Pat and Angelo Musitano arranged to have Papalia killed is the large gambling debt Pat owed Johnny.)