Gangster Feared Vito Rizzuto, Then Died

Gang leader Ducarme Joseph was shot dead in St. Michel on Friday night.

A former gang leader with ties to the Canadian Mafia, Joseph allegedly was involved in the 2009 shooting death of Nick Rizzuto Jr., son of the deceased Vito Rizzuto, formerly the powerful head of the Mafia in Montreal.

Joseph, 41, was found bleeding in a parking lot at St. Michel Ange and Villeray Sts. from multiple wounds to his upper body.
Deceased Cosa Nostra boss Vito Rizzuto, middle, flanked by his
father and son, both named Nick.


Joseph, who'd gone into hiding, may have started raising his profile in the months following Vito's death. It was a fatal mistake.


Around 10:15 p.m. Friday night Joseph, 41, was found bleeding in a parking lot at St. Michel Ange and Villeray Sts. from multiple wounds to his upper body.

The owner of a clothing boutique in Old Montreal, he was said to have survived a previous assassination attempt four years ago. Two men died and two others were injured in the 2010 shooting.

He feared for his life when Vito Rizzuto returned to Montreal in 2012 and regained total control of his Cosa Nostra family.

Joseph even left Quebec for a while; when he returned he tried to maintain a low profile.

Ducarme Joseph survived one assassination attempt but finally
got it this past Friday, likely payback for killing Vito Rizzuto's son.

His death was likely retaliation for slaying Vito's son, press reports revealed.

Bikers from Ontario, which have been working closely with the Montreal Mafia (Rizzuto's family), may have whacked Joseph to establish or reinvigorate their ties to the former Rizzuto organization.

Joseph rose to prominence in the 1980 and 1990s, co-founding the 67s, a group named after a bus line that ran through gang's St. Michel neighborhood.

He pleaded guilty in 1986 to the fraudulent sale of real estate property and had been accused of intimidation in 1988.

The 67s broke up, but Joseph remained the boss of a gang that was known to do work for hire for various criminal organizations. Mafia jobs reportedly included prostitution, extortion and kidnappings.

He was arrested days later as he was leaving FTM Construction, which is owned by members of Tony Magi's family. Magi is a real estate developer with ties to the Mafia.

On Nov. 10, 2010, less than a year before Vito would return home, his father was eating with his family at the dinner table when he was assassinated with a high-powered rifle by sniper.

Vito's fast-rising mobster son had previously been slain, and his brother-in-law is presumed to have been murdered as well.

A 42-year-old Nick Rizzuto was gunned down around noontime.

Witnesses described the hit:

"I heard four, what sounded to be gunshots, or people banging pieces of wood together, then maybe a one or two second pause, and then another two shots after that," said one witness. 
"We heard the clip going on like six times: 'Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!' And that was it," said another. 
One eyewitness saw a man come out of a building and shoot Rizzuto. Rizzuto dropped to the ground and gasped for air.The shooter ran to a car and drove away, screeching its tires. 
Police described him as a black man, wearing a dark jacket and hood and jeans.


Interestingly, the shooting took place near the offices of FTM Construction, which had been raided by Montreal police only one month prior as part of an investigation of alleged extortion attempts by Magi.

Magi was shot in the same neighborhood two years prior to Nick Rizzuto's slaying.

Joseph, who had Haitian roots, believed in voodoo and thought himself invincible.

He wasn't.


FOR FURTHER READING: Firebombed: Pizzeria Owned by Family of Mobster Slain by Rizzuto:

Comments

  1. The new boss since the death of Vito is Vito's uncle, Domenico Manno, released in December '12 from federal prison at Ft. Dix after 17 years. Vito left a grocery list for his uncle to accomplish, Joseph being on the list. Manno, age 81 is really old school, his father was a boss in the old country, as Domenico Manno is one of the more respected guys no matter where. Manno is a consensus builder, and will be a very good boss.

    ReplyDelete
  2. How long is he going to last if he is 81 years old? There has to be a younger guy with those same qualities?

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is power.. From the grave plus what he accomplished with cancer after getting out of prison.. Last of his breed..

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Canadian Mafia alive and well.Who would have thought.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You have a point. I think the cancer caused Vito to move up his timframe. He is truly "first among equals" in Cosa Nostra.

    ReplyDelete
  6. So who is next on the list? Tony Magi?

    ReplyDelete
  7. What about the guys who were arrested from operation colisee? Are the majority of those guys back on the street now? What were there sentences?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Can you reveal your source for that? I don't doubt it, just curious....

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment