Six months after notorious mobster Angelo Musitano was killed in his Waterdown driveway, police say they continue to search for a gunman and motive for the execution.

Police have yet to identify the shooter and say they are investigating possible ties between the spring shooting and other recent suspected mob violence around the province, including in the Toronto area.

"Big picture wise, are there things going on provincially? Probably. Are there things going on nationally? Probably. Is there stuff going on internationally? Most likely as well, but we're a small service, we can only handle what information we have," said Hamilton police homicide Det. Sgt. Peter Thom. "We have to concentrate on this particular case ... Bigger picture is someone else's portfolio."

Thom says the Hamilton police homicide unit is small and has many priorities. Like every homicide there is a case manager (Thom), lead detective and file co-ordinator assigned to the case. But since Musitano's killing on May 2, four people have been murdered in the city and there are a number of court cases that compete for the attention of the homicide team.

Despite the workload, there is an officer assigned full-time to the case and is investigating security footage near the murder scene.

"It's hundreds and hundreds of hours of video that we're still working our way through," Thom said.

The footage was collected from Waterdown properties and businesses following the daytime shooting. Musitano was killed just shy of his 40th birthday outside his Chesapeake Drive home while his wife and three young sons were inside.

Musitano was a member of a well-known traditional organized crime family. Security footage from the Musitano home shows the killer's car slowly moving down the street before a man pulls over in front of the house. The car is a burgundy 2006 Ford Fusion and that same car, which was stolen, was seen in the neighbourhood in the week before the shooting. It was found parked near the scene five days after the shooting. Police describe the shooter as a heavy-set man, weighing about 230 pounds, wearing a black tuque, black jacket, grey pants and black shoes.

Thom wouldn't say what else they've found going through the footage, but did say they still don't know the identity of the killer. It's also not clear whether the murder is revenge for something in the past or connected to more recent activity.

"A lot been going on around the province," Thom said. "There are a lot of theories out there, but nothing solid."

Since the murder there have been at least a dozen instances of mafia violence in Ontario including fires in York Region and an attempt on the life of Musitano's older brother (and reputed family boss) Pasquale (Pat) Musitano. His St. Clair Boulevard home in Hamilton was sprayed with bullets early June 27. Pat was in bed at the time. No one was hurt.

Last week RCMP, with the help of police including Hamilton and Halton, netted nine alleged organized crime members in the GTA in a sweeping investigation into the illegal fentanyl drug trade.

Two of the accused are Hamilton mobsters Domenico Paolo Violi, 51, and his brother Giuseppe (Joe) Violi. They are grandsons of the late Giacomo Luppino of Hamilton, an old-style Mafia godfather who died in 1987 and considered to be a founding member of the Crimine, a governing body for the 'Ndrangheta crime group. They are the sons of mob boss Paolo Violi, who was gunned down having dinner in his restaurant in Montreal in 1978.

"As a lay person you can see there is a lot going on in the province, suggests there is a lot of movement going on (with organized crime)," Thom said.

The fentanyl arrests came after a mobster turned on his old associates and became an informant.

What else this informant might have told police and any possible connections to other cases remains unclear.

When asked whether this case has any bearing on the Musitano investigation, Thom said, "potentially."

He has not yet been able to meet with those investigators, but hopes to sometime soon to see whether there is any crossover.

In the mafia underworld the Musitano and Violi brothers knew each other and were reportedly at odds with each other at least back in the late 90s.

In 1997 the brothers, Ang and Pat, were accused of taking out mob boss Johnny "Pops" Papalia, allegedly ordering hit man Kenny Murdock to commit the murder. At the time, Ang was 21. The brother's father, Dominic Musitano, was a well-known crime boss who was once jailed for being an accessory after the fact in the slaying of a Toronto underworld figure. He died in 1995.

Ang and Pat Musitano were charged with first-degree murder in the killing at Papalia's vending machine business on Railway Street. A deal was struck and the brothers pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in the shooting death of Niagara crime boss Carmen Barillaro, Papalia's lieutenant.

The brothers served two-thirds of their 10-year sentences and were released from prison in October 2006.

Organized crime watchers believe that whatever protections the Musitanos had 20 years ago are now gone, making them an easier target.

"The mafia has a long and bloody history with power struggles, but they're not usually an open field of battle, but strategic attacks," said organized crime expert Antonio Nicaso.

When mob boss Vito Rizzuto died in 2013, so too ended the centralized control he held over the Sicilian mafia in Canada. A power vacuum was created and there is still infighting to see who will take over control, said Nicaso.

He said, within this power vacuum, it's likely someone gave the green light to take out Musitano.

Nicaso said Canada is seen as a good place to do business in organized crime because it's easier to launder money here, in part because of a legal loophole that extends lawyer-client privilege to protect lawyers from having to report suspicious financial transactions.

In Canada, cases are often handled by local police services — such as Hamilton police investigating Musitano's murder. But Nicaso said other countries have national investigators, such as the FBI in the United States, take the lead.

Nicaso argues the RCMP has largely shifted its focus away from investigating organized crime, instead focusing more effort (and resources) on anti-terrorism measures.

Still mob cases have always been difficult to prosecute and can usually only be cracked if someone on the inside of the criminal organization flips and talks to police.

One of the biggest challenges for the Hamilton police investigation has been a lack of co-operation by the Musitano family, who continue to decline to speak to police. Instead, they've appointed lawyer and family friend Dean Paquette to be the point of contact.

Thom called this "kind of strange."

"The family are probably the best people to speak to in relation to what was going on in Ang's life leading up to, weeks, months prior to (his death)," Thom said, adding that there is still a lot about his life after prison that investigators don't know.

Paquette was there at the Hamilton General Hospital, called by the Musitano family, the day Ang died.

He represented Pat in the 1997 murder case and got to know the brothers well, eventually developing a friendship.

The day after Ang's murder Paquette told the Spectator it was a shame so much of the media coverage focused on "what happened 20 years ago" because he had since "redeemed himself."

"I think Ang was a good soul," Paquette said at the time.

He was a loving husband and father, he said.

Paquette declined to comment further for this article, including when asked why the family has refused to speak with police.

Police have been able to piece together some information about Ang's life after prison, some of which they've shared and other details that can be gleaned from public documents.

Property records show he bought a home on Acadia Drive, in the Stone Church Road East and Upper Sherman Avenue area, in November 2007, about a year after he was released from prison.

A business, Acadia Homes and Property Management Inc., was registered to that address and incorporated in 2009. Corporation records show that business was still active at the time of Musitano's death. However, there is no activity to show this business was actually operational.

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In 2012, Musitano transferred the property to his wife's name. Two years later, in March 2014 she bought their Chesapeake Drive home in Waterdown.

There, shocked neighbours told police after the murder they had no idea who Musitano was.

Thom said police are aware of some "historical" construction businesses Musitano was involved in, and at the time of his death he was connected to two businesses.

Police believe Musitano was a co-owner of a mid-sized Hamilton construction business that did concrete work. Thom said Musitano began in a middle management position, but eventually became an owner — even though he does not appear on paper as an official owner.

This business appears legitimate and the (on paper) owner was eventually somewhat co-operative with police. Thom said that owner knew Musitano before their business relationship.

There is also Ole Gourmet — a Mexican eatery business that began in 2005 with a location on Locke Street South. It later expanded to Concession Street and corporate records show the business also operated on Ottawa Street North.

At the Concession location, where there was a suspicious fire in October of 2014, the Ole Gourmet sign remains with a for sale sign out front.

Thom said this business is also legitimate.

In a July 2013 Hamilton business profile that was published on thespec.com, Musitano and his business partner spoke about expanding Ole Gourmet, with Musitano saying he wanted to expand to 10 restaurants.

"Once we have a good footprint and a solid foundation in the city, we want to expand farther," he said.

None of the restaurant locations appear to be open, except for an independently owned franchise in Stoney Creek.

There is no indication his business connections played a role in his murder.

In recent years Musitano also appeared to have found God.

After his death, friends connected to a Christian men's group he'd been attending, stepped forward to talk about their grief at the loss of their friend and their impressions of him as a father and religious man.

One of those friends was Mike King, who told the Spectator that "Ang had left his past behind him."

"Ang would stand up for what's right for everyone. He was a devoted father and was devoted in his faith. He was a good person."

Ang wrote about his family in a testimonial for the Christian group — an excerpt was shared with the Spectator.

"During my formative years and while serving my sentence, I saw first hand the worst of the human condition — beatings, stabbings and murder — and it began to have a profound effect on me. I wanted to try to distance myself from my past, but on my release it seemed that there was only one life for an ex-con. Nobody seemed willing to take a chance on a man with a record."

He then writes about struggling to find work and eventually meeting his wife.

"For a time I still walked on the wrong side of life … And then God found me."

It's a complicated picture of a man perhaps pulled between two worlds.

Family and religion were clearly big parts of this life. So too were his businesses.

Then there is the mafia, which traditionally makes its money on everything from drugs, to extortion, to gambling and prostitution.

"We can't say definitively that Ang was involved in any of that before his death," Thom said. And yet, it's impossible to look past the fact that he was killed in what was as clearly "a professional hit."

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