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“He was a happy kid who liked to joke. He had an easy laugh. His dad was a lot like that. His dad also was a guy with a good sense of humour,” said a long-time family friend.

Given his upbringing, though, Musitano’s jokes could be deeply dark.

Once when he was a youngster, after a family pet died, he was going with his father to dispose of the pet’s body. With a wry look in his eye, Musitano quipped: “I’m going for my first ride.”

He knew, and those around him knew, that “going for a ride” was a mob euphemism for bumping someone off. The joke displayed his keen understanding of his family lineage.

Of all the boys in that family, Angelo was probably the one who was the most charming

He could also fight. Despite his family genes pulling him towards the rounder side, he was tough and often underestimated.

Once, Musitano and his father took on a group of three or four young men who didn’t realize who they were and tried to mess with them. His father grabbed one by the throat and lifted him off the ground onto the roof of a car. The son dished it just as good.

They were both proud of that scrap.

“Of all the boys in that family, Angelo was probably the one who was the most charming, partly because of his smile.

“He had a mix of charm and cruelty,” said an old friend.

Police investigated many arsons and bombings linked to the Musitano family over the decades.

In 1998, police detectives arrested Musitano and his brother Pat, charging them with ordering the high-profile murder of John “Johnny Pops” Papalia, the top-ranked Mafia boss in the province who was known as the Enforcer for his fearsome power and demeanor.

In 2000, the Musitano brothers were sentenced to 10 years in prison under a plea deal that saw them plead guilty, instead, to conspiring to murder Papalia’s right-hand man, Carmen Barillaro of Niagara Falls, who was shot by the same hit man. The charges in Papalia’s death were dropped under the deal.

Musitano was released from prison in 2007.

His freedom caused such concern that Hamilton’s police chief publicly promised he would be closely monitored. True to his word, police re-arrested Musitano five months later for meeting with someone he was forbidden to contact.

At a parole hearing, police said phone numbers on Musitano’s cellphone, the amount of high-denomination cash he was carrying when re-arrested, and informants who said he was into extortion suggested he had reactivated a life in crime.

Musitano offered innocent explanations for it all.

“You deny any criminal activity while on release and no persuasive information has been provided to corroborate the informants’ claims in this regard,” the parole board said.

He was released again on parole.

He has since been off the radar, at least publicly.

This month, however, marks the 20th anniversary of Papalia’s murder.