Rizzuto’s Murder Could Mean End of Montreal Mafia Family

Experts say the assassination of the 86-year-old godfather Wednesday was intended to wipe the Rizzuto clan off the map.

The Rizzutos have been on the decline since Vito Rizzuto was sentenced to ten years in a U.S. prison in 2007 for his role in a triple murder in Brooklyn. He was the intended heir to Nicolo Rizzuto, and his incarceration led to a deadly internal power struggle. Several key members of the clan have been killed or disappeared in recent years, and on Wednesday Nicolo Rizzuto was killed by a bullet fired through his backyard window. Experts say that his murder could mark the end of the crime family, which has dominated Montreal’s underworld for decades. They say the fact that the murder occurred in his home was intended to send the message that the Rizzutos are not safe anywhere.