Mafia Boss Shot Dead

Nicolo "Nick" Rizzuto, considered the head of the most important mafia group in Montreal, has been killed at his home.

Radio-Canada and TVA television said the 86-year-old immigrant from Sicily was assassinated on Wednesday.

A police spokesman said that an individual was shot dead at the mansion by an unknown attacker but declined to provide the identity of the victim.

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The killing, if confirmed, would be a major blow to the Sicilian Mafia group, which had been active for 30 years but whose power appeared to be fading.

Rizzuto arrived in Canada in 1954 and rose to prominence in the organised crime area after the death in 1978 of mob boss Paolo Violi, a Calabrese rival.

Last December, Rizzuto's 42-year-old grandson Nick was killed by gunfire on a Montreal street.

AFP