To many police investigators familiar with the conflicts Tony Magi was involved in over the course of many years, what happened in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on Thursday was inevitable.
Magi, the construction entrepreneur who once had close business ties to Montreal Mafia leader Vito Rizzuto, was kidnapped in April 2005 and survived at least three subsequent attempts on his life, died shortly after he was taken to a hospital after having been shot.
Magi was found lying in front of a building that was under construction on St-Jacques St. near Beaconsfield Ave. at about 11:15 a.m. He was rushed to hospital in critical condition.
Police said he was struck by at least one bullet in the upper body. He was found lying near the building’s garage, police said.
Several police sources who have spoken to the Montreal Gazette in recent years marvelled over how Magi had managed to survive despite appearing to be a moving target. The Charbonneau Commission revealed in great detail how close he was with Rizzuto.
According to testimony heard before the Commission in March 2014, Magi fell into deep financial trouble twice, while working on projects before or during 2003, when Rizzuto offered to help. Magi had just received a 60-day notice that if he couldn’t pay his debts he would be declared bankrupt.
“So, that’s where we see that following weakness, or following a problem, we see that (Vito) Rizzuto enters into the picture,” Eric Vecchio, a Montreal police investigator told the Charbonneau Commission. Vecchio said there was evidence Rizzuto was using third parties to help Magi secure financing for his projects.
Shortly after Magi survived being shot in 2008, an RCMP investigator who had probed organized crime in Montreal for decades told a Montreal Gazette reporter: “I’ve never seen someone’s life get eaten up as completely as (Magi’s was by Rizzuto).” At that point, Magi was partners in a real estate development with Rizzuto’s son, Nick.
Local residents often spotted Magi at the work site were he was killed. They expressed surprise at how Magi appeared to have no issues with being very visible on the job and sometimes directed traffic to let trucks on or off of the site.
Magi’s name does not appear in the business or real estate records connected to the residential project. The former Motel Aubin was sold to two numbered companies in October 2017, one of which sold its part to the other in July 2018.
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Dan Trifonov, who runs a car dealership near the scene, said he and a client heard several loud bangs Thursday morning, but dismissed them as coming from nail guns because there was often noise coming from the construction in the building.
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The entrance to the alley behind a new housing construction site in N.D.G. where Montreal police investigated the scene where Tony Magi was shot.
“We thought that’s what it was because there is always noise coming from there,” he said.
Ali Pazouki, the owner of Ultima Auto, a used car dealership on St-Jacques St., said he met Magi “many, many years ago. He used to be more around and active. He likes to show off with his activity and his face. They want to show their power, and who owns the street, but in the last 10 years we have had none of those.
“Before, there were lots of things happening on (St-Jacques St.), and he was one of the players. But it was quiet for a very long time. I’m surprised to see this here today. I thought it wasn’t happening anymore.
Police spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant said investigators will meet with witnesses and see if there is security-camera footage from around the crime scene to help with their investigation.
The Charbonneau Commission confirmed that from 2003 to 2005, Magi and Vito Rizzuto went into business to develop high-end condos in the Old Port of Montreal, through Magi’s FTM Construction business.
“Who’s taking care of the, of all the wood and the floor wood over there at the, the port there?” Rizzuto asked Magi during a telephone conversation that was recorded by police on Jan. 15, 2003. It was apparent Rizzuto avoided making specific references to the projects he was involved in with Magi.
The following year, Rizzuto was arrested on charges of racketeering in a case involving the 1981 murders of three Mafia captains in New York City. Rizzuto plead guilty in 2007 and was sentenced to 10 years to be served in Colorado. It appeared the Mob boss assigned his son Nick to keep a close eye on Magi’s projects while he was incarcerated in the U.S.
The following year, Magi was shot in his Range Rover as he sat at a light at Cavendish Blvd. and Monkland Ave. in N.D.G. He was hospitalized for weeks in a coma.
In December 2009, an affidavit prepared by the Montreal police to obtain a search warrant as part of two extortion investigations contained allegations that Magi had ties to street gang members.
During an interview with the Montreal Gazette after the affidavit was made public, Magi confirmed that he was working with Vito Rizzuto’s son, Nick.
“We bought a piece of land together which we are developing,” Magi told a reporter in 2009. “He’s studied law and he’s a smart kid.”
Less than three weeks later, Nick Rizzuto was shot to death near the offices of Magi’s FTM Construction at Wilson Ave. and Upper Lachine Rd. That was only nine blocks from where Magi was shot Thursday.
For years, police sources have speculated that Ducarme Joseph, a street gang leader tied to Magi, was involved in Nick Rizzuto’s death. Joseph was killed on Aug. 1, 2014, and according to an affidavit filed as part of Project Magot — an investigation into how the Hells Angels, Montreal Mafia and street gangs teamed up to sell cocaine in Montreal — an informant told the Montreal police that Vito Rizzuto’s wish, before he died of natural causes on Dec. 23, 2013, was that Joseph be kidnapped and made to suffer for his son’s death.
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Montreal businessman Tony Magi with security guards as he leaves the Palais de Justice in Montreal, Wednesday September 22, 2010.
Magi’s death was the first homicide reported in the territory covered by the Montreal police in 2019.
Linda Gyulai of the Montreal Gazette contributed to this report.
