The mafia commando in the box of the accused

Four alleged murderers of the mafia, including a fire chief from the Monteregie and his wife, appeared at the courthouse in Montreal on the morning of Thursday, the day after their arrest.

It was with the face of a visibly distraught woman that Marie-Josee Viau stepped into the box of the accused, holding back her tears, followed by Guy Dion, who led the Saint-Jude fire department before the couple be apprehended Wednesday morning.

Ms. Viau, who was municipal inspector and responsible for public works in the town of Sainte-Madeleine between July and October 2015, is charged with plotting and participating in three murders, compared to two for her spouse.

As Le Journal reported on Thursday morning, the Saint-Jude man and woman allegedly acted as "cleaners" for a commando of alleged killers associated with rivals of the Rizzuto clan.

Dion, 48, and his wife allegedly removed compromising traces linked to the murder of Giuseppe and Vincenzo Falduto, two brothers who lived in Riviere-des-Prairies and whose bodies have never been found since their disappearance on 30 June 2016.

Marie-Josee Viau is also charged with the premeditated murder of Rocco Sollecito, a former interim head of the Italian Mafia who was one of the lieutenants of the late godfather Vito Rizzuto.

Sollecito was shot in the car after stopping in front of a bus shelter where a gunman was waiting for him on May 27, 2016 in Laval.

Jonathan Massari, Viau's brother-in-law, also appeared on charges of three murders and a former leader of the Rizzuto clan, Lorenzo Giordano, shot in the parking lot of a police center. Laval training in March 2016.

Massari, who resides in Bois-des-Filion, is the only member of the foursome to face charges for four murders.

Dominico Scarfo, a 47-year-old Montrealer, is charged with the premeditated murder of Sollecito and Giordano.

Unlike Ms. Viau, the three other defendants remained impassive and very calm during their short stay in court.

They will remain all detained until further notice pending further judicial proceedings in mid-December.

As reported by Le Journal Thursday morning, the quartet was trapped by a "mole" in the pay of police forces.

This criminal, hired as a civilian undercover officer, recorded the suspects without their knowledge and obtained incriminating confessions during the Premediter project.

This nine-month investigation was conducted by the National Organized Crime Squad (ENRCO) with a group of investigators from the Sûrete du Quebec and the Montreal police.

Prosecutors Pascal Lescarbeau and Julien Tardif sought and obtained from the court the issuance of an order to preserve the confidentiality of the identity of the "mole", in order not to compromise his security.

"The testimony (of this civilian agent), supported by physical surveillance images, text messages (intercepted) as well as" bodypack "type recordings, will be the heart of the complainant's evidence against the respondents at their trial. trial, "the Crown says in the motion that his attorneys filed in court.

Recall that the four accused were led by the boss Salvatore Scoppa in this series of settlements between opposing clans of the Italian mafia.

Scoppa was also reportedly detained on Wednesday, but he himself was murdered by a gunman while attending a family party at a Laval hotel on May 2.