A man who was recently convicted of trying to start a fire on the property of late mafioso Francesco Del Balso, a month before he was murdered in June 2023, was betrayed by his taste for sour candy and snacks.
What there is to know
Mafioso Francesco Del Balso was the victim of a home invasion and two attempted murders before being shot dead in June 2023.
What was not known was that there had also been an attempted arson attack on his property in May 2023.
The arsonist was sentenced to 27 months in prison on Friday.
Before he was killed, Del Balso spoke about what he thought about modern Montreal organized crime.
In the minutes before the crime, on the evening of May 4, 2023, Doran Smith stopped at a gas station convenience store near Del Balso’s home in Laval, purchased a bag of sour gummies and a bag of cheese sticks for a total of $7.45, and paid with a debit card.
The sour candy probably tasted bitter later since it was because of this transaction, after obtaining a warrant forcing the banking institution to reveal the name of the cardholder, that investigators from the Laval Police Service (SPL) identified Smith.
Didn’t last long
On the morning of May 5, 2023, Del Balso called the police after receiving notifications on his phone from his camera surveillance system indicating that there had been movement in front of his residence on rue de Brome during the night.
Shortly before midnight, a man arrived in a white taxi and got out with a can of gasoline. He spoke to a stranger on the phone and took a video of the house.
He then approached a flower bed on the property, poured the petrol and struck a match, but the fire immediately went out by itself.
He then added newspaper and tried again, without any more success. He reportedly stayed at the scene for more than 30 minutes before leaving on foot, empty-handed.
Fine bloodhounds
It was the insight of the SPL investigators that led them to the gas station closest to Del Balso’s residence, on Boulevard Saint-Martin Est.
They thought that the suspect could have bought and filled his gas can there. This was not the case, but they viewed the images captured by the store’s surveillance cameras and found that an individual matching the suspect’s description had bought candy with a credit card. The rest is history.
PHOTO FROM A REPORT FILED IN COURT
Doran Smith, as he buys a bag of Sour Patch Kids and cheese sticks at a gas station convenience store, minutes before taking a cab to Del Balso’s
They obtained a mandate and the financial institution had to provide them with the name of the client: a member of the Smith family.
Fresh out of prison
Doran Smith, 31, of the LaSalle borough, had just been released from prison for just a few weeks following a conviction in a weapons trafficking case.
He had put a customer in touch with a gun dealer. He was present during the transaction. Except the customer was a police double agent.
Smith, who has an extensive criminal history including robbery, use of an imitation firearm, receiving stolen property and uttering threats, was arrested on June 21, 2023, for the attempted arson at Del Balso and remains in custody.
He pleaded guilty on Friday and Judge Gilles Garneau of the Court of Quebec sentenced him to 27 months, thus confirming a joint suggestion of the prosecution, represented by Mr.e Geneviève Aumond, and the defense, provided by Me Emilie Guilmain-Serdakowski.
However, subtracting the period spent in pre-trial detention, which is calculated in time and a half, he has 251 days left to serve.
A marked man
This attempted arson attack at Del Balso’s home, which did not make headlines, comes on top of a violent home invasion at his home in May 2017 and two attempted murders of which he was the target in November 2022, near his home, and in January 2023, on Boulevard des Laurentides in Laval (mistaken identity).
PHOTO ARCHIVES THE PRESS
Francesco Del Balso upon his arrival at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police C Division Headquarters in Westmount on the morning of Operation Colisée, November 22, 2006
Francesco Del Balso was finally shot and killed in the West Island of Montreal on June 5, 2023.
According to the police theory, Del Balso would have fomented the attack against Leonardo Rizzuto, youngest son of the former mafia godfather Vito Rizzuto, committed in Laval in March 2023, and he would have been the victim of the revenge of the Sicilian clan.
According to the police, the violence took place against the backdrop of an attempt to take control of illegal sports betting, traditionally controlled by the Sicilian clan, by a group of Hells Angels led by Martin Robert.
This conflict would still be latent.
“There is no more respect”
Two and a half months before he was killed, Del Balso had been arrested by police at Trudeau airport as he was preparing to leave with a one-way ticket to Italy.
Del Balso, who was convicted in the wake of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s (RCMP) major Operation Coliseum in 2006, told the officers who stopped him that he should have served nine years in prison, but instead served 13.
He said he was in charge of sports betting before his arrest in Operation Colosseum and that when he left the penitentiary, Leonardo Rizzuto, Stefano Sollecito and Carmelo Cannistraro refused to hand them over to him.
He added that organized crime has changed and that the new generation no longer has respect, that there is hypocrisy, that members of organized crime no longer protect each other and that old bikers are “correct.”
He also said he was not afraid for his life.
To contact Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.