Possibly caught in a trap before being assassinated on Monday, Francesco Del Balso was a man targeted from all sides. Not only had organized crime members offered a large sum for his head, but also authorities were preparing to file charges against him that could have put him back behind bars, it has been learned. The Press.
Early in the morning of May 23, a group of police officers attached to the National Organized Crime Squad (ENRCO) broke into a residence in the Domaine du Boise, in Laval. The residence belonged to Francesco Del Balso, 53, a former senior leader of the Montreal mafia, who later became more associated with the Hells Angels.
When the police arrived at his home, Del Balso had already been suspected for several weeks of having ordered the attempted murder of Leonardo Rizzuto, son of former godfather Vito Rizzuto, which occurred on March 15 near a Laval funeral home. He was also suspected of associating with the Hells Angels in certain criminal schemes related to illegal lending and gambling.
Officers began searching the residence from top to bottom. Arriving in the upstairs bathroom, one of them noticed a small red triangular first aid kit. Inside, he discovered a Czech-designed CZ 75 Compact pistol, three high-capacity magazines, and a box of ammunition.
A seizure report presented to a judge and consulted by The Press at the Laval courthouse clearly indicates that charges were to be laid soon following the discovery of this hardware store.
“The items seized are illegal possession in Canada. They are being held for evidence on a future charge and for destruction,” the document, dated May 30, states.
Given his heavy criminal record linked to his years as a mafia lieutenant, Francesco Del Balso risked serious consequences if found guilty.
However, Crown prosecutors did not have time to lay charges in this case. Because other people were also on the heels of Francesco Del Balso.
Barbed wire, bulletproof vest, film in the windows
Monday, while he was alone near the Monster Gym in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, the 50-year-old was the target of a volley of projectiles from a firearm. He was mortally wounded. The shooter(s) would have been several meters away when they shot him.
This murder is not a surprise in the eyes of the authorities and the underworld. Del Balso had been isolated for a few weeks, and a multi-thousand dollar contract was reportedly put on his head.
He regularly wore a bulletproof vest and even had barbed wire and bulletproof film installed in the windows of his residence, according to our information. He had also recently borrowed $400,000 from private lenders active in the Plateau Mont-Royal, an amount that gave him some short-term financial leeway, according to a notarized document consulted by The Press.
The career criminal was particularly in the crosshairs of the Sicilian clan, still considered by the police, still for the moment at least, as the strongest of the Montreal mafia. Like the police, some members of the clan suspected Francesco Del Balso of ordering the attempted murder of Leonardo Rizzuto. Del Balso had been arrested at the airport with a one-way ticket to Italy shortly after the attack on Rizzuto. He was then released after confiscating his passport.
Shortly after, in the wake of a series of arson attacks linked to organized crime, two vehicles were burned in the entrance of a residence located very close to that of Francesco Del Balso.
A gym frequented by bikers
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
A Monster Gym employee cleans up the scene the day after the murder.
A hypothesis that will surely be examined by the police: we would have set a trap for Del Balso by summoning him to the training center where he was killed. The place would be frequented by members of a school club of the Hells Angels, the Rolling Aces, according to police and criminal sources.
According to sources well aware of the negotiations of the underworld who confided in The PressFrancesco Del Balso may have been sacrificed by the Hells Angels to buy peace with the Sicilian clan of the Montreal Mafia.
The boss had become very close to the group of criminal bikers in recent years. He would also have met Martin Robert, an important member of the Montreal branch of the Hells, shortly before his death. At the end of 2021, he had sold his condo in Sainte-Julie to a relative by marriage of the biker, according to the Land Registry.
A job that kept him on the road
While he was at the heart of many intrigues and multiplied meetings with influential figures from the criminal world, Francesco Del Balso’s trips to town were complicated last fall. According to court documents filed in court, the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec had taken steps to withdraw his license. Del Balso, who drove Mercedes, Lexus and Porsche vehicles in recent years, had accumulated more than the maximum number of demerit points.
The veteran of organized crime, however, had found an argument to justify his continued presence on the roads. He had convinced the court to let him drive from Monday to Saturday, from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., as part of his job as sales manager for the company Dix Étoiles Plus, a wholesale fruit and vegetable business.
“Mr. Francesco Del Balso has been with our company since 2016 as Sales Manager. He must use a motor vehicle to represent the company for a hundred commercial customers (restaurants, kiosks, hospitals, etc.), “explained to the judge the president of the company, Athenas Samaras, in a letter filed at the court of Laval justice on October 24th.
In order to convince the magistrate, his lawyers had insisted on the fact that this work of honest representative in fruits and vegetables was “his main work from which he derives his subsistence”.