Prominent gangsters bid final farewell to kingpin Gregory Woolley

A page in Quebec’s criminal history was turned Friday afternoon when several hundred people – including some of the province’s most important gangsters – said a final goodbye to kingpin Gregory Woolley, murdered two weeks ago.

The funeral ceremony was held late in the afternoon at the Loreto complex, in the Saint-Léonard district of Montreal.

Gregory Woolley was a man who led a lot within the underworld: he had close ties with the mafia as well as the Hells Angels and street gangs.

Moreover, important players from these three factions of organized crime were seen at the ceremony.

The co-leader of the Montreal mafia, Leonardo Rizzuto, of whom Woolley was a faithful ally, showed up on the scene, fleeing the cameras of the media present on site. Her sister, Libertina, also made a notable presence.

Other big names in organized crime came to support those close to Woolley: former Hells Mario Brouillette and South Chapter prospect Richard Mayrand; mafioso Giuseppe “Gator” Focarazzo and gang leader Jean-Philippe Célestin, accompanied by his close guard.

The latter is expected by observers of the criminal scene to be the one who could fill the “vacuum” left by the death of Gregory Woolley in the scene of organized crime.

Throughout Friday afternoon, hundreds of people entered and exited the Loreto funeral home, while luxury vehicles – many of them armored – lined the complex’s parking lot.

Many police officers from the Sûreté du Québec and the Montreal police were stationed all around the funeral home to photograph and film the people arriving and leaving.

Remember that Gregory Woolley was murdered in front of his wife and his 4-day-old granddaughter, on the morning of November 17, in a commercial parking lot in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

He was hit by at least six gunshots. Her murderer has still not been found.