Murdered Montreal Mafia chief’s sister says household is devastated by loss

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The sibling of a Montreal Mafia leader killed in 2016 as part of a conflict between rival clans in the Mob said the loss of her brother still has a devastating impact on his family.

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A victim impact statement prepared by one of Lorenzo Giordano’s sisters was read into the court record Thursday at the Montreal courthouse as the sentencing stage of the case against Dominico Scarfo, 49, continued.

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In April, a jury found Scarfo guilty of the first-degree murders of Giordano and Rocco Sollecito. The two Montreal Mafia leaders were killed on different days during 2016 in Laval as part of a conflict between rival clans in the Mob. The jury also found Scarfo guilty of conspiring with other people to kill both men in cold blood.

During the trial, the jury heard evidence that Scarfo killed Giordano by sneaking up to a car he was seated in outside a gym in Laval where he worked out regularly. He shot the victim several times while Giordano was seated next to his girlfriend.

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In her statement, read into the court record by prosecutor Marie-Christine Godbout, Giordano’s sister called the homicide “barbaric.” Superior Court Justice Michel Pennou placed a publication ban on the woman’s name and parts of the statement that could identify her.

“Six years have gone by since the immense tragedy of March 1, 2016, when the killer decided to put an abrupt end to the life of our brother Lorenzo. We have lived these years in a state of devastation because of the pain, which does not fade and will never cease. We mourn not only the loss of a brother but also of a son, for our parents, and for his two children, my nephew and my niece. Their father was unfairly taken away from them,” the sister wrote.

“Even though I wasn’t on the premises on that morning in March, and notwithstanding the time that has elapsed, I still wake up in the middle of the night with the sounds of gunshots resonating in my dreams. My life and the lives of the members of my family have been destabilized at all levels.

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“I do not know the killer and I do not want to know him. I fear him and I worry for the safety of my family.”

Also on Thursday, Godbout informed Pennou that the Crown will request that Scarfo be sentenced to 25-year prison terms for both conspiracy charges when sentencing arguments resume in the case at a later date. When the jury found Scarfo guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, he automatically received life sentences with a period of parole ineligibility set at 25 years.

Pennou and the lawyers involved in the case also spent time on Thursday preparing to hear arguments on a motion Scarfo has filed seeking a stay of proceedings on the charges he was convicted of.

Scarfo’s case will return to court in June.

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