Salvatore "Sam" Calautti (; 1971/72 – July 12, 2013), was an

Italian-Canadian Italian Canadians ( it, italo-canadesi, french: italo-canadiens) comprise Canadians who have full or partial Italian heritage and Italians who migrated from Italy or reside in Canada. According to the 2021 Census of Canada, 1,546,390 Canadians ...

hitman for the Calabrian-based Mafia organization

'Ndrangheta The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a prominent Italian Mafia-type organized crime syndicate and secret society, criminal society based in the peninsular and mountainous region of Calabria and dating back to the late 18th century. It is considered one of ...

, based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and

Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of ** Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...

, Ontario, Canada. The organization rivals the Sicilian

Rizzuto crime family The Rizzuto crime family () is an organized crime family based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, whose criminal activity covers most of southern Quebec and Ontario. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) considers the family a facti ...

Life and criminal activities

Calautti was a father of three, restaurant owner and heavy gambler, employed by the 'Ndrangheta since he was a teenager when he worked as a debt collector who was known for his short temper and "always carrying a gun". Calautti is connected to the murders of Giovanni Costa in 1991, who was gunned down near his home in

Vaughan Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...

, and Francesco Loiero in 1996, owner of Rustic Bakery in Toronto who was shot to death while sitting in his car in a Vaughan parking lot. In 1997, Calautti was accused of the murder of Giuseppe Congiusta, who was shot nine times as he got out of his car outside of a Toronto social club, but was acquitted the following spring when the jury found Calautti not guilty after a witness gave a description of the gunman that did not match him. In October 2000, Calautti was suspected for the revenge murder of

Vito Rizzuto Vito Rizzuto (; February 21, 1946 – December 23, 2013), also known as "Montreal's Teflon Don", was an Italian-Canadian crime boss alleged to be the leader of the Sicilian Mafia in Canada. He headed the notorious Rizzuto crime family based ...

's former ally Gaetano "Guy" Panepinto, in a

drive-by shooting A drive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle and then fleeing. Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrator(s) to quickly strike their target and flee the scene before ...

while he drove his

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

in Toronto after Calautti's close associates Domenic Napoli and Antonio Oppedisano disappeared in March of that year due to conflict with Panepinto over gambling territory. The

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

investigation, Project Colisée found in 2006 that Calautti ran up over $200,000 in gambling debts to the Rizzuto family and the

Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporatio ...

. After he refused to pay, the debt was believed to be assumed by Toronto mobster Michele Modica, sparking hostilities between the Rizzuto's Toronto connection

Pietro Scarcella Pietro "Peter" Scarcella (; born 12 July 1950) is an Italian-Canadian mobster based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, linked to the Sicilian Rizzuto crime family of Montreal, Quebec. In the 1970s, Scarcella became the driver of Toronto mobster, Pau ...

, leading to the 2004 attempted assassination of Modica in a

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a popu ...

California Sandwiches shop, leaving innocent victim, Louise Russo, paralyzed. Calautti, however, was not one of the shooters in the attempted assassination. Calautti was also investigated in the November 2010 homicide of

Nicolo Rizzuto Nicolo Rizzuto (; February 18, 1924 – November 10, 2010) was an Italian-Canadian crime boss and founder of the Rizzuto crime family, the Sicilian Mafia organization based in Montreal, Quebec. Rizzuto was born in Cattolica Eraclea, Sicily, Ital ...

, who was shot dead by a sniper while in the kitchen of his Montreal mansion after police saw one of Calautti's longtime associates in Montreal the day after Rizzuto's death.

Death

Calautti was shot dead at the age of 41 in his BMWX6 around 1:00a.m. on July12, 2013 outside the Terrace Banquet Hall in Vaughan after attending the stag of a local bookie where up to 500people were in attendance. His associate James Tusek was also killed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calautti, Salvatore 1970s births 2013 murders in Canada 2013 deaths 20th-century Canadian criminals 21st-century Canadian criminals Canadian gangsters of Italian descent Canadian male criminals Canadian murder victims Deaths by firearm in Ontario Male murder victims Murdered Canadian gangsters Murdered 'Ndranghetisti 'Ndranghetisti People acquitted of murder Unsolved murders in Canada

Life and criminal activities

Death

See also

References