Hamilton police officers arrest two Toronto men in 2020 gang violence

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Homicide detectives have arrested two suspected killers in the targeted execution of a Stoney Creek businessman in 2020.

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Police suspected the 2020 gangland attack on Giorgio Barresi was related to the outbreak of violence that rocked the underworld in southern Ontario at the time. Barresi was a childhood friend of the late Hamilton Mafia boss Pasquale “Fat Pat” Musitano.

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The violent confrontation with organized crime was unusual because so many fringe actors, family members and friends – the soft underworld of the mafia milieu – were targeted for murder.

By the time Musitano landed on the sidewalk at a Burlington mall on July 10, 2020, nearly a dozen people had been murdered. Barresi had a bookmaker bankruptcy starting in 1999.

At approximately 10:45 p.m. on March 2, 2020, Barresi returned to his apartment on Portofino Place in Stoney Creek.

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While his wife and children were inside, Barresi was confronted in his driveway by a single suspect and shot multiple times. He died almost immediately, police later said.

The perpetrator calmly walked back to a waiting four-door sedan parked at the intersection of Portofino Pl. and Lido Dr. Investigators say another suspect was waiting in the car.

“Initial information showed historical links between Giorgio Barresi and the traditional Musitano organized crime group,” Hamilton police said in a statement.

“This investigation involved over 50 court authorizations and was part of Project Skyfall from 2020 to 2021.”

After an intensive investigation, Hamilton homicide detectives charged two Toronto men with first-degree murder last Friday.

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Jamal Chemin (41) and Sorossa Moude (27) are accused. The police are continuing the investigation.

“George, we think about you and your last moments every day. We take comfort that charges have now been filed in George’s death,” family spokesman Roberto Bucciarelli said in a statement.

Chemin (aka Jamal Shehai) was arrested earlier this year as part of a two-year drug trafficking and firearms investigation that resulted in the arrests of 17 people and the filing of 145 criminal charges.

He has been accused of numerous firearms-related charges that are still pending in court.

If you have information that you believe could help investigators, contact Det. Mike Ebert at 905-546-4167. To provide information anonymously, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

bhunter@postmedia.com

@HunterTOSun

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