Rizzuto-owned Montreal funeral home firebombed - Montreal | Globalnews.ca (2024)

MONTREAL – A funeral home owned and operated by members of Montreal’s Rizzuto family was firebombed about 1 a.m. Thursday.

The funeral home was the location of two visitations for Rizzuto family members recently, including the one for reputed mob leader Nicolo Rizzuto Sr., 89, in November.

A passerby saw two men fleeing on foot after the minor fire started at the Loreto funeral home.

They then got into a car and, because of the passerby’s detailed description, police caught up with a car nearby.

Three men were arrested are now in police custody. They are in their late 20s or early 30s, according to Montreal police Const. Raphael Bergeron. Police investigators will be meeting with the suspects to question them before a decision is made on what, if any, charges, the men might be faced with.

TV coverage showed a glass door at the funeral home broken, with orange police tape around it.

Montreal Fire department Chief of Operations Jean Leblanc said when firefighters arrived they saw flames inside the entrance at the rear of the building. A glass door was broken and a "plastic carpet" was on fire inside the building, Leblanc said. The flames were quickly put out. He estimated the damage at $500.

The Loreto funeral home was the site of Nicolo Rizzuto Sr.’s visitation in November following his gangland-style slaying through the window of his home on Nov. 10. And the funeral home was also the site of his grandson Nicolo (Nick) Rizzuto Jr.’s visitation after he was shot to death on Dec. 28, 2009.

The Loreto has also been the location for other memorable visitations, including the one for reputed crime boss Frank Cotroni in 2004 after the 72-year-old died of brain cancer.

The Loreto Funeral Complex is owned by Rizzuto’s daughter, Maria Renda, and his daughter-in-law Giovanna Cammalleri, according to the Quebec business registry.