CBC News: the fifth estate - The Rat

Note: You are viewing the unstyled version of CBC.ca because you can not see our css files, or because you do not have a standards-compliant browser or you are a mobile user.

Aired November 29,
2006 at 9pm
on CBC-TV

WATCH the fifth estate ONLINE:

Watch this story online.

Runs: 39:39
REPORTER: Hana Gartner
PRODUCER: Oleh Rumak
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER:
Lynette Fortune

WEB EXCLUSIVE

Louise Russo talks with Hana Gartner about the night that changed her life forever.

BIOGRAPHY: PETER SCARCELLA

"The boss, Sicilian mob. Your name says it all. People hear Scarcella and, you know, it's like hearing 'the President'. On the street Scarcella is the President, the Prime Minister." – Raffaelle Delle Donne

Peter Scarcella was a Toronto Mafia boss. He was sentenced to eleven years in prison for conspiracy to murder Mike Modica in a plot that did not involve the California Sandwiches shooting.

In 2006, for conspiring to murder Mike Modica, in the aftermath of the botched hit that left Louise Russo paralyzed, and for gun-related offences, Peter Scarcella was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Peter Scarcella, 52, came to Canada from Sicily in the 1970s, starting off as a driver for Paul Volpe, then considered the "don of Toronto". He rose quickly up the ranks of the organization and soon controlled illicit gambling and loan sharking for Volpe.

SURVIVING AS A MAFIA KINGPIN

In 1983, Volpe was found dead in the trunk of a BMW in an airport parking lot. Scarcella was one of the last people to see Volpe alive, but the murder remains unsolved. After Volpe's death, Scarcella took over and remained an important figure in the Toronto Mafia. He forged closer ties with the Montreal Mafia, controlled by Vito Rizzuto.

Over the years, several of his close associates have been killed, but Scarcella managed to survive and thrive, always one step ahead of the police. His businesses are a combination of legitimate and illegitimate. He is a partner in a ceramic tile business, but was also involved in loan sharking and mortgage frauds.

KNOWN TO POLICE, BUT NOT THE PUBLIC

Scarcella ran his operation in a hands-on manner, sitting in local social clubs, doing business over a cappuccino in a local bakery.

Scarcella is soft-spoken, and had the public image of a gentleman, but he the police considered him to be smart and ruthless in his business dealings. After years of keeping a low profile in the media, his name was splashed across newspapers and television screens in connection with the shooting that paralyzed Louise Russo.

The CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites. All links will open in a new browser window.

^TOP