Hamilton cops bust two Toronto men in 2020 gangland rubout

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

Cops suspected that the 2020 gangland-style hit on Giorgio Barresi was connected to the outbreak of violence rocking the southern Ontario underworld at the time. Barresi had been a childhood friend of late Hamilton mob boss Pasquale “Fat Pat” Musitano.

The violent organized crime tit-for-tat was unusual because so many fringe players, family members and friends — the soft underbelly of the mob milieu — were targeted for death.

By the time Musitano hit the pavement at a Burlington strip mall on July 10, 2020, nearly a dozen people had been murdered. Barresi had a bookmaking bust from 1999.

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

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

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

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

“This investigation involved over 50 Judicial Authorizations and was part of Project Skyfall through 2020-2021.”

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

Charged are Jamal Chemin, 41, and Sorossa Moude, 27. Police are continuing the investigation.

“George, we think of you and your final moments every single day. We take comfort that charges have now been laid in George’s death,” family spokesperson Roberto Bucciarelli said in a statement.

Chemin (aka Jamal Shehai) was arrested earlier this year as part of a two-year-long drug trafficking and firearms probe, resulting in the arrest of 17 individuals and 145 criminal charges being laid.

He was charged with a slew of firearm-related charges that are still before the courts.

If you have any information that you believe could assist 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