Antonio (Tony Scratch) Fiorda was so nasty he once took a bull mastiff from a debtor who fell behind in his payments. He also scooped up a painting from the debtor’s wall  of a Russian naval scene. The dog was never returned. I don’t think the painting was either. Scratch was shot dead on…

Charles Gagne was on a pass from a halfway house when he murdered boxer Eddie Melo and his friend Jaoa (Johnny) Pavao for money in 2001. Now Gagne has more passes and Melo’s daughter is outraged.

I’ll be interviewing suspense masters Linwood Barclay of GTA and Torkil Damhaug of  Norway on Saturday at International Festival of Authors. Just read their latest books and can’t wait to chat.

I’ll be moderator at the Toronto International Festival of Authors for a panel involving local literary star Linwood Barclay (a former Star columnist) and Norwegian bestselling author Torkil Damhaug, who’s also a psychiatrist. As  if that isn’t enough, Catherine Graham is the host.  

Looking forward to chatting on Mobsters, Millennials and future of organized crime at Metro Reference Library on November 25.

This should be fun. I’ll be at Toronto Reference Library on Monday, November 25 for a talk on organized crime. Lots to say about millennial mobsters. Library speech TPL Poster_2019-11-25_ The changing face of organized crime in the GTA  

Nice story by my Winnipeg colleague Caroline Barghout of CBC on police cracking down on Hells Angels over liquor sales.  

My former Toronto Star colleague Jayme Poisson is now a big deal at CBC. She interviewed me for her podcast there, “Front Burner,” on state of organized crime in Canada and recent murder of Paolo Cupido in Toronto.  

Paolo Caputo, 64, may have been targeted for murder because associates owed millions to Mexican cartel after 2012 murder of Johnny Raposo on College Street patio.