Man who set Rizzuto-owned funeral home on fire sentenced

Article content continued

On Thursday, Quebec Court Judge Serge Délisle sentenced Theus for the fire and the robbery in St-Calixte. Police believe Theus, who is currently incarcerated at a maximum-security penitentiary near Quebec City, was carrying out orders to send messages during a conflict between the Rizzuto organization and a rival Mafia clan. During his murder trial, the jury heard evidence that Theus was supposed to have killed Antonio (Tony) Vanelli, a man with known ties to the Montreal Mafia.

Three other men convicted in the case involving the arson fire were previously sentenced to prison terms that ranged between 18 and 23 months.

On March 27, 2019, Theus was convicted of first-degree murder for killing D’Onofrio, a man who somewhat resembled Vanelli. Instead of being at the café as expected, Vanelli was attending the funeral of Rocco Sollecito, a leader in the Rizzuto organization who had been gunned down in Laval on May 27, 2016.

This article was originally posted here