MONTREAL -- Domenico Violi prepared for a grim return home to Ohio today after the burial of his fourth son, Rocco, the latest member of the reputed organized crime family to fall victim to a professional contract killer.
The white-haired 76-year-old from Parma, Ohio, deemed by Canadian immigration officials as persona non grata, was given four days to bury Rocco, whose life, like those of two other Violi brothers, was abruptly halted by a gunman's bullet a week ago.
Domenico, accompanied some 250 other mourners, paid his last respects Thursday to Rocco, who was buried in the Cote des Neiges cemetery where Paolo Violi was laid to rest in January, 1977, alongside his brother Fransesco.
Three remaining brothers, Vincenzo, Antonio and Stephano, stood by Rocco's bereaved widow Philippino and Rocco's two tearful sons, who had been in the family kitchen when their father was shot through the heart by a sniper's .308 caliber telescopic-site rifle.
'Papa, Papa, Papa,' the sons cried as their mother wailed and tugged at her veil while the casket was lowered into a grave carpeted with autumn leaves and cradled under the shadow of Mount Royal.
Rocco, 40, whom police believe had tried to steer clear of the organized crime world, had only just recovered from multiple gunshot wounds suffered in July during an abortive first attempt on his life.
Conspicuously absent from the service at the Notre Dame de la Defense Church were Vincent Cotroni, apowerful figure in the Italian community who attended Paolo's funeral in 1978.
Other red-eyed mourners huddled together in a corner cafe as three grey limousines, bedecked with flowers from associates including U.S. west coast convicted Mafia figure Joe Bonnano, pulled away from the church.
The cortege, modest in comparison to the 40-car procession for Paolo who was long considered the city's 'godfather,' wound its way over the mountain under the bright blue sky to the burial site.
Domenico and his family were shielded by friends from a cluster of television cameramen recording the end of the last Violi brother to live in Montreal.
Paolo was shot to death in a restaurant and Fransesco was cornered by gangsters in his northend office. Rocco's twin, Guiseppe, died in a car accident in 1970 and the remaining three brothers reportedly live in New York.
