Eddie Melo
Durell R Wambolt
Arrest in mob murder
Associate accused of ordering slaying
By ROB LAMBERTI, TORONTO SUN
A Toronto man who was charged with mob enforcer Eddie Melo in a 1995 real
estate fraud is now charged with ordering the boxer's murder two years ago.
Melo, 40, godson of Montreal mobster Frank Cotroni, was gunned down with
Joao Pavao, 42, in the parking lot of a Mississauga mall on April 6, 2001.
Pavao was shot dead as he stood in the parking lot and Melo, who spent much
of his life fighting Canada Immigration's bid to deport him to Portugal, was
hit twice inside his SUV.
The gunman escaped in a red Honda he hijacked at gunpoint in the plaza's
parking lot. The vehicle was later recovered at a shopping mall in the area
of The Queensway and Hwy. 427.
Manuel "Mike" Natalino DaSilva, 52, is charged with two counts of
first-degree murder. He was arrested Saturday afternoon in Huntsville at
Deer Lake Trailer Park, which he owns and operates.
Detectives allege DaSilva hired Charles Gagne, 30, to kill Melo and believe
Pavao was "a victim of circumstance."
DaSilva was among nine people -- including Melo -- arrested in 1995 after
the three-year Project Atom investigation.
He was charged in a $1.8-million real-estate fraud involving falsification
of mortgage applications and documents and reselling homes at inflated
prices.
Project Atom imploded when Toronto Det. Garry Carter was charged with
stealing $47,000 from the project's budget. He pleaded guilty to theft last
year. Virtually all charges were dropped because Carter didn't complete the
paperwork needed to pursue the cases in court.
DASILVA ACCUSED FANTINO
DaSilva and another man were acquitted of possessing pot in the early '70s,
but in 1978, they launched a civil suit in which DaSilva claimed he was
blindfolded, handcuffed and beaten by police.
One of the cops named in the suit, which was dismissed by a jury, was
then-Sgt. Julian Fantino of 14 Division.