It’s easy to get mixed up with the criminal underworld. The sole fact that you acquaint yourself with a Mafioso, biker or gang member might draw a target on you. Whether you like it or not, it puts you on the map, in the game, and draws an unwanted bullseye on your head. The biggest enemy of the underworld, would be a case of mistaken identity, to have a hitman mistake a hit on your wife or family. Such was the unlucky case of Claudia Iacono, whose husband was Anthony Gallo, a second generation Mafioso for the Calabrian clan. A year later, a beauty salon she once owned is still in the iron sights of the family’s enemies.
Towards 7:25pm on the 22nd of August, this year, a local civilian phoned 911, letting them know of shots fired within the Cotes-des-Neiges neighborhood of Montreal. The business targeted was one on the intersection of Jean-Talon West and Rue De La Savane, named Deauville Beauty Salon.
It was only a measly number of gunshots, as, once authorities arrived on the scene of the crime, they had only found one shell casing. The projectile hadn’t even pierced the front window of Salon Deauville. Hence, no employee’s or clients were injured. The salon had been open at the time of the shooting, but no one had been inside. The owner of the commerce, Iacono’s sister, had just quit the establishment a little before the shooting.
Let us not forget that this is the second beauty salon in Cotes-des-Neiges targeted in August of 2024. Another beauty salon was targeted near the intersection of Jean-Talon East and Rue De Cannes in the Saint-Leonard borough of the island on the 10th of July when what looked like a Molotov cocktail was thrown inside the establishment.
Claudia Iacono had been gunned down on the 16th of May, 2023, right in front of her beauty salon in Cotes-des-Neiges. She had been the victim to a case of mistaken identity, as the actual target for that day had been her Calabrian Mafioso husband, Anthony Gallo. The orchestrator of the crime had been a man by the name of Tyranne Andre Greenridge, who had been 30-years-old at the time.
Greenridge was arrested in Brampton, Ontario in a gun charge that dated back to 2019. He also had a previous warrant dating back to 2016, in which he was suspected of multiple crimes including drug trafficking. Greenridge wasn’t the one that had pulled the trigger, but rather planned the hit. The triggerman had been arrested at the beginning of June of 2023 in Milton, Ontario. His name was Joel Richard Clarke.
Clarke, at 28-years-old, was involved in a previous drug-trafficking case in southwest Ontario in May of 2023 along with an accomplice named Bianca Brown who was a Woodbridge native. Clarke hailed from Brampton. Clarke was charged with possession of fentanyl and cocaine with intent to traffic as well as multiple firearms’ charges.
Anthony Gallo was the son of Calabrian Mafioso Moreno Gallo who was assassinated in 2013 due to disagreements between the Calabrian faction and the dominant Sicilian faction of the Montreal mafia. Legend says, Moreno was murdered for having a lack of loyalty towards the Rizzuto faction of Montreal, most notably, Vito Rizzuto.
The murder occurred out-of-country in Acapulco, Mexico, while on vacation. He was gunned down at the Forza Italia restaurant in the state of Guerrero. He was 68-years-old at the time of his death. He was facing deportation charges in January of 2012 due to his involvement with the mafia in the province of Quebec. In 1974, Moreno Gallo was implicated in a ‘drug’ murder, which led him on a permanent parole status, it was enough to expel him 40 years later in 2012.
The question still lingers, why is Claudia Iacono’s beauty salon still a business of interest nearly a year after her death? Is the mob implicated in the upkeep of it? Or is it just collateral damage once again?
