Floral tributes for the victims of a mass shooting at a condo building in Vaughan, Ont., are shown on Dec. 20.Fakiha Baig/The Canadian Press
A mass shooter who killed five neighbours in his Toronto-area condominium following a years-long dispute with the condo board was a “controlling and abusive husband and father,” and had been estranged from his children for the past five years, according to a statement provided by Ontario’s police watchdog on their behalf.
The gunman, Francesco Villi, was shot and killed by police in the hallway of his Vaughan, Ont., condo building on Sunday evening, after shooting six of his neighbours in their condo units.
The five victims who were killed have been identified as Rita Camilleri, 57; her partner, Vittorio Panza, 79; Russell Manock, 75; his wife, Helen Lorraine Manock, 71; and Naveed Dada, 59. Ms. Camilleri and Mr. Dada were both sitting members of the building’s condo board. Mr. Manock was a former board member.
The sixth victim, Doreen Di Nino, 66, remains in hospital with serious injuries. Ms. Di Nino’s husband, John, is the condo board president.
In a statement provided to The Globe and Mail by the province’s Special Investigations Unit, Mr. Villi’s children, whose identities were not provided, said they offer “heartfelt condolences” to the families of the victims. The SIU is called in to investigate all cases involving police shootings in Ontario.
“We are in absolute shock and utter devastation,” they said.
They added that they had been estranged from Mr. Villi for over five years, and they described him as having had an aggressive, “Jekyll and Hyde”-type personality, and a history of domestic abuse against both them and the mothers of his children.
“His children tried to have some form of a relationship through the years and many offers of help were continuously denied, leaving them no choice but to cut off ties with him for their own health and well-being,” the statement says.
The 73-year-old had been known in the condo building for a long-standing campaign of harassment against neighbours. He was in a protracted legal battle with the condo board and was convinced that they were killing him with electromagnetic waves emanating from an electrical room beneath his unit.
Though the condo board had secured a court order in 2019 that prohibited Mr. Villi from communicating with board members or building security except in writing, he continued to harass them and post escalating threats and rants to his Facebook page.
As a result, they were asking a judge to allow them to force him to sell his unit and leave the building.
The matter had been scheduled to return to court Monday, one day after the shooting, and was stayed after the judge learned of Mr. Villi’s death.
In the months leading up to the shooting, at least three of Mr. Villi’s victims – Mr. and Ms. Manock, and Ms. Camilleri – had filed specific complaints about his campaign of harassment, according to court documents.
In an affidavit, John Di Nino said he had been harassed by Mr. Villi ever since joining the condo board in the summer of 2018.
He cited a Facebook post from this past April, in which Mr. Villi posted photos of Mr. Di Nino, along with a text screed that called him a “Corrupt Criminal False Liar,” a “Manipulative Worthless Beast Without Dignity,” and a “Garbage Worm,” among other profanity-laced insults.
Mr. Villi posted a similar torrent of invective in June against Ms. Camilleri, who Mr. Di Nino noted was a constant target.
In August, the court documents note, Mr. Manock – who had previously served as treasurer of the condo board – alerted the building’s property manager that his wife had run into Mr. Villi, and that he had inexplicably called her a “bastard.”
Numerous other complaints were logged by other residents in the building, as well as security guards and other employees.
The building burned through five property managers and many security guards as a result of Mr. Villi’s harassment, Mr. Di Nino noted in his affidavit.
“The Order was supposed to stop Mr. Villi from making these kinds of posts. It is upsetting that Mr. Villi is posting false and hurtful things about the Corporation’s directors (including me) and employees. He should not be allowed to make these posts,” Mr. Di Nino wrote.
“Nobody deserves to be harassed in their place of work or residence.”
In their statement provided through the SIU, Mr. Villi’s children said they would be making no other statement and asked for privacy.
“We are grieving for the families, and they are in our hearts,” they wrote.
A candlelight vigil was scheduled to take place outside Vaughan City Hall on Wednesday night for the victims.