Almost five years later, a trial has finally started against the men accused of being involved in an execution-style murder in Little Italy.
John Raposo was shot in the head at close range on a crowded patio during a Euro Cup soccer match.
The Crown started opening arguments yesterday, alleging that three of the accused were involved in the cocaine trade with the victim and that they hired a hitman, Dean Wiwchar, to kill him.
Crown prosecutors allege Niagara area drug kingpin, Nick Nero who is charged with first degree murder, initiated a plot to kill John Raposo after calling him a rat and that Wiwchar was hired as the assassin
The prosecutors will present evidence they say shows Wiwchar did drive-bys of Raposo's home and the cafe he frequented in the days before the murder.
The Crown also alleges that Wiwchar knew he was under police surveillance in the weeks leading up to the crime, so he left the city and came back under a different name to allegedly "finish the job".