Hitman who killed Eddie 'Hurricaine' Melo granted parole

On April 6, 2001, Charles Gagné, now 50, killed Eddie Melo and his cousin Joao Pavao in Mississauga. Cops consider Melo’s murder to have been part of “the historical conflicts within ‘Ndrangheta".

Eddie Melo in 2000

Gagné later shot another man inside his home during an argument, but the victim survived. Gagné was arrested for the second shooting and decided to become a rat when he learned he was being investigated for Melo’s death. He bought a 15 year non-parole period instead of 25. Melo was Canadian middleweight champion in 1979 and was embraced by Montreal boxing fans. In 1986, a provincial task force revealed Melo had been hired as a driver and bodyguard for Frank Cotroni, the now-deceased leader of a once powerful Mafia clan in Montreal. Melo eventually moved to Ontario and worked as a Mob enforcer.