Trial continues for man accused of killing Montreal hair salon owner Claudia Iacono in 2023

The trial for a man accused of killing a Montreal hair salon owner in broad daylight in her vehicle outside her business in 2023 began at the Montreal courthouse on Wednesday.

Joel Richard Clarke, 31, is on trial for first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Claudia Iacono, the daughter-in-law of an alleged late mobster.

The 39-year-old Iacono was leaving the parking lot of her hair salon on Jean-Talon Street in Côte-des-Neiges on May 16, 2023, when a suspect dressed all in black pulled up behind her, got out of his vehicle, and shot nine times into her driver-side window from close range.

Crown prosecutors told the trial Wednesday Clarke travelled from Brampton, Ont., to Montreal prior to the murder, and he returned to Brampton immediately afterwards — according to GPS tracking of his cell phone and surveillance footage.

“The Crown’s theory is that the accused came to Montreal on a contract to commit a murder,” said Crown prosecutor Charles Côté.

Police showed up to Clarke’s home the day after the murder in an unrelated case, the trial heard, where officers allegedly recovered the murder weapon and arrested him.

“He was later on arrested at his house in Brampton, Ontario, where a gun and the gun and his cell phone were seized,” Côté said. “At that point, we were able to recollect a lot of information out of these items that lead us to believe that the accused is the person that shot the victim.”

Criminal defence lawyer Kwadwo Yeboah tells CityNews says GPS tracking information can be an important tool in locating a suspect at a given time.

“What it is the geo-localization of the cell phone, where that cell phone was at a precise time,” Yeboah said.

“Then the other thing is to connect the dots, right. To prove that that phone belonged to him and that he had the phone on him at that time.”

On Thursday during the trial, a technician for the Montreal police who worked on the investigation was interviewed about photos she took of the crime scene that showed Iacono’s white Hyundai Genesis with at least eight bullet holes in the driver’s side window and door. Photos of shell casings, projectiles and a sheet covering the victim at the crime scene were also presented.

Clarke’s first-degree murder trial for the death of Iacono is expected to last about two months.

“Hopefully by the end of the month, we might be, the evidence might be closed, but it could drag on. We’re scheduled until mid-December,” Côté said.

Trial earlier this year

Two other men convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in connection with Iacono’s death told a trial in January she was not the intended target of the shooting. Tyranne Andre Greenidge and Kalial Nesfield, who pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 18 years behind bars, told their trial the target was actually Iacono’s husband Anthony Gallo.

Gallo is the son of Moreno Gallo, who was considered a major figure in the Mafia until his assassination in Mexico in 2013. Anthony Gallo has long denied having any Mafia ties.

Iacono’s death came amid a series of high-profile Mafia-related killings or attempted murders in the Montreal area in 2023.

Leonardo Rizzuto, the son of former Montreal Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto, survived an attempt on his life in March of that year after his car was shot at while he was driving on Highway 440 in Laval.

On June 5, Francesco Del Balso, an organized crime figure, was shot dead in Montreal’s West Island, with many saying it was linked to the attempt on Rizzuto’s life.

–With files from Gareth Madoc-Jones