Targeted daylight killing of the eldest son of senior gangland player Vito Rizzuto.

There was a large turnout at the solemn funeral service for Nicolo (Nick) Rizzuto Jr. on Saturday in Little Italy – mourners overflowed into aisles at Notre-Dame-de-la Défense church. Among them, plainclothes police videotaped those who came to pay their respects. Mr. Rizzuto, 42, was shot last Monday standing next to a black Mercedes near the offices of a construction-industry associate in a Montreal suburb. The hit was a direct blow to the authority of the Rizutto family in an already turbulent climate, including challenges from other crime syndicates and pressure from the justice system. Mr. Rizzuto's father, Vito, is serving time in a U.S. prison at a time when other leaders of the clan are also in prison. He did not attend the funeral, according to reports, but 85-year-old family patriarch Nicolo Sr. was there despite being under stringent probation restrictions. The work of finding those behind Mr. Rizzuto's murder will not be easy, say observers of Montreal's organized crime scene. Nor will mapping out how any possible turf wars will erupt and play out. “This was an unprecedented challenge to the Rizzuto family because, for the first time, they are in defensive mode,” said Mafia expert Antonio Nicaso. “In normal circumstances, this would lead to immediate retaliation, but these are not normal circumstances. The murder took place at the weakest moment for the Rizzuto family.” Montreal police are not commenting on their progress. “We can't say at what stage the investigators are right now,” said Montreal police spokesman Constable Daniel Lacoursière.