Suspect in Toronto-area condo shooting that killed five had sued neighbours for millions

The 73-year-old man implicated in a mass shooting that left six people dead (shooter included) at a condo building in Vaughan, Ontario, on Sunday night had attempted to sue six people involved in the management of his residence.

Francesco Villi, who’s been identified in media reports as the person behind last night’s fatal shooting incident at 9235 Jane Street, appeared before an Ontario Superior Court judge on July 27, 2022, with a string of bizarre allegations against six members of his condo board.

Shot dead on Sunday following an interaction with police at the scene of the shooting, Villi had been seeking in excess of $8.1 million from the six plaintiffs, who were identified in court documents as directors and officers of York Region Standard Condominium Corporation No. 1139.

Villi had been seeking payment of $2,000,000 from all defendants jointly, damages in the amount of $2,000,000, aggravated damages of $100,000 from each defendant, and punitive damages of $2,000,000.

The claim sought additional damages of $250,000 from each defendant for “abusively abusing” their power and “deliberately causing harm, stress physically, mentally, financially, confusion, inability to rest and sleep for over five years, torment, torture that cannot be explained in words.”

Justice Joseph Di Luca ultimately ruled that Villi’s statement of claim was “fatally flawed,” “frivolous and/or vexatious,” striking the allegations of the now-deceased senior citizen and ordering him to pay $2,500 within 30 days of the August 4 ruling.

Vaughan shooter allegedly killed condo board members over ignored complaints https://t.co/q5mHi9z5dN #Vaughan #Police

— blogTO (@blogTO) December 19, 2022

While the condo corporation itself was not party to the action, the six individual defendants listed in Villi’s claim are Rita Camilleri, Dino Colalillo, Naveed Dada, Russell Manock, John Di Nino, and Patricia De Sario.

It is not yet clear if any of these people were among the victims shot on Sunday evening. Six people were killed in total, including Villi, but one victim remains in hospital with serious injuries.

Authorities have yet to release any additional information about who was killed and what drove the suspect to open fire inside the condominium building.

“We’re in the process right now of doing notifications to those families, so at this point I can’t share any information on the victims or the subject,” said York Regional Police Chief Jim MacSween on Sunday night of the victims, noting that there was no further threat of public safety.

“We offer our sincere condolences to the victims and their families.”

Both Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit and the York Regional Police Homicide Square continue to investigate the shooting, which was first reported around 7:20 pm on Sunday.

In a disturbing video posted to Facebook by the suspect this weekend ahead of the shooting, Villi can be heard calling the members of his condo board “indecent bastards,” criticizing them for failing to provide comfort in his home.

“You take me to court before a judge, and my one page, of three, four hundred pages of evidence and truth? It’s been thrown in the garbage,” he says in the clip.

“So this is the law and justice we live in? It is your justice, your fraud.”

In the Superior Court of Justice ruling, Judge Di Luca explained that Villi had spoken at length about the nature of the claims he was seeking to advance.

“As I understand it, Mr. Villi believes that the electrical room which sits beneath his unit is improperly constructed, resulting in the emission of electromagnetic waves which have caused him significant pain and suffering over the years,” reads the court document.

“Mr. Villi believes that the board members of the Corporation have actively engaged in efforts to intentionally harm him, likely at the behest of the powerful developer who built the condominium. Mr. Villi believes that all the individuals involved have not only conspired to harm him but have also conspired to ensure that the truth of the matter never surfaces.”

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