Kenneth Murdock

Kenneth Bishop (born Kenneth Murdock; By the 1980s, Murdock worked as a bouncer at Hamilton strip clubs and also earned money through extortion and armed robbery. In 1997, the Musitano brothers contacted Murdock, asking him if he wanted to resume working as a hitman. Murdock, who had worked as a chauffeur-bodyguard for their father, and had come to think of the younger Musitanos as nephews to whom he was indebted, accepted the offer.

On May 31, 1997, Murdock shot mob boss Johnny Papalia in the head in the parking lot of 20 Railway Street outside his vending machine business in Hamilton; he later testified that he had been hired to do so by Angelo and Pat Musitano of the Musitano crime family, who owed Papalia some $250,000. The cost of the hit was substantially less — depending on the source, the payment received by Murdock was either $2,000 or $3,000; some reports indicate that Murdock received $2,000 plus 40 grams of cocaine. Murdock later testified that the Musitano brothers had ordered him to kill four men. Besides for Papalia and Barillaro, the Musitano brothers also wanted him to kill Mario Parente, the president of the Outlaws' Hamilton chapter and Ion Croitoru, the professional wrestler who served as the president of the Satan's Choice Hamilton chapter. On 20 August 1997, Murdock knocked on the door of Croitoru's house to tell him "John, I've been sent here to kill you. But I'm not going to do it". Croitoru was left speechless for a moment before thanking Murdock. Unknown to the Musitano brothers, Murdock was a friend of Croitoru and could not bring himself to kill him. Murdock apparently never made an attempt against Parente.

According to Murdock, the Musitano brothers had also been fed up with being a satellite (crew) of the Buffalo crime family and having to pay tribute money to the family. Murdock also claimed that he was waiting for Pat Musitano to approve the murders of four Luppino crime family members Natale Luppino and Vincenzo Luppino (the two sons of Giacomo Luppino) and Domenic Violi and Giuseppe Violi (the two sons of Paolo Violi).

Also revealed by Murdock was that Pat Musitano had discussed with Montreal mob boss Vito Rizzuto and Gaetano Panepinto about Rizzuto investing in Ontario.

Murdock was arrested for extortion, and while in police custody, the police played audiotapes of the Musitano brothers talking about him. The police had bugged The Gathering Spot pizzeria owned by the Musitanos, who mocked and laughed at Murdock behind his back, calling him a dim-witted "scumbag" who they held in complete contempt. Perhaps more worrying to Murdock, the Musitanos stated they were only using him, and joked how they would be better off if he were dead once they were finished with his services. Though the Musitanos did not speak of murder, instead merely expressing the hope that Murdock should die in a "tragic accident" caused by him acting stupidly – a possibility that they found very amusing. Listening to the tapes persuaded Murdock to turn Crown's evidence against the Musitanos. Murdock had always loved the Musitano family and in turn believed that they loved him, and was disheartened to discover how he was really viewed by the Musitanos. Murdock testified that he was paid for his murders but that he "would have done it for free" out of his affection for the Musitano family.

Prison and later life In November 1998, Murdock pleaded guilty to three counts of second degree murder and named Pat and Angelo as the men who had ordered the hits; Murdock was sentenced to life imprisonment. Murdock was unimpressed with the level of justice. "They ordered the killing, and they get just 10 years. They’ll be back on the streets in less than four. It doesn’t make sense to me."

In an interview with journalist Peter Edwards, Murdock explained the rationale for his involvement with Angelo and Pat Musitano. He had worked for their father, Domenic Musitano and said that "I promised to take care of his kids ... that was the dumbest mistake I ever made". Domenic died in 1995.

After Murdock had served 13 years in prison, he was granted day parole in December 2011, before receiving full parole in 2014. In July 2017, his parole was revoked and he was sent back to prison for making threatening comments on social media about a prison guard he had known. He insists that the comments were meant as a joke, but the man who received them felt the comments were a threat, and the parole board agreed.