Kriti Mehrotra
As a documentary series living up to its title in every way conceivable, Netflix’s ‘Mafia: Most Wanted’ can only be described as equal parts baffling and intriguing. That’s because it utilizes not only archival footage but also exclusive interviews with those close to the matter to really shine a light upon the global empire of Canada-based crime family Ndrangheta. Amongst those to thus feature in this original production is none other than Cecil Kirby, a former biker, enforcer, gangster, and hitman turned significant police informant.
Cecil Kirby Has a Violent History That Dates Back to When He Was a Toddler
Although Cecil Kirby was born on August 17, 1950, into a working-class Irish-Canadian family in Toronto, Canada, anger had reportedly taken hold of him at an early age. “I’ve known violence all my life,” he candidly said in the show. “Ever since grade school, was in kindergarten. Fighting, fighting, and fighting, never stopped.” In fact, he was expelled from elementary school twice for his disruptive behavior, and later on, he was refused admission to high school for his violent issues, which only resulted in him spiraling deeper into the dark path.
While it’s unclear precisely what Cecil did during his teenage years without school, we do know he kick-started his career in the world of organized crime at the age of 19, in August 1969. He actually became a member of the Satan’s Choice Motorcycle Club, where he soon honed his intimidation skills to allegedly evolve into an auto insurance fraud as well as an armed robbery specialist. According to records, he gradually climbed up the internal ladder to become the sergeant-at-arms of the Richmond Hill chapter of this highly dangerous organization.
However, by the time 1975 rolled around, Cecil had started having issues with the club as he believed some members didn’t have the necessary level of kindness or loyalty toward one another. Therefore, when he was introduced to the Commisso family under the banner of the Ndrangheta criminal organization that same year, he decided to leave Satan’s Choice Motorcycle Club for them. “They explained to me, ‘We need you to do some work for us. Collections, enforcing, beating people up, and killing people,'” he said in the show, adding he immediately agreed.
After Years as a Successful Mafia Enforcer, Cecil Kirby Became a Renowned Informant
Since Cecil already had an intimidating reputation thanks to his days at Satan’s Club, he was able to gel into the world of the Commisso family/Ndrangheta relatively easily. In fact, as per Stephen Schneider’s 2009 book ‘ Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada,’ upon learning that their big thing for making money was extortion in the construction industry, he made sure to shine through. Thus, as the years passed, the family reportedly began giving him crucial jobs, such as bombing restaurants and vehicles of those they were unhappy with or wanted to extort.
Cecil was eventually also given the task of carrying out a hit on Buffalo crime family captain Paul Volpe and his right-hand man Pietro Scarcella in 1981 in exchange for $20,000. Little did the Commissos know, though, that he had already become an informant for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) after contacting them himself around a year prior in 1980. As per reports, he was unhappy with how the brothers were not only stingy but also inaccurate with a lot of their information, resulting in him targeting the wrong people more than once.
Cecil wanted to escape from the mob family but knew it would be difficult without serious help from outside, so he approached the police in exchange for full immunity from prosecution. According to reports, he was allegedly also offered $1,950 per month, $200,000 in total, a job, and witness protection for himself as well as his family, in return for his cooperation. As a direct result of Cecil’s statements, several mob members, including Rocco Remo Commisso, Cosimo Commisso, and Michele Commisso, were all convicted on multiple criminal charges.
Cecil Kirby Has Been in Hiding Since the Early 1980s
According to records, while Remo and Cosimo were handed down 14½ years and 21 years respectively, Michele was sentenced to 2½ years on the basis of Cecil’s evidence. The charges against them ranged from conspiring to commit murder to conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to extort, counselling another person to commit a crime, conspiracy to commit fraud, possession of unlawful property, and bodily harm. Therefore, according to police records, the mafia ordered a $100,000 hit on Cecil for snitching in 1982, but nothing came of it as he remained under witness protection. In fact, by 1986, he had helped authorities convict over 37 mobsters.
That’s the same year Cecil published his ghostwritten autobiography, ‘Mafia Enforcer,’ which received a lot of backlash as many were unhappy with him profiting from his criminal past. However, he made no comments regarding the same or the rising bounty on his head, which had reportedly gone from $100,000 to $250,000 by the early 1990s. In fact, the only thing Cecil addressed in a rare 1991 interview was that although he became an informant out of practicality rather than remorse, he hasn’t committed a crime since. He said he feared that the Commisso brothers were planning to kill him, but he also couldn’t apologize to those he hurt because he didn’t believe it would do anything.
According to reports, Cecil remained under police protection until 2015, revealing that it fell apart after he quarreled with his bodyguards over their “minimum effort” to save his life. He remains in hiding to this day, but he does so on his own accord by moving houses almost every year, changing license plates every few days or weeks, and just spending all his time ensuring he isn’t found. He actually estimates he has moved over 50 times in the past four decades, but it still doesn’t seem enough anymore, owing to the presence of the internet. In fact, he believes the mafia might one day be able to find him through the use of the internet and finish the job – he truly thinks it is just a matter of time before he is murdered. It’s also imperative to note that he regrets turning into an informant because it has not been like he expected at all.
