 Brandon Vito Hughes was 28 when he was shot and killed on July 23, 2009 | After coming home from a night out at Vancouver's Celebration of Light fireworks show, 28-year-old Brandon Vito Hughes was gunned down outside his North Vancouver home. His father, Kevin Hughes, heard the commotion and ran out to the front gate. He tried in vain to save his son but in the early morning hours of July 23, 2009 Brandon Vito Hughes was pronounced dead in hospital. Five years later, the Lower Mainland's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team issued a public plea for information about the shooting. "The investigation remains open and active," said Sgt. Adam MacIntosh. "Time and distance can be a factor in our favour in historical investigations. There are people out there who know what happened and we need them to come forward." Police are urging anyone with information to call IHIT at 1-877-551-4448, email ihittipline@rcmp-grc.gc.ca, or submit a tip anonymously through Crime Stoppers. |
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 Rocco Dipopolo | Donato De Cotiis claimed a number of threats had been made against him and other family members, including Hughes, because of a long-running family feud that had landed in court several times. Donato De Cotiis also said he was warned that people linked to the Hells Angels had been hired "to assault, threaten and/or intimidate" him. Don De Cotiis, Hayley Winter, Ivano De Cotiis. |  Damiano Dipopolo |
 | [18] At some point, on a date which was not clear in the evidence, Mr. Dipopolo won $80,000 in a lottery. He gave his twin brother $30,000 as a gift. [48] At some point, Mr. Dipopolo acquired a one-third interest in a company called Liquid Zoo Holdings Ltd. On August 23, 2005, Mr. Dipopolo, together with the two other shareholders in Liquid Zoo Holdings Ltd., Messrs. Bruneau and Raffael, signed a promissory note for $350,000 payable to Amacon Management. [62] Liquid Zoo Holdings executed a mortgage dated May 12, 2006, in favour of Amacon for the amount of $650,000. However, this mortgage was not registered until more than one year later, on August 10, 2007. Mr. Dipopolo appeared to consider the mortgage to be further security for Amacon's $350,000 loan to the three Liquid Zoo Holdings shareholders made about one year earlier, in August 2005. |
http://caselaw.canada.globe24h.com/0/0/british-columbia/supreme-court-of-british-columbia/2008/01/31/wu-v-dipopolo-2008-bcsc-112.shtml
 | "Amacon's $500,000 loan to Mr. Dipopolo;" http://caselaw.canada.globe24h.com/0/0/british-columbia/supreme-court-of-british-columbia/2008/01/31/wu-v-dipopolo-2008-bcsc-112.shtml |  |
 Marcello DeCotiis and his sister, Lilliana | Lilliana De Cotiis runs the hospitality division of real estate developer Amacon, which she co-owns with eldest sibling Teresa and older brothers Donato, Luca and Marcello. Donato alleged that Lillianna De Cotiis had threatened that the Dipopolo brothers would assault him if he attended a benefit fashion show Oct. 30 of this year. Siblings have input on all aspects of Amacon's corporate operations. De Cotiis and her siblings named their company Amacon, after late father Amalio and mother Concetta. Amalio was part of the first generation of De Cotiises to arrive in Vancouver. He came with parents Donato and Teresa and three sisters as well as brothers Marcangelo, Inno, Vito and Michael in a staggered migration. |   Damiano DiPopolo |
 | Eldest brother Marcangelo eventually had a falling out with his brothers that was serious enough to devolve into legal action. Vito died in his 30s. Inno created his own real estate development company and named it by spelling his own name backwards: Onni. |   Youngest brother Michael then founded and still runs Pinnacle International. |
 | Dec. 11, 2005. Vancouver Province A long-running feud in a family whose name is tied to some of Vancouver's biggest real-estate developments has once again spilled into B.C. Supreme Court. This time, it comes complete with allegations of threats, assaults, intimidation - and even of a contract to kill a family member. In an unusual civil suit, Donato De Cotiis, 44, is seeking a court injunction and damages to protect himself from eight family members named in a statement of claim. The suit alleges that the eight De Cotiis family defendants "have engaged, hired or employed the defendants Rocco Dipopolo and Damiano Dipopolo to assault, threaten and/or intimidate the plaintiff as an integral part of efforts to intimidate the plaintiff, to interfere in the business, commercial and leisure activities of the plaintiff and to injure the plaintiff." Chow confirmed that police investigated an incident between Donato De Cotiis and the Dipopolos. No charges were laid. Chow also confirmed that Damiano is suspected by police to be a full member of the Hells Angels' East End Chapter. |
 In February 2003, Paolo De Cotiis approached Brandon Hughes, the nephew of Donato De Cotiis, at a nightclub on Granville, and threatened "to get" his family. | Sunday, July 26, 2009. The targeted murder of 28-year-old Brandon Vito Hughes in North Vancouver last week was preceded by a tense family feud that included an alleged death threat within the De Cotiis clan, who are connected to massive real-estate developments in the Lower Mainland. Hughes was found gravely wounded outside 1956 Jones Ave. in North Vancouver. Hughes is grandson of the late construction mogul Marcangelo De Cotiis, whose widow, Addolorata De Cotiis, owns the home at 1956 Jones Ave. Siblings of the De Cotiis family own Onni Group, Pinnacle International and Amacon. |  Brandon Vito Hughes |
 | August 6th, 2010. B.C. Court of Appeal issues ruling in De Cotiis family feud. Donato De Cotiis's lawsuit against companies controlled by his uncles Amalio, Inno, and Mike was dismissed. Donato De Cotiis's deceased father Marcangelo, a construction magnate, was also listed as a plaintiff. "This dispute is only part of a larger family feud that unfolded against a backdrop of profitable corporations and partnerships," Newbury wrote in the court's reasons for judgment. This lawsuit was a spinoff of another major dispute, which was addressed in a 1995 B.C. Supreme Court decision. |
http://www.straight.com/article-337613/vancouver/bc-court-appeal-issues-ruling-de-cotiis-family-feud
