Morris Conte murder trial set

A Woodbridge, Ont. man accused of murder in the 2010 death of his friend will stand trial in March.

Tony Lucia will be 65 years old when his five-week first-degree murder trial gets underway in Orangeville early in the new year.

Lucia was arrested in September of 2022. He is accused of killing Morris Conte, whose dismembered remains were discovered across several locations in Oro-Medonte, Bracebridge and Lake of Bays in the spring of 2010.

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Conte, a 45-year-old father of four from Bolton, was reported missing by loved ones who said he was meeting a friend for coffee the night he disappeared; his wife said that friend was Lucia.

A year later, his son Sam Lucia was arrested and charged with being an accessory after death and committing an indignity to a human body. Those charges were later withdrawn. However, Sam Lucia was at the Orangeville courthouse testifying for the Crown earlier this year. Evidence heard during those proceedings is protected by a publication ban.

At the time Conte’s remains were found, investigators believed Conte’s death and the way in which his remains were discarded across Muskoka and the Sugarbush area of Oro-Medonte could have served as a message or warning to others. The OPP continues to offer a $50,000 reward for any information on the case resulting in a conviction.

Following his arrest, Lucia was granted bail set at over $1 million in late November of that year. He was ordered to be in the company of his sureties at all times and wear an ankle bracelet while under strict conditions imposed by the court. His lawyer, Cosmo Galluzzo, appeared on Lucia’s behalf Monday morning during a brief virtual court appearance to confirm the upcoming trial dates and pre-trial motions scheduled for a few weeks earlier.

The allegations against Tony Lucia have not been tested in court.