Sidney Leithman, 54, was a man of contrasts, a stylish and effusive personality who had risen from a poor Jewish family in Montreal to become one of the city's most prominent and wealthy criminal defense attorneys. Born on October 14, 1936, he was the son of a tailor. After graduating from McGill University with a law degree in 1960, he joined the Quebec Bar Association in 1961 and quickly built a reputation as an intelligent, aggressive, and successful lawyer. A self-confessed workaholic with a taste for expensive cigars and cocaine, he was known for flashing large wads of cash and making sure acquaintances knew the cost of his expensive ties. His success made him a millionaire and the go-to lawyer for the city's most notorious underworld figures.
Over a 30-year career, Leithman represented a who's who of Canadian organized crime, including members of the Cotroni and Rizzuto crime families, the Dubois brothers, the Hells Angels, and the infamous West End Gang.
He was so intrinsically linked with the city's gangsters that their first call after an arrest was often, "Get me Leithman!" He successfully defended West End Gang boss Frank "Dunie" Ryan on several occasions and was later retained by his successor, Allan "The Weasel" Ross. His client list extended to international crime, as he also represented agents of the Colombian Cali and Medellin drug cartels operating in Montreal.
The morning of Monday, May 13, 1991, began like any other for the high-profile male lawyer. He was driving to the courthouse, where he was scheduled to continue his defense of clients linked to the Medellin cartel who had been convicted the previous May of smuggling 1,100 pounds of cocaine into Canada. As Leithman sat in his car, stopped at a red light in the quiet suburb of Mount Royal, a gunman approached. The assailant fired multiple shots from a.45-caliber pistol through the car window, killing Leithman instantly. The shooter then fled the scene on foot.
The brazen assassination of such a well-known legal figure sent shockwaves through Montreal's legal and criminal communities. The investigation was complex from the start, given Leithman's extensive and dangerous clientele. Theories swirled about whether the hit was ordered by a rival faction, a disgruntled client, or perhaps because of information he might have possessed. His work often involved navigating the treacherous internal politics of violent criminal organizations, and as one lawyer later noted, defending one client could inadvertently harm the interests of a co-accused, leading to friction or reprisals.
Leithman's murder was one of a string of unsolved killings of Montreal defense lawyers during that era, creating a climate of fear in the legal community. In 1985, prominent defense lawyer Frank Shoofey was killed with four shots to the head outside his downtown office. Just months after Leithman's death, another lawyer, Paul Beaudry, was gunned down in his Old Montreal office by two assailants in front of several employees. None of these murders have ever been solved.
Decades have passed, but the murder of Sidney Leithman remains an open and unsolved case with the Montreal police. No arrests have ever been made, and the identity of the person who pulled the trigger, and who may have ordered the hit, remains a mystery. The killing has been the subject of documentaries and books about Montreal's organized crime history, a stark reminder of the violent underworld Leithman inhabited. As of November 2011, the American Bar Association Journal noted the assassination was still an unsolved slaying, a status that has not changed in the years since. The case stands as a chilling example of the potential dangers faced by those who operate within the world of criminal law, leaving behind a legacy of unanswered questions and a story without a final chapter.
