Johnny Papalia
Johnny Papalia | |
---|---|
drug trafficker | |
Spouse |
Janetta Hayes
(m. 1981; sep. 1983) |
Parent(s) | Antonio "Tony" Papalia Maria Rosa Italiano |
Allegiance | Drug trafficking (1963) (1975)Extortion |
Criminal penalty | Two years' imprisonment 18 months' imprisonment (commuted) 10 years' imprisonment; served five years Six years' imprisonment; served four years |
John Joseph Papalia (Italian: [papaˈliːa]; March 18, 1924 – May 31, 1997), also known as Johnny Pops Papalia or "The Enforcer", was a Canadian crime boss of the Papalia crime family based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The Papalia crime family is one of three major crime families in Hamilton, the other two being the Musitano crime family and the Luppino crime family.
Papalia was born in Hamilton, to Italian immigrants who also had a history in organized crime. At a young age, he was involved in petty crimes, but by the 1950s, moved his way up to drug trafficking and formed a powerful alliance with the Buffalo crime family. Papalia also operated various gambling bars and vending machine businesses. In the 1960s, he played a role in the French Connection drug smuggling operation, for which he was extradited to the United States and served five years of a 10-year prison sentence. On May 31, 1997, Papalia was shot to death outside his vending machine business by Kenneth Murdock, a hitman hired by Angelo and Pat Musitano of the Musitano crime family.
Early life and criminal activities
Papalia was born on March 18, 1924, in Hamilton.
Papalia's mother, Maria Rosa Italiano, also came from a Mafia family, the Italiano clan, who also participated in Perri's gang.[12] Maria Rosa initially married Antonio's younger brother Giuseppe Papalia Jr., giving birth to two sons in Italy, however when Giuseppe died, she immigrated to Canada with her two sons in 1913 to live with Antonio, whom she married at some point, although it remains unclear when the wedding actually took place.[13] Papalia's parents were not married at the time of his birth, which was a source of much shame for him.[14] Moon stated, "John was a bastard. He was born out of wedlock. And he as always very self-conscious about it. You have to remember, he grew up in an era when it was a terrible thing to be conceived out of wedlock. Apparently it bothered him all his life and you had to very careful about calling John a 'bastard'."[14] Johnny, the oldest brother to Frank, Rocco and Dominic Papalia, half-brothers Joseph and Angelo Papalia, brother-in-law Tony Pugliese, and associates, all worked in running his clubs and gambling operations.[15]
Papalia attended St. Augustine Catholic School on Mulberry Street, dropping out in grade 8 after he suffered from a case of
Early career
In 1940, Papalia's father was arrested and sent to
During his time in Toronto, Papalia served with a youth gang consisting of Paul Volpe, Pasquale Giodrano, Roy Pasquale, and Alberto Mignacchio.[17] Many of the members of the gang such as Volpe remained long-time associates of Papalia.[21] One who knew the gang stated, "They were a very tough bunch. They had a lot of balls. John himself talked tough, although he wasn't tough himself. He was smart enough, though, to make sure he was with people who were. John was the type of guy-even back then-that if he sensed fear in you, he tried to prey on it."[22] On January 27, 1944, Papalia was arrested for failing to register for conscription for the defense of Canada as he was legally obliged to do in 1942 when he turned 18.[17] Papalia's criminal record, health problems and his anger at the Canadian government for interning his father ensured that he was not conscripted.[17]
On October 17, 1943, Perri was released from internment as Italy had signed an armistice with the Allies on September 3, 1943.
Papalia was involved in petty crimes from a young age. Papalia was first arrested for burglary in 1945, but was given a short sentence.[10] He was arrested again in 1949 and sentenced to two years in prison at the Guelph Reformatory for possession of narcotics, down from conspiracy to distribute narcotics.[27] At his trial, Papalia claimed that he was not selling heroin as the prosecution claimed, but rather buying it as he maintained he needed heroin to treat the pain caused by the syphilis he contacted.[28] The judge at the trial accepted this defense, and sympathetically advised Papalia to see a doctor after his release from prison, saying there were better ways of treating syphilis-induced pain.[29] The fact that Papalia refused an offer of a plea bargain from the Crown under which he would serve a lesser sentence in exchange for testifying against his employers gave him a reputation in the underworld as someone who could be trusted to observe omertà (the code of silence).[29]
When Papalia was released in 1951, he moved to
"Made Man"
By the mid-1950s, Papalia was called back to Ontario by Magaddino and inducted as a made man into the Canadian arm of the Buffalo crime family and to be boss of the Papalia family in Ontario.[36][37] It is not clear just precisely when Papalia became a made man, but it appears to have occurred sometime in 1955.[38] Galante had forged an alliance with the Cotroni family, placing Quebec in the sphere of influence of the Bonanno family, and Magaddino, who wanted to keep southern Ontario in his sphere of influence, chose Papalia as one of his instruments for doing so.[2] Magaddino informed Papalia that he was not to replace the older leaders in Ontario, but rather to work with them.[2] Papalia was to serve as the enforcer boss who was to accept the advice of the older dons who were to play a role almost analogous to a consigliere.[2] Papalia's territory covered Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville, St. Catharines, Welland, Niagara Falls and much of Toronto.[39] Papalia also had influence into northern Ontario with his power extending into North Bay.[39]
In 1954, Papalia was running a taxi company in Hamilton, which attracted police attention when one of the cab drivers, Tony Coposodi, was killed execution-style.
Papalia often seized control of various businesses by asking of the business owners the question "Johnny Papalia-does that mean anything to you?"[49] When the answer was no, Papalia replied "Well, it's going to. I'm your new partner."[49] Those who refused his offers of partnership were then beaten bloody by Papalia's thugs.[50] Papalia especially liked to target stockbrokers who worked on Toronto's Bay Street, usually demanding that they pay him about $1,000 per week as "protection", supposedly against their enemies, but in fact for protection against being beaten by Papalia's crew.[50] The Hamilton police chief, Leonard Lawrence, stated in a press conference that Papalia was the leading suspect in a number of beatings of businessmen, saying, "We have heard rumors that gangland beatings have taken place here recently, but when we question people who are said to be involved, nobody-including the victims-shows much interest in talking to us. It is typical of what happens when a syndicate tries to take over and organize crime."[50] The protection payments served as seed money for Papalia's loan sharking business, which he called "shylocking."[51] Papalia's principle enforcer was Howard "Baldy" Chard, a professional heavyweight boxer with a scarred face.[52] Chard failed to win any professional titles, but during his time in Kingston Penitentiary, had been the prison boxing champion, a title that commanded both respect and fear on the streets.[52]
In October 1958, Papalia made contact with Vinnie Mauro and Frank Caruso of the
The Bluestein beating
The illegal gambling business in Toronto was very lucrative, dominated by Maxie Bluestein who kept the Mafia out of his pocket. Bluestein's Lakeview Club earned more than $13 million a year, but on March 21, 1961, at the Town Tavern in Toronto, Papalia met with Bluestein.[56] It was understood that if Bluestein accepted a drink paid for by Papalia, it would mean submission to Papalia and he refused it, it would mean defiance; Bluestein refused the proffered drink.[56] Bluestein refused to "merge" his operations with Papalia's and was beaten with brass knuckles, iron bars and fists as a result.[57] The beating of Bluestein attracted much media attention, and the Toronto Star newspaper columnist Pierre Berton called the attack a "semi-execution" brazenly committed in public view.[55] Berton turned the Bluestein beating into a cause célèbre, constantly demanding in his column that Papalia be brought to justice.[55] Berton described the beating, "...as terrible a beating as it is possible to give a man without killing him...Iron bars with ropes attached to them for greater leverage rained down on Bluestein's head and across his forehead, eyes and cheekbones. His scalp was split seven or eight times. Brass knuckles were smashed into his eyes and a broken bottle was ground into his mouth. When Bluestein dropped to the floor, he was kicked in the face. His overcoat, torn and slashed, was literally drenched in his own blood... When I saw Bluestein, some 10 days after the affair, he looked like a piece of meat."[56] Several of the witnesses to the Bluestein beating received threatening phone calls in the days after, warning them that it would be "healthier" for them to forget what they had just seen.[58]
The 100 some witnesses to the beating were reluctant to come forward, but in May of that year Papalia turned himself in to police to take some heat off of the crime family, and he was sentenced in June to 18 months in prison for the assault.[59] Berton's columns had their effect, causing massive public outrage and Papalia was ordered to turn himself in.[56] As Papalia entered the Toronto police station, he displayed his hatred of journalists yelling insults at the assembled reporters, being quoted as saying "look at the dirty rats. The creeps. Those crummy, rotten cameras and all you crummy rotten guys."[60] In 1986, Papalia expressed no remorse for the beating, saying "Bluestein was greedy, he wanted it all for himself."[56] At the trial, which started on June 27, 1961, the witnesses were visibly terrified of Papalia, and several times, the presiding judge, Joseph Addison, accused several of the witnesses of perjury, saying he did not find their testimony about not being able to remember who had beaten Bluestein very credible.[61] The trial ended with Papalia being found guilty of assault and Judge Addison sentenced Papalia to 18 months in prison.[62] Addison noted that the witnesses had all taken oaths on the Bible to tell the truth before testifying, which led him to sourly note that the fear of Papalia seemed greater than the fear of God with the witnesses at this trial.[63] While Bluestein kept control of the Toronto gambling market, he had paranoia and was later committed to a mental institution in 1973 after he had killed a friend, before later dying of a heart attack in 1984.[59]
A profile of Papalia was published in Toronto Star Weekly Magazine by Peter Sypnowich under the title "He Wanted To Be Canada's Al Capone."[40] However, Synowich focused on Papalia's sex addiction, calling him "a compulsive womanizer."[40] Synowich wrote, "His relationships with women provide the best clue to his character. Papalia has an inbred need to steal other men's women. They serve as his trophies."[40] Papalia's fondness for the wives and girlfriends of other men led him to engage in a succession of fights with the cuckolded men.[40]
Later in 1961, Papalia demolished the family home and built a warehouse for his vending machine business, an all-cash business, to serve as the front for his criminal operations.[64] The office for the Monarch Vending company was located at 20 Railroad Street and became Papalia's principal base, although officially Monarch Vending was owned and managed by his brother Frank Papalia together with Bruno Monaco.[65] Through the company records listed Johnny only as an employee of his brother Frank, he was considered by almost everyone to be the real boss of Monarch Vending.[66] Monarch Vending and its successor company Galaxy Vending had a monopoly on the vending machine business in Hamilton as no other vending machine company was willing to compete with Papalia.[67] Monarch Vending was a profitable concern, making a daily profit of $12,000.[67] Papalia began to hijack trucks to supply cigarettes for his vending machines.[40] Papalia was also associated with F.M. Amusements, a pin-ball machine company and Beer Magic, which had a virtual monopoly on supplying beer dispensers for bars in Ontario for decades to come.[65] As a loan shark, Papalia forced those who took loans from him to pay back $6 for every $5 they had borrowed with the interest compounding on a weekly basis, amounting to an annual 1,040 percent interest on the loans.[40][29] Businessmen who were unable to repay their loans were forced to take on vending machines from Papalia on his terms while those who could still not repay their loans were further threatened "or worse."[40]
Extradition and sentencing
By the early 1960s, he earned his reputation from the "French Connection", which had then been responsible for supplying over 80 percent of America's heroin market between the 1960s and 1970s.[68] He worked in this operation with the Sicilian Agueci brothers, Alberto and Vito, along with the vending machine businesses with Alberto, until he was brutally murdered by the Buffalo crime family in late 1961, and Vito jailed.[69][70] On May 22, 1961, several people were indicted related to the "French Connection" from informants Salvatore Rinaldo and Matteo Palmeri.[71]
In July 1961, Papalia was ordered to be
On March 4, 1963, Papalia pleaded guilty just as his trial was about to begin.[78] On March 11, 1963, Papalia was sentenced to 10 years in prison.[79] His conviction in New York generated massive press coverage in Canada.[80] One Hamilton policeman told a reporter from The Toronto Star, "In the 15 years I've known him, I've never known him to engage in a legal activity. He is a cop-hater, a primitive. He got where he is through fear. He's hard, hard, hard."[80] Another Hamilton policeman told the same reporter, "A real deadly man who would crush you without thinking. No regard for anyone or anything, neither for the criminal laws nor the laws of the underworld."[80] Papalia later sought to reverse his conviction, claiming that he was of unsound mind when he made the guilty plea due to the anti-tuberculosis drugs he was taking and wanted a new trial, taking his case all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States, which refused to hear his appeal on October 12, 1964.[81] Had he been granted a new trial, Papalia then planned to ask to have the charges dismissed under the grounds that his guilty plea and the resultant negative publicity made it impossible to find an impartial jury to hear his case. The lawyers for the Department of Justice noted that Papalia had explicitly stated he was of sound mind when he made his guilty plea and there was no medical evidence to support his claims of drug-induced mental incompetence at the time of his guilty plea.[82]
Due to the indictment, Magaddino promoted Santo Scibetta to leader of the Buffalo family's Ontario branch, replacing Papalia.[83][84] In 1963, Papalia was convicted in absentia in Italy of gangsterism and sentenced to 10 years in prison.[85] It was for this reason that Papalia never visited Italy.[85] Later upon his return to Canada, the Canadian authorities refused the extradition request from Italy under the grounds that Papalia was a Canadian citizen and that the offense of "Mafia associations" did not exist in the Criminal Code of Canada.[85] Papalia worked closely with the Italian branch of his 'ndrina (clan).[86] There is also an Australian branch of the Papalia family based in Griffith, but the precise relationship, if any, between the Australian and Canadian Papalias beyond blood ties remains unclear.[87] Two of Papalia's Australian cousins were murdered.[87]
Return to Hamilton
On January 25, 1968, after serving less than half the sentence, he was released from a United States penitentiary in
On June 6, 1969, Papalia visited Toronto to meet with Luppino.
On June 4, 1970, a
In August 1970, Papalia attended a crime summit in
In 1972, Papalia was summoned to a meeting in Toronto by
In 1971, Stanley Bader, a disreputable Toronto stockbroker with a talent for swindling his investors went into business with Sheldon "Sonny" Swartz, who was the son of a Papalia family associate.[106] In 1973, Bader swindled a group of Montreal investors, which Swartz mentioned to Papalia.[107] Papalia devised a plan under which Swartz would tell Bader that the investors were from the Cotroni family, and that Papalia would volunteer to "return" the stolen money to Montreal in exchange for sparing Bader's life.[107] On August 26, 1973, Swartz told Bader that the defrauded investors were from the Cotroni family who were planning to "maim" him, but that Papalia had stepped in to save him by agreeing to take $300,000 to Montreal.[108] Bader believed these claims, saying he had noticed "strange" cars parked outside of his house at night, whom he felt were from Montreal, and agreed to hand over the money to Papalia.[109]
The next year, Bader mentioned to a friend from the Montreal underworld about what had happened to him in August 1973, who in turn passed along the news to the Cotroni family.
Bader testified against them, and the three were convicted of extortion in 1975 and sentenced to six years in prison. Violi and Cotroni got their sentences appealed to just six months, but Papalia's was rejected; he served four of the years.[115] Justice Peter Wright said of the three men convicted, "The evidence in his case is grim and appalling. It exposes a world of big money grabbed and held by the exercise of brute power. You did not fear the laws of this country and you have chosen to live their lives in a sub-strata of society that operates beyond the rule of law."[116] The fact that Cotroni had threatened to kill Papalia if he went to prison caused him much alarm, and it came as a considerable relief to him in May 1977 when Violi and Cotroni were acquitted on most of the charges on an appeal.[117] After his release from prison, Papalia went to his cottage at Lake Temagami in northern Ontario.[118]
In 1979, Monarch Vending was sold to Allind Distributors of Toronto while a non-competition agreement was signed with Frank Papalia and Monaco, stating the two were not to compete with Monarch Vending in the greater Toronto area for the next five years.[119] After the sale, two of Papalia's other brothers, Rocco and Dominic, promptly set up a new company, Galaxy Vending, whose office was located at the Monarch Vending's old office at 20 Railroad Street.[119] Rick Page, the manager of Allind Distributors, was shocked to discover the aggressive way that Galaxy Vending went about taking away his customers with Monarch Vending machines often being found dumped in back alleys.[119] At a press conference, Page answered the question if he was naïve with the remark, "Yes, we knew the connotations, yes, we were naïve. We thought we had a noncompetition agreement. I think it is unethical as hell."[119]
In 1982, after Bader had moved south to
The "Godfather" of Hamilton
As a boss, Papalia was feared rather than loved; one of his associates stated, "We had to respect him because of his role. But he got on everybody's nerves."[91] Papalia had a propriety attitude towards the wives and mistresses of his men, taking the viewpoint that it was his right as a boss to sleep with the girlfriends and wives of his men, which made him unpopular.[91] He was a tyrannical boss who had no tolerance for failure, and made a point of taunting and punishing his men for any mistake, no matter how minor.[91] As Papalia grew more wealthy and powerful, he came to display a sultanistic attitude alongside his megalomania.[91] In 1975, Papalia founded the Gold Key Club nightclub in Hamilton.[91] Only members and their guests who knew the password were allowed entry.[91] Detective Sergeant John Gordon Harris of the Hamilton police said, "There wasn't actually any gold key. They used a password that changed from time to time, just like in gangster movies."[123] The Gold Key Club became Papalia's principal base for entertaining visitors as the large, illuminated neon yellow key on the front of the club became a symbol of his power in Hamilton.[123] By the 1980s, Papalia's firms were the largest suppliers of beer dispensers for bars in Ontario while leasing out at least 2,000 vending and pinball machines.[124]
Papalia came to play a "Godfather" role in the Italian Canadian community, serving as a community mediator as Papalia's biographer Adrien Humphreys noted, "There are hundreds of people throughout Hamilton who will attest to Johnny's helping hand."[125] A police officer said, "John Papalia would like nothing better than to walk into a bar and have everyone in the room bow their head in respect."[126] A man who knew him stated, "John was revered on Railroad Street. I was standing there talking with John and this old Italian guy was walking by and the old guy bows his head to John and says, 'Ah comapare [an Italian expression meaning "godfather"]. He was very good to all the kids and very good to all the people who lived in the area. If a guy needed a few bucks, John would give him a job taking the garbage out, or painting something, or whatever needed to be done. He would look after them."[126]
In January 1981, Papalia married Janetta Hayes in a private ceremony; they separated in 1983.
The murder of Volpe in November 1983, together with the fact that Luppino had suffered mental decline in his old age, forced the Magaddinos to put Papalia in charge of southern Ontario again.[133] The police considered Papalia to be one of the prime suspects behind Volpe's murder.[134] The journalists Peter Edwards and Antonio Nicaso, in their 1993 book Deadly Silence, accused Papalia of being the one responsible for Volpe's murder.[135] Papalia read Deadly Silence and later briefly met Nicaso; the latter found it significant that Papalia did not actually deny the accusation about Volpe's murder.[135] Despite the unflattering picture of him in Deadly Silence, Papalia never sued Edwards and Nicaso for libel. Ron Sandelli, a staff inspector with the Toronto police and a Mafia specialist said in 1986 about Papalia's claims to have never killed anyone, "He is probably telling the truth in a stretched way. He may never have pulled the trigger himself, but for him to say he never killed anybody when he directed other people to do it, I find hard to believe."[136]"
Papalia became more cautious in his last years as he greatly feared returning to prison.[137] Papalia refused to break his parole conditions that he was not to leave Hamilton.[137] Despite his fondness for Chinese food, Papalia refused to go to Lee's Garden, his favourite Chinese restaurant, which was located just outside of Hamilton in Burlington, instead patiently waiting in his car for someone to pick up the food he ordered.[137] Papalia always had his meetings with his men on the street, talking vaguely in words that were always open to interpretation while engaging in hand gestures to convey his real meaning.[138] The police placed bugs on the parking meters on Railroad Street, hoping to catch Papalia saying something incriminating as he held his meetings while walking up and down the street.[139] Sandelli stated, "You can't infiltrate Johnny Papalia. It would take you forever to infiltrate somebody like that to the extent that you would be a personal trust to him, that he would take you as one of his boys to tell you to do things for him. It wasn't for a lack of trying, he was just too smart. I tell you, this guy was like a fox."[140]
Several times, the police were able to pressure criminals to wear wires while visiting Papalia at his office on Railroad Street, but he never said anything that would have allowed the police to lay charges.[141] One criminal who wore a wire at a meeting with Papalia later stated in an interview with Humphreys:, "It would have been a horrendous situation if he had found the wire. To John, it would have been the fact that he was taken for a fool, which he couldn't handle; that he had trusted somebody that he couldn't. No question, I would have had to move. John would have had me hit. Killed. It would be such an insult to him that he put me in confidence, that he let me know what he was trying to do. He would looked like a complete fool. To save face he would had to order a hit on me, he would had no choice."[142] Papalia greatly resented the police surveillance, and was once overheard by a police bug complaining about the "lady Mountie" who had been assigned to follow him, saying, "What's the world coming to? I don't mind these cops following me, but when I have bits and piece of me out and there are girls following me, there is no honor in that."[143]
In 1984, Papalia attempted to redevelop an entire city block he owned in Hamilton to put up a luxury hotel, which was frustrated by the city of Hamilton, which refused the necessary permits to redevelop the block.
In October 1985, Papalia was one of the principal suspects in the disappearance of Louis Iannuzzelli, a prominent businessman in Niagara Falls who vanished after angering Papalia by operating a loansharking business in what Papalia saw as his turf.[148] Iannuzzelli, the owner of the House of Frankenstein Wax Museum, was a loanshark who was under the protection of Dominic Longo.[135] When Longo died, Iannuzzeli disappeared three days later.[149] A police officer stated in 1986, "He [Iannuzzelli] didn't commit suicide. He was killed. And with him gone, there's no competition for John [Papalia] in Niagara Falls."[148] The police suspect that Barillaro was involved in Iannuzzelli's presumed murder.[149]
Regarding the Greektown case, Papalia said in 1986, "Yeah, I know the people they charged — they're friends of mine. But that doesn't mean I was involved; I wasn't, because I wouldn't have anything to do with Greeks — I don't like them, I don't like their restaurants, I don't like their food."[133] In the same interview with Peter Moon of The Globe & Mail, Papalia listed his hobbies as watching boxing, baseball, American football and old films as he could not stand "this porno stuff" as he labelled modern films.[124] He listed jazz as his favourite genre of music.[124] Papalia told Moon that he had stopped taking vacations in Mexico because there was "too much crime" in that nation, and now preferred the West Indies.[124] Papalia said about his occupation, "I go into a bar and I tell them my name and I intimidate people into taking our equipment. That's what the police tell you, isn't it? Listen, I'm lucky to have a couple of good brothers who look after me."[124] About his reputation for violence, Papalia said he had "a short fuse" and added, "Hey, we all lose our temper sometime, don't we?"[124] About why he was seen with gangsters so often, Papalia replied, "You go to Italian weddings, you meet people. I go to lots of Italian weddings."[124] Papalia admitted, however, "I did shylocking and bookmaking, but was back in the fifties. For a guy who been doing so much in this country, the police haven't been able to come up with anything on me. They got nothing better to do than run around following me all the time at taxpayers' expense."[124]
Papalia was known for his hatred of outlaw bikers, whom he found to be intolerably stupid and crude, and, in the 1980s and '90s, made it very clear that he did not want a Hells Angels chapter in Hamilton.[150] Papalia was prepared to grudgingly tolerate other outlaw biker clubs such as the Outlaws and Satan's Choice, but drew a line at the Hells Angels.[151] The Quebec biker war confirmed his prejudices as he found the Angels to be too violent and too vulgar for his liking.[151] Another reason was his opposition to the Rizzuto family. The elite Nomad chapter of the Hells Angels based in Montreal purchased their cocaine from the Rizzuto family, and in return sold the cocaine to the other Hells Angels chapters.[152] Papalia was especially opposed to the Hells Angels moving into Ontario because of their close alliance with the Rizzuto family as he felt that any Hells Angels chapters in Ontario would in effect be Rizzuto family chapters. Walter Stadnick, a Hamilton native and Hells Angel in charge of expanding them into Ontario, was forced to keep a low profile in his hometown as long as Papalia lived.[150] The crime expert Jerry Langton wrote, "Well into the '90s, Papalia was the undisputed Godfather in Hamilton, especially after Luppino died in 1987. He owned an entire city block among his vast real estate holdings. His companies were the biggest vending-machine and liquor-dispensing equipment firms in Canada. He made millions and laughed about it in the media."[133] In 1994, Papalia began suffering from health problems, and spent most of his time either at his penthouse apartment on Market Street or his office at the Galaxy Vending company across the street.[153]
In the 1990s, Mora borrowed $7.2 million from Montreal mob boss Vito Rizzuto and gave the bulk of the money to Papalia to open an upscale restaurant and nightclub in Toronto. After the Rizzuto crime family were not repaid, in September 1996, Mora was shot in the head four times at a Vaughan farm; Giacinto Arcuri was arrested and charged with Mora's murder, but was acquitted for lack of evidence.[154]
Death
In April 1997, Pasquale "Fat Pat" Musitano, the boss of the Musitano family, met with Gaetano "Guy" Panepinto, the Toronto agent of Montreal's Rizzuto family, in Niagara Falls.[155] Musitano was unhappy with the way that his family was subordinate to the Papalia family, which in turn was the Canadian branch of the Magaddino family.[156] Both Papalia and his right-hand man Barillaro were "made men" in the Magaddino family, and Musitano needed the "protection" of a more powerful family to avoid retaliation from the Buffalo family should either be killed. Musitano wanted an alignment with the Rizzuto family, which in turn was looking to expand into Ontario.[156]
Papalia was fatally shot in the head on May 31, 1997, at the age of 73 in the parking lot of 20 Railway Street outside his vending machine business, Galaxy Vending, in Hamilton.
Amid controversy, Papalia was refused a full Funeral Mass by the Diocese of Hamilton due to having been a career criminal.[159] He was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, in a family plot, in Burlington.[160]
Aftermath and legacy
Murdock also killed Papalia's right-hand man
Papalia's brother Frank, the former underboss of the family, who would have been the heir to the operation, decided not to retaliate; instead, he retired and lived inconspicuously. He died of natural causes in April 2014, at the age of 83.[167][36] Peter Edwards and Antonio Nicaso wrote that with the murders of Mora, Papalia and Barillaro over a ten month period "created more space" for the Rizzuto family, which was then able to dominate Ontario.[168] The journalists André Cédilot and André Noël described the Musitano brothers as merely proxies for Vito Rizzuto, the boss of the Rizzuto family, who saw Papalia, who was loyal to the Magaddino family, as an obstacle for his plans to dominate Ontario.[169] On October 22 and 23, 1997, Rizzuto met twice in a Hamilton restaurant with his Toronto agent Gaetano "Guy" Panepinto and Pasquale "Fat Pat" Musitano.[170] Rizzuto appointed Musitano as one of his Ontario lieutenants to work under the authority of Panepinto.[155][171]
Crime expert Jerry Langton called Papalia the most important Ontario Mafioso of his generation.[172] Langton noted Papalia had a marked distaste for outlaw bikers and, in a sign of his power, Walter Stadnick, the former president of Hells Angels Canada, had trouble establishing the Angels in Ontario while Papalia was alive. Langton stated, "It's hard for people to understand now just how powerful Johnny Pops was. He was basically the only Canadian Mafia figure who could sit at the table with the top guys in New York. He was part of the French connection; he ruled a big swath of Canada, particularly Southern Ontario, for a very long time. After the Mafia imploded in less than a year, there was no one to oppose the bikers and they came rushing in."[172] In a sign of the new power structure, one of Papalia's leading lieutenants, Gerald Ward of Welland, who had served as the Papalia family's principle drug dealer in the Niagara Peninsula, defected over to the Hells Angels after his murder.[173] One police officer, Shawn Clarkson, of the Niagara Falls Police Department, stated: "There was nobody to stand up to the Hells Angels the way Barillaro or Papalia would have. Papalia, even though he was 73 when he died, he wouldn't have put up with that."[174]
Notes
References
- ^ Humphreys 2015, p. 14.
- ^ a b c d e f g Schneider 2009, p. 291.
- ^ Humphreys 2015, p. 21.
- ^ Humphreys 2015, pp. 15–16.
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- ^ Humphreys 2015, pp. 27–28.
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- ^ Humphreys 1999, p. 18.
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- ^ a b c d Langton 2010, p. 10.
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- ^ Humphreys 2015, p. 26.
- ^ Humphreys 2015, p. 16-17 & 25-26.
- ^ a b Humphreys 1999, p. 26.
- ^ Humphreys 2015, p. 22.
- ^ Humphreys 1999, p. 32.
- ^ a b c d Humphreys 1999, p. 35.
- ^ a b Nicaso 2004, p. 178.
- ^ Nicaso 2004, p. 182.
- ^ Humphreys 1999, p. 28.
- ^ Humphreys 1999, p. 36.
- ^ Humphreys 1999, p. 36-37.
- ^ Nicaso 2004, p. 184.
- ^ Humphreys 2015, p. 27.
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