115 Facts About Johnny Papalia

Johnny Papalia was born in Hamilton, to Italian immigrants who had a history in organized crime.

On May 31,1997, Johnny 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.

Johnny Papalia's father, Antonio "Tony" Papalia, who had early Picciotteria values, was a bootlegger who immigrated to Canada from Delianuova, Calabria, Italy, in 1912.

Johnny Papalia first came through New York City before moving on to Montreal, Quebec, then to New Brunswick to work in the coal mines, before finally settling on Railway Street in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1917.

Johnny Papalia's father became associated with Calabrian compatriot and notorious bootlegger Rocco Perri, and later Guelph mobster Tony Sylvestro, working as a bootlegger who operated speakeasies.

Tony Johnny Papalia was working as a driver for Perri's bootlegging operations at least by 1922, if not earlier.

Johnny Papalia was suspected in playing a role in the murder of Perri's wife Bessie Starkman in 1930.

Johnny Papalia was a bootlegger and you looked up to him.

Johnny Papalia's parents were not married at the time of his birth, which was a source of much shame for him.

Johnny Papalia later described himself as a "wild kid" who was known for his womanizing, and who had contracted syphilis by the age of 19.

Johnny Papalia later gave his father's internment as the reason as to why he did not serve in the military during World War II.

The Johnny Papalia family were still angry with Perri for his refusal to support the Italiano family and made an alliance with Stefano Magaddino against him.

Johnny Papalia did not volunteer for overseas service.

Johnny Papalia later claimed that his reputation for violence dated back to the war years when he was the subject of anti-Italian bullying and insults, leading Papalia to engage in violence for self-defense.

In 1943, Johnny Papalia moved to Toronto, where he joined a gang that specialized in burglaries.

Johnny Papalia was smart enough, though, to make sure he was with people who were.

Johnny Papalia was involved in petty crimes from a young age.

Johnny Papalia was first arrested for burglary in 1945, but was given a short sentence.

Johnny Papalia 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.

At his trial, Johnny 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.

The fact that Johnny 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 omerta.

When Johnny Papalia was released in 1951, he moved to Montreal for a stint, where he worked with Luigi Greco and New York City Bonanno crime family representative Carmine Galante in heroin trafficking.

Galante who had been impressed by Johnny Papalia appointed him to serve as his agent for Ontario.

Johnny 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.

Johnny Papalia's territory covered Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville, St Catharines, Welland, Niagara Falls and much of Toronto.

Johnny Papalia had influence into northern Ontario with his power extending into North Bay.

In 1954, Johnny Papalia was running a taxi company in Hamilton, which attracted police attention when one of the cab drivers, Tony Coposodi, was killed execution-style.

Johnny Papalia liked to flash what he called "reds and browns" as a sign of his wealth.

Also in 1954, Johnny Papalia paid the tax arrears of the Porcupine Miners' Club of Timmins, a social group for the miners in northern Ontario founded in 1929 that had been out of business for some time.

Johnny Papalia used the right that he gained with the social club charter to reopen the Porcupine Miners' Club in Hamilton in 1955, which served as a cover for an illegal gambling club that operated for the next two years.

Johnny Papalia had the games rigged at his gambling club, having the dice loaded to favour certain numbers, having small dents placed in the cards to let the dealers know what the cards were and clips were placed under the gambling tables to remove cards with high values.

In June 1955, while collecting money from various Montreal businesses together with the boxer Norm Yakubowitz, Johnny Papalia was the subject of an assassination attempt when someone opened fire on the duo.

Johnny Papalia later shifted to Toronto extorting brokers and running gambling clubs.

In 1955, Papalia organized in Toronto a bare-knuckle boxing match between Chard and James J Parker, the former British Empire and Canadian heavyweight champion.

Also in 1955, with assistance from Sylvestro, Johnny Papalia started opening charter gambling clubs in Hamilton and Toronto.

Together with Alberto Agueci of the Magaddino family, Johnny Papalia contacted Antoine Cordoliani and Joseph Cesari, two Corsican leaders of Le Milieu, to buy high-quality heroin.

Johnny 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 Johnny Papalia's crew.

In October 1958, Johnny Papalia made contact with Vinnie Mauro and Frank Caruso of the Genovese family, saying he wanted to smuggle heroin into the United States and needed someone to sell the heroin.

In 1959, Johnny Papalia was the only Canadian who attended the meeting in New York that formally set up the French Connection smuggling network.

Bluestein's Lakeview Club earned more than $13 million a year, but on March 21,1961, at the Town Tavern in Toronto, Johnny Papalia met with Bluestein.

Bluestein refused to "merge" his operations with Johnny Papalia's and was beaten with brass knuckles, iron bars and fists as a result.

Berton turned the Bluestein beating into a cause celebre, constantly demanding in his column that Johnny Papalia be brought to justice.

Johnny Papalia's overcoat, torn and slashed, was literally drenched in his own blood.

Berton's columns had their effect, causing massive public outrage and Johnny Papalia was ordered to turn himself in.

The trial ended with Johnny Papalia being found guilty of assault and Judge Addison sentenced Johnny Papalia to 18 months in prison.

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 Johnny Papalia seemed greater than the fear of God with the witnesses at this trial.

Johnny Papalia has an inbred need to steal other men's women.

Later in 1961, Johnny 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.

Johnny Papalia began to hijack trucks to supply cigarettes for his vending machines.

Johnny Papalia 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.

In July 1961, Johnny Papalia was ordered to be extradited to the United States for his role in the smuggling ring.

Johnny Papalia came to be fascinated with chess and therefore often likened himself to a chess master who always carefully pondered his every move.

On March 4,1963, Johnny Papalia pleaded guilty just as his trial was about to begin.

On March 11,1963, Johnny Papalia was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The lawyers for the Department of Justice noted that Johnny 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.

In 1963, Johnny Papalia was convicted in absentia in Italy of gangsterism and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Later upon his return to Canada, the Canadian authorities refused the extradition request from Italy under the grounds that Johnny Papalia was a Canadian citizen and that the offense of "Mafia associations" did not exist in the Criminal Code of Canada.

Johnny Papalia worked closely with the Italian branch of his 'ndrina.

Johnny Papalia's father had died on May 14,1964, while Papalia was in jail, and his mother later died on July 27,1970.

Johnny Papalia's homecoming to Hamilton was a lavish affair as Railway Street was filled up with a vast assortment of parked Lincolns and Cadillacs as a number of the underworld figures of southern Ontario arrived to pay their respects.

Johnny Papalia met with Luppino to ask that his interests in Toronto be returned, a request that was refused, but Luppino did say that there was still work for Johnny Papalia to do in Toronto.

On June 6,1969, Johnny Papalia visited Toronto to meet with Luppino.

On July 28,1969, Johnny Papalia again returned to Toronto to meet with Luppino, and on the same day, the bullet-ridden body of Sicari was found in Toronto.

The way that murders in Toronto always seemed to occur at the same time that Johnny Papalia met with Luppino led the police to suspect that Johnny Papalia was the killer.

Johnny Papalia behaved with characteristic insolence when interviewed by two police officers, giving flippant answers to questions about his relationship with Duke.

At a public inquiry to examine Shulman's allegations, Johnny Papalia admitted that Duke was a long-standing friend of his, but denied corrupting the police, claiming to be unaware that Duke was a close friend of Silk's.

The photographs of Johnny Papalia entering the Old City Hall of Toronto to testify at the inquiry dressed in a trench coat and a fedora while smoking a cigarette made the frontpages of the Canadian newspapers.

The inquiry commissioner found no evidence that Johnny Papalia had corrupted Silk via Duke, but did criticize Silk for associating with Duke, whom he stated was an unsavory figure.

Johnny Papalia remained close to American gangsters whom he often met in the resort towns of Turkey Point and Port Rowan on the shores of Lake Erie.

The incident led to Johnny Papalia being charged with assault, but a month later, in September 1971 the assault charges were dropped when Joy accepted a written apology from Johnny Papalia who stated he "been under a great deal of pressure at the time" and refused to testify against him.

Racco asked Johnny Papalia to look after his son after his death, which was a mark of great honor within the Mafia subculture.

Johnny Papalia took this duty seriously, attempting to serve as a surrogate father to Domenic Racco and tried to discourage him, albeit unsuccessfully, from abusing drugs.

In 1974, Johnny Papalia attended the murder trial of Peter Demeter in Toronto, which was already a media circus and his presence in the courtroom caused a "media sensation" as there was much speculation about why he was attending a trial in which the Johnny Papalia family was apparently not involved in.

Johnny Papalia devised a plan under which Swartz would tell Bader that the investors were from the Cotroni family, and that Johnny Papalia would volunteer to "return" the stolen money to Montreal in exchange for sparing Bader's life.

In 1974, Montreal mobsters Vincenzo Cotroni and Paolo Violi were overheard on a police wiretap threatening to kill Johnny Papalia and demanding $150,000 after he used their names in the $300,000 extortion of Toronto business man Stanley Bader without notifying or cutting them in on the score.

Johnny Papalia got to his person because he used our name.

Johnny Papalia backed down both times after Latraverse proved willing to take him up on his challenges.

Cotroni kept his word, and Johnny Papalia ceased trying to provoke fights with Latraverse.

Violi and Cotroni got their sentences appealed to just six months, but Johnny Papalia's was rejected; he served four of the years.

Johnny Papalia has been linked with his death, as well as the 1983 murder of Volpe, but no charges were laid.

In 1977, Johnny Papalia was featured in the CBC television documentary, Connections, about Mafia influence on the Canadian economy.

Johnny Papalia refused to be interviewed, exploding in rage and swearing at a CBC television crew that tried to interview him on the streets, believing that this would render the footage un-airable.

The footage was aired anyhow with the four-words being beeped out, which made Johnny Papalia appear crude and vulgar on national television.

Johnny Papalia 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.

In 1975, Johnny Papalia founded the Gold Key Club nightclub in Hamilton.

Johnny Papalia was very good to all the kids and very good to all the people who lived in the area.

In January 1981, Johnny Papalia married Janetta Hayes in a private ceremony; they separated in 1983.

The meeting was tense as Johnny Papalia had brought along three bodyguards.

Simard seized the Ontario market, bringing Quebec strippers to Toronto clubs, where he allowed Johnny Papalia to put his pinball machines in his clubs.

The police considered Johnny Papalia to be one of the prime suspects behind Volpe's murder.

The journalists Peter Edwards and Antonio Nicaso, in their 1993 book Deadly Silence, accused Johnny Papalia of being the one responsible for Volpe's murder.

Johnny Papalia read Deadly Silence and later briefly met Nicaso; the latter found it significant that Johnny Papalia did not actually deny the accusation about Volpe's murder.

Johnny Papalia became more cautious in his last years as he greatly feared returning to prison.

Johnny Papalia refused to break his parole conditions that he was not to leave Hamilton.

Johnny 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.

The police placed bugs on the parking meters on Railroad Street, hoping to catch Johnny Papalia saying something incriminating as he held his meetings while walking up and down the street.

In 1984, Johnny 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.

Elkind did not record enough incriminating statements for the police to lay charges as Johnny Papalia was always careful with his words, but Robinson leaked to the media in October 1983 that Johnny Papalia had taken out mortgages worth $11.7 million on properties worth only $2 million.

In December 1985, several of Johnny Papalia's associates were charged with extortion in Greektown.

Johnny Papalia listed jazz as his favourite genre of music.

Johnny 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.

Johnny 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.

Johnny 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.

Johnny 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.

Johnny Papalia owned an entire city block among his vast real estate holdings.

Johnny Papalia's companies were the biggest vending-machine and liquor-dispensing equipment firms in Canada.

Johnny Papalia made millions and laughed about it in the media.

Johnny 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.

Johnny Papalia was brought to Hamilton General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Amid controversy, Johnny Papalia was refused a full Funeral Mass by the Diocese of Hamilton due to having been a career criminal.

Johnny Papalia was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, in a family plot, in Burlington.

Johnny Papalia died of natural causes in April 2014, at the age of 83.

The journalists Andre Cedilot and Andre Noel described the Musitano brothers as merely proxies for Vito Rizzuto, the boss of the Rizzuto family, who saw Johnny Papalia, who was loyal to the Magaddino family, as an obstacle for his plans to dominate Ontario.

Johnny Papalia was basically the only Canadian Mafia figure who could sit at the table with the top guys in New York.

Johnny Papalia was part of the French connection; he ruled a big swath of Canada, particularly Southern Ontario, for a very long time.