Johnny Papalia

Papalia was born on March 18, 1924, in Hamilton.[1][2] His father, Antonio "Tony" Papalia, who had early Picciotteria values,[3] was a bootlegger who immigrated to Canada from Delianuova, Calabria, Italy, in 1912. He 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.[lower-alpha 1] His father became associated with Calabrian compatriot and notorious bootlegger Rocco Perri, and later Guelph mobster Tony Sylvestro, working as a bootlegger who operated speakeasies.[6][7] He was suspected in playing a role in the murder of Perri's wife Bessie Starkman in 1930.[8] Papalia said of his father, in a 1986 interview with The Globe and Mail's Peter Moon, "I grew up in the '30s and you'd see a guy who couldn't read or write but who had a car and was putting food on the table. He was a bootlegger and you looked up to him".[9][10]

Papalia's mother, Maria Rosa Italiano, also came from a Mafia family, the Italiano clan, who also participated in Perri's gang.[11] 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 1923 to marry Antonio.[12] 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.[13] Papalia had "a reputation for extreme violence" from the start of his criminal record, and despite being only 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m) with a slender build, was widely feared.[9]

Papalia attended St. Augustine Catholic School on Mulberry Street, dropping out in grade 8 after he suffered from a case of tuberculosis that put him in a sanitorium for several months.[10] In 1986, Papalia stated that his biggest regret in life was never attending high school, saying of his life, "It's been an interesting one. But maybe I'd liked it to be different".[10] As a teenager, Papalia was a member of a gang that staged burglaries in Hamilton, with the icehouse at the corner of Railway and Mulberry streets serving as their base.[10] Papalia later described himself as a "wild kid" who was known for his womanizing, and who had contracted syphilis by the age of 19.[14]

In 1940, Papalia's father was arrested and sent to internment at Camp Petawawa as part of the Italian Canadian internment, as potentially dangerous enemy aliens with alleged connections to Benito Mussolini's fascist regime, causing his son to have a grudge against the Canadian government.[9] Papalia later gave his father's internment as the reason as to why he did not serve in the military during World War II.[15] When Antonio Papalia was interned, his profession was listed as "bootlegger".[2] Antonio Papalia was released in 1941 after he convinced the authorities that he was not a Fascist.[16] The authorities imposed conditions upon his release such as he stay out of Hamilton and regularly check in with the police.[16] After his release, the Papalia family aligned with the Buffalo crime family, causing tensions with the still interned Perri who saw this as a betrayal.[17] Johnny Papalia did not volunteer for overseas service (until November 1944, Canada only sent volunteers overseas to fight in World War II). He 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.[10] In 1943, Papalia moved to Toronto, where he joined a gang that specialized in burglaries.[2] During this period, Papalia started to work for Harvey Chernick, one of Toronto's biggest heroin dealers.[2]

During his time in Toronto, Papalia served with a youth gang consisting of Paul Volpe, Pasquale Giodrano , Roy Pasquale, and Alberto Mignacchio.[15] Many of the members of the gang such as Volpe remained long-time associates of Papalia.[18] 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".[19]

On October 17, 1943, Perri was released from internment as Italy had signed an armistice with the Allies on September 3, 1943.[20] It is believed Antonio and Johnny Papalia, along with Stefano Magaddino of the Buffalo crime family, played a role in Perri's disappearance in 1944 after Perri left members of his Mafia crew "slighted", though the case remains unsolved.[21][5] On 27 January 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.[15] Papalia's criminal record, health problems and his anger at the Canadian government for interning his father ensured that he was not conscripted.[15] In 1944, Papalia, Giondrano, and Pasquale robbed a Toronto-Dominion bank to provide themselves with venture capital for their criminal enterprises.[22] When visiting Toronto, Papalia was known to joke that the particular branch of the Toronto-Dominion bank that he robbed in 1944 was "our bank".[22]

Papalia was involved in petty crimes from a young age. Papalia was first arrested for burglary in 1945, but was given a short sentence.[9] 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.[23] 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 from a prostitute.[24] 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.[25] 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).[25]

When 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.[26] 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.[10] In June 1955, while collecting money from various Montreal businesses together with the boxer Norm Yakubowitz, Papalia was the subject of an assassination attempt when someone opened fire on the duo.[27] Yakubowitz was shot in the leg while Papalia was unharmed.[27] He later shifted to Toronto extorting brokers and running gambling clubs.[28]

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.[29][30] It is not clear just precisely when Papalia became a made man, but it appears to have occurred sometime in 1955.[31] Galante had forged an alliance with the Cotroni family of Montreal, 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. Catharine's, Welland, Niagara Falls and much of Toronto.[32] Papalia also had influence into northern Ontario, having influence in North Bay.[32] By 1955, Papalia was known for wearing expensive suits and driving equally expensive automobiles, together with his womanizing habits.[27] He liked to flash what he called "reds and browns" ($50 and $100 bills) as a sign of his wealth.[25]

In 1954, 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.[33] 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.[34] 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.[35]

Papalia often seized control of various businesses by asking of the business owners the question "Johnny Papalia-does that mean anything to you?"[36] When the answer was no, Papalia replied "Well, it's going to. I'm your new partner".[36] Those who refused his offers of partnership were then beaten bloody by Papalia's thugs.[37] 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.[37] The protection payments served as seed money for Papalia's loan sharking business, which he called "shylocking".[38] Papalia's principle enforcer was Howard "Baldy" Chard, a professional heavyweight boxer.[39] 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.[39] 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.[40] Papalia, a boxing fan, together with 100 guests watched the last known bare knuckles boxing match in Canada, a fight that was notorious for its bloodiness and ended with Chard defeating Parker.[40]

In 1955, with assistance from Sylvestro, Papalia started opening charter gambling clubs in Hamilton and Toronto. Sylvestro's son-in-law Danny Gasbarrini, Papalia's brothers Frank, Rocco and Dominic, half-brothers Joseph and Angelo, brother-in-law Tony Pugliese, and associates Red LeBarre, Freddie Gabourie, Frank Marchildon and Jackie Weaver, all worked in running Papalia's clubs.[41] After police raids, Papalia started working with James McDermott and Vincent Feeley, two major figures in gambling, in several clubs throughout southern Ontario.[42] In 1959, Papalia was the only Canadian who attended the meeting in New York that set up the "French Connection" smuggling network.[43] Under the "French Connection", the Mafia brought heroin via France into North America.[43] The "French Connection" heroin was grown in the poppy fields of Turkey and further afield in the "Golden Crescent" nations of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran or the "Golden Triangle" nations of Burma, Thailand and Laos. Joseph Valachi, who also attended the same meeting in New York, and later turned informer, testified that he knew Papalia as a capo (boss) who dominated southern Ontario under the authority of the Magaddino family of Buffalo.[43]

In 1959, Papalia first came to widespread media attention when a profile of him was published in Toronto Star Weekly Magazine by Peter Sypnowich under the title "He Wanted To Be Canada's Al Capone".[27] However, Synowich focused on Papalia's sex addiction, calling him "a compulsive womanizer".[27] 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".[27] Papalia's fondness for the wives and girlfriends of other men led him to engage in a succession of fights with the cuckolded men.[27]

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.[44] 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.[44] Bluestein refused to "merge" his operations with Papalia's and was beaten with brass knuckles, iron bars and fists as a result.[45] 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.[43] Berton turned the Bluestein beating into a cause célèbre, constantly demanding in his column that Papalia be brought to justice.[43] 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. Knuckledusters 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".[44] 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.[46]

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.[47] Berton's columns had their effect, causing massive public outrage and Papalia was ordered to turn himself in.[44] 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".[48] In 1986, Papalia expressed no remorse for the beating, saying "Bluestein was greedy, he wanted it all for himself".[44] 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.[49] 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.[47]

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.[50] Papalia began to hijack trucks to supply cigarettes for his vending machines.[27] 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% interest on the loans.[27][25] 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".[27]

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.[51] 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.[52][53] On May 22, 1961, several people were indicted related to the "French Connection" from informants Salvatore Rinaldo and Matteo Palmeri.[54] In July 1961, Papalia was ordered to be extradited to the United States for his role in the smuggling ring,[55] and after his sentence for the Bluestein assault was commuted on March 15, 1962, he was finally extradited.[5][56] As Papalia was marched by officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to the plane that was to take him to the United States, he shouted at the assembled reporters, "I'm being kidnapped! Help me! They're taking me somewhere I don't want to go!"[57] The "French Connection" case was described by Robert F. Kennedy, the attorney-general of the United States, as "the deepest penetration ever made in the illegal international trafficking of drugs".[57]

On March 11, 1963, Papalia was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison. During the trial, he coughed up blood due to the tuberculosis he contracted as a child.[58] Due to the indictment, Magaddino promoted Santo Scibetta to leader of the Buffalo family's Ontario branch, replacing Papalia.[59][60]

On January 25, 1968, after serving less than half the sentence, he was released from a United States penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania and sent back to Canada.[5][61] His father died on May 14, 1964, while Papalia was in jail, while his mother died on July 27, 1970.[62] Giacomo Luppino and Santo Scibetta also answered to Magaddino while Papalia was imprisoned.[59] 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.[57] Much to Papalia's annoyance, some of his interests in Toronto were handed over by the Magaddinos to Volpe.[63] 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 Papalia to do in Toronto.[63] At a meeting with Luppino in November 1968, Papalia expressed some uncertainty as to whom the Cotroni family of Montreal answered to, saying it was either the Magaddino family or the Bonanno family, leading to Luppino to answer "We are still under the Commission".[57]

On June 6, 1969, Papalia visited Toronto to meet with Luppino.[63] On the following day, the bullet-ridden body of Filippo Vendemini was found in the parking lot behind his shoe store on Bloor Street.[63] Vendemini's widow, Giuseppina, told the police that her husband was frequently on the phone with a man she only knew as Vincenzo.[64] Using the phone records, the police discovered that Vincenzo was Vincenzo Sicari, the owner of a pizzeria in Montreal who often visited Toronto.[64] Sicari stated to the police that on the day of the murder, he had driven Vendemini to Hamilton to see an unnamed mutual friend and then drove Vendemini to the Toronto airport; he denied knowing anything about the murder.[64] On July 28, 1969, Papalia again returned to Toronto to meet with Luppino, and on the same day, the bullet-ridden body of Sicari was found in Toronto.[64] The way that murders in Toronto always seemed to occur at the same time that Papalia met with Luppino led the police to suspect that Papalia was the killer.[57] It was around this time that Papalia started to be known in the underworld as "the Enforcer".[64]

On June 4, 1970, a NDP MPP, Morton Shulman, gave a speech at Queen's Park, that detailed the close friendship between Papalia and a locally prominent Hamilton businessman with a long criminal record, Clinton Duke as well as with the commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police Eric Silk.[65] The speech caused a media storm in Ontario. Papalia behaved with characteristic insolence when interviewed by two police officers, giving flippant answers to questions about his relationship with Duke.[65] At a public inquiry to examine Shulman's allegations, 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.[66] The inquiry commissioner found no evidence that Papalia had corrupted Silk via Duke, but did criticize Silk for associating with Duke, whom he stated was an unsavory figure.[67] In August 1970, Papalia attended a crime summit in Acapulco representing the Magaddino family to meet with gangsters from Canada, the United States and Mexico to discuss plans to take over the soon to be legalized casino industry in Quebec.[68] The plans turned out to be moot when the Quebec premier, Robert Bourassa, later dropped his plans to legalize casinos as his government took a tough law-and-order stance in response to the FLQ.[69] In August 1971, at a meeting in Toronto, Luppino shifted control of the construction unions in Toronto from Papalia to Volpe, which was a major blow to Papalia's ego.[70]

In 1974, Montreal mobsters Vincenzo Cotroni and Paolo Violi were overheard on a police wiretap threatening to kill 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.[5] On April 30, 1974, Papalia went to Montreal, where Cotroni told him: "I don't want chicken feed. He used our name. Half".[71] Violi agreed, saying, "That's it. He got to his person because he used our name. Not because he used his name. The guy was afraid of us and he paid. People who use our name pay".[71] Papalia seemed to be afraid of Cotroni, telling him, "I know you'll kill me, Vic. I believe you'll kill me".[71] 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.[72] In 1982, after Bader had moved south to Miami, he was sprayed with bullets when answering his front door. Papalia has been linked with his death, as well as the 1983 murder of Volpe, but no charges were laid.[73] In 1977, Papalia was featured in the CBC television documentary, Connections, about Mafia influence on the Canadian economy.[74] 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.[74] The footage was aired anyhow with the four-words being beeped out, which made Papalia appear crude and vulgar.[74]

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."[64] 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.[64] 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.[64] As Papalia grew more wealthy and powerful, he came to display a sultanistic attitude alongside his megalomania.[64] In 1975, Papalia founded the Gold Key Club nightclub in Hamilton.[64] Only members and their guests who knew the password were allowed entry.[64] Detective Sergeant John 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".[75] 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.[75] 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.[76]

In January 1981, Papalia married Janetta Hayes in a private ceremony; they separated in 1983.[77] In July 1983, Réal Simard moved to Ontario from Montreal where he met with Papalia in Hamilton on behalf of Frank Cotroni.[78] At a meeting at Hanrahan's strip bar in Hamilton, Simard phoned Cotroni in Montreal and then handed the phone over to Papalia, who was told that Simard was his representative and he was to work with him.[79] The meeting was tense as Papalia had brought along three bodyguards.[79] During the phone call, Cotroni's right-hand man, Claude Faber, was heard to tell Simard: "If he makes trouble, kill the fucker — he's old enough to die".[80] Simard seized the Ontario market, bringing Quebec strippers to Toronto clubs, where he allowed Papalia to put his pinball machines in his clubs.[81] The strippers from Quebec were the first to engage in full frontal nudity in Ontario, which made them very popular.[81] Despite their first meeting, Papalia managed to get along well with Simard.[80] In contrast to Simard, Papalia hated Eddie Melo, a boxer turned mob enforcer for the Cotroni family, who had replaced Simard as the Cotroni's family's supervisor for the Toronto area.[82] Papalia is reported to have told Cotroni: "Put a leash on Melo or I'll kill him".[82] 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.[83] The police considered Papalia to be one of the prime suspects behind Volpe's murder.[84]

In 1984, Papalia tried 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.[76] In the 1980s, Papalia tried to seize control of the illegal gambling houses in Toronto's Greektown on the Danforth, sending his right-hand man Carmen Barillaro to lead a crew to beat up patrons and rob the gambling houses that refused to pay the extortion.[85] In December 1985, several of Papalia's associates were charged with extortion in Greektown.[83] Besides for Barillaro, Papalia's other principal lieutenant was Enio Mora.[73] Mora ran the Papalia family's operations in the greater Toronto while Barillaro ran the operations in the Niagara Peninsula.[73] Mora was known his practice of dosing those behind in loans to Papalia with gasoline and threatening to burn them alive as an initiative to pay up.[86] Barillaro was considered to be the more important of the two as the geographical proximity of the Niagara peninsula to the U.S. border allowed drugs to be smuggled into Canada. In October 1985, Papalia was the principal suspect in the disappearance of Louis Iannuzzelli, a prominent businessman in Niagara Falls who vanished after he fallen behind in a loan to the Papalia family.[87] 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".[87]

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".[83] 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.[76] He listed jazz as his favorite genere of music.[76] 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.[76] 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".[76] About his reputation for violence, Papalia said he had "a short fuse" and added, "Hey, we all lose our temper sometime, don't we?"[76] 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".[76] 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's expense".[76]

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.[88] 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.[89] The Quebec biker war confirmed his prejudices as he found the Angels to be too violent and too vulgar for his liking.[89] Walter Stadnick, a Hamilton native and Hells Angels in charge of expanding them into Ontario, was forced to keep a low profile in his hometown as long as Papalia lived.[88] 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".[83] 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 his Monarch Vending company across the street.[90]

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.[91]

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.[92] The hitman Kenneth Murdock claimed that he had been ordered to kill Papalia by Angelo and Pat Musitano of the Musitano crime family who owed $250,000 to cover bookmaking debts to Papalia.[7]

Amid controversy, Papalia was not given a full funeral mass by the Catholic Church due to his criminal history.[93] He was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, in a family plot, in Burlington.[94]