part II i know these are long but there pretty
good.Boss Files > Johnny "Pops" Papalia, Hamilton, Canada. Part II

Shortly after his release it wouldn't be long until Johnny was in court again. This time in New York of all places, for his part in the French Connection heroin smuggling ring. He went to trial in 1964, and was sentenced to 10 years were he would serve only 5.

Upon his release Johnny returned to Canada, with his reputation more fearsome than when he left. Now Johnny had served some real time, and in a tough New York prison too. Papalia, like all bosses must have worried about how things would run while he was inside. But Johnny had some really loyal men under his wing, 2 of which were his own brothers, Antonio and Dominik who in place to run some of the legitimate schemes that Johnny Papalia was interested in.

During the 70's and 80's, Johnny pops, matured into what you might call a more typical Mafia don. He started to slow things down a little bit, but only with the knowledge that he had trusted people around him. He was also very paranoid about going back to prison and therefore was very wary about bugs and wiretaps, he was becoming a real fox of a Mafia boss, he knew that he had good backing from across the border in Buffalo.

During the late 70's Johnny got wind of the Hamilton city council were considering changing the gambling laws, and were further considering possibilities of opening up a couple of gambling halls and casinos in the area. The moment Johnny found out he called his people to get the plans ready to open up their own casino's and gambling halls. But to Johnny's disappointment the council never did go ahead with their ideas, thus thwarting Johnny's hope of getting into some legal gambling in Hamilton.

As Johnny aged, he began to leave more and more of the responsibilities to one of his more trusted capo's, Carmen Barilaro who was active in the Niagara area. By the nineties Johnny was truly now ailing. The Canadian authorities suspected that Johnny was now suffering from Alzheimer's disease, but this was only speculation. But this speculation would eventually turn Johnny into a target, as rivals expected Johnny to be showing signs of weakness.

On May 31st 1997, the ailing Mafia don was murdered on his own doorstep on Railway Street, Hamilton. The murder perplexed the Canadian police as most Mafia murders do. There was plenty theories flying round as to who and possibly why. There were plenty of rival clans in Toronto and Montreal for the police to make their assumptions. One theory though would soon emerge above all others. The Rizzuto clan, from Montreal with their allegiances to their fellow Sicilians, the Cuntrera/Caruana family might have decided to take away Johnny's grip by force. The Cuntrera/Caruana clan had now settled in Woodbridge, Ontario, and was an extremely powerful and important clan, and not just at a local level either, for the C/C family had forced many allegiances worldwide and were indeed active in several countries throughout the world due to their massive drug smuggling operation.
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This however would have been a good theory but yet in wasn't the right one. The Musitano's were a clan also from Toronto and were behind the shooting. Ken Murdock was the Musitano family hitman and was completely responsible for the murder of Johnny Papalia. Also Murdock was behind the murder of Carmen Barilaro, a couple of months later. As yet we do not know for sure why Johnny Papalia was murdered the way he was. However we do know for a fact that it was indeed the Musitano family who orderedthe hit. What baffles us at Global Mafia is why would the Musitano family decide to kill him now when he may have had only a few years left in him any how.