Tampa Mafia Bus Tour

TAMPA MAFIA BUS TOUR ROUTE

1. OAKLAWN CEMTERY

2. THE FLORES MURDER EL CENTRO ESPAÑOL

3. IGNACIO ANTINORI HOUSE

4. PELUSA DIAZ MURDER 5. DREAM BAR

KINGPIN CHARLIE WALL HOUSE

7. SILVER METEOR BAR

Oaklawn Cemetery and Tampa Kingpin

Charlie McKay Wall Grave Site

Oaklawn Cemetery in Tampa, Florida, is a significant historic site, serving as the final resting place for many of the city's early residents, including notable figures like Charlie Wall.

Dating back to the late 1800s, Oaklawn Cemetery stands as one of Tampa's oldest cemeteries, reflecting the city's diverse cultural and historical tapestry.

The cemetery is a poignant tribute to Tampa's pioneers, housing the graves of mayors, war veterans, and influential businesspeople, providing a window into the city's evolution from a small settlement to a thriving urban center.

Among the cemetery's notable residents, Charlie Wall's story stands out. A central figure in Tampa's early 20th-century history, Wall was known as the "Mayor of Ybor City" and was involved in various controversial activities during the Prohibition era. Despite his shadowy dealings, Wall left a lasting impact on Tampa's development.

Tragically, Wall's life ended in 1955 when he was brutally murdered in his home. The unsolved nature of his murder adds an air of mystery to his already fascinating tale, drawing visitors intrigued by Tampa's history and the enigmatic stories that surround it.

The Flores Murder At The Old Centro Espanol of West Tampa

The historic walls of the old Centro Espanol of West Tampa building hold a rich and storied past. Once a thriving social club at the heart of the Spanish community, the building has witnessed both vibrant celebrations and darker moments.

Notably, the infamous 1951 incident involving the shooting of Armondo (Flaco) Flores added a haunting chapter to Tampa's history. In its heyday, the Centro Espanol was a bustling hub of Spanish culture, featuring a theater, cantina, and ballroom that brought the community together through lively performances and dances.

The shocking events of 1951, when Flores, a controversial figure, was killed on the premises, added a layer of intrigue to the building's already fascinating history. Flores' enigmatic persona, intertwined with rumors of underworld connections, further deepens the mystique surrounding the Centro Espanol of West Tampa.

Today the building is under the direction of the Hillsborough Education Foundation is a non-profit which has been garnering private resources to support public education since 1988.

Ignacio Antinori House

This historic home in Tampa has a rich and fascinating history. Built by the original owner, Ignacio Antinori, an immigrant from Sicily, the house was a symbol of his wealth and influence in the community.

Every detail of thehome, from the hand-laid mosaic tiles to the intricate plaster friezes, reflects the owner's success and prosperity.

However, Ignacio Antinori was not just a wealthy

man–he was also a prominent figure in organized crime. He established one of the first drug networks in Florida during Prohibition and became one of the biggest heroin dealers in the country by the 1930s.

Unfortunately, his criminal activities led to a tragic end when he was assassinated in 1940. This home stands as a testament to both the opulence and the darker history of its original owner.

A ‘SICILIAN OF THE OLD SCHOOL,’ RULED TAMPA’S UNDERWORLD FOR MORE THAN A DECADE!

The Murder of Joe Pelusa Diaz

In 1958, Joe Pelusa Diaz, a 44-year-old Bolita operator, was shot to death by a man with a 12 gauge shotgun as Diaz moved from a taxi cap to his Cadillac. The killer, who waited just feet away from Diaz's Cadillac, made his getaway in a black car into the night with the lights off as Diaz fell to the pavement.

Diaz was seen shot by Robert Van Auken, the cab driver who took Diaz to his 1957 Cadillac parked alongside Woodland cemetery after his visit from the home of a female friend, Mrs. Lois Nunez.

Diaz never reached his car, getting shot with 26 of the buckshot, each the size of a 32 caliber, hitting and tearing a large hole in his right side above his waist. The cab driver said it happened so quickly he could only determine the killer was a white man driving a black car. He couldn't identify the killer, and he couldn't see the car's license number.

Diaz had been waiting for sentencing in both Hillsborough and Polk County criminal courts on numbers racket convictions. He had bragged during the last few days he wouldn't go to prison by himself.

He left behind a letter dated December 28, 1956, that read, "to be opened in case I disappear or die by accident, or I'm shot to death." In the letter, Diaz named a member of the city vice squad as the man responsible "if anything happens to me."

The letter said the vice squad member had been putting pressure on Diaz and his friends, "so we will turn our Bolita business to a group that has him tied up. He does everything they tell him." The letter also named

Diaz's alleged gambling associates and members of the other gang.

To this day, the brutal murder of Joe Pelusa Diaz is still considered unsolved.

The Dream Bar

Outside the 7th Avenue corridor of Ybor was the Dream Bar, originally called the Nebraska Bar. It had an adjoining poolroom and was owned by the Trafficante family. The long-time bartender and manager was Nick Scaglione, a gambling figure who was well-known to police and named by law enforcement as a made guy in the local Mafia.

On August 18, 1954, just a week after the death of Santo Trafficante Sr, police were called to the bar to investigate a reported shooting. When police arrived

TAMPA CRIME BOSS SANTO TRAFFICANTE

they found blood on the sidewalk out front and a torn shirt inside. The customers, including Frank Ippolito, claimed no knowledge of the shooting and police never found a victim. But there was a victim a few years later when Nick Scaglione was stabbed while tending bar. He refused to name his assailant.

The Dream Bar was also at the center of a federal tax lien against the estate of Santo Trafficante, Sr. In 1962, when the Feds started closing the noose around the Trafficante brothers), the bar was damaged in a fire.

Bolita Kingpin: Charlie Wall House

On April 19, 1955, almost every squad car in Hillsborough County lined 1216 E. 17th Avenue in Ybor City. A crowd of men, women, and children stood anxiously in the yard of the only mansion in Ybor City, waiting to hear if the rumors of another gang slaying that had spread throughout the city were true.

While gang slayings had become the norm in Tampa, the latest being the 21st in the last 23 years, this one was different. This murder was ruthless. The victim's head was caved in with a bat, and his neck was sliced from ear to ear. Most important, though, was the identity of the

victim. He was not just any Mafioso or gang member; the victim was one of the most colorful and notorious men in the history of Tampa, the man known as the "White Shadow" Charlie Wall, the tall, Anglo, retired crime lord who ruled Tampa through both love and fear for most of the early part of the 20th century.

Charlie Wall's name elicits powerfully excited responses from those in Tampa who remember him from their childhood years in Ybor City or whose parents and grandparents told them stories of him. He was the White Shadow, Tampa's original crime lord!

Silver Meteor Bar

On the night of June 6, 1953, two shotgun blasts tore through the front window of the bar and blew off the face of Henry Hicks, a janitor who was mopping the floor.

The shots were intended for Paul Ferraro, who had just walked out the front door. Ferraro was the bartender at the Silver Meteor, as well as a gambling figure with a long record of arrests. At that time, the Silver Meteor was owned by gambling figure Ciro Spoto Bellucia. Ferraro, now deceased, subsequently went into hiding, and Hicks became the 20th victim of gangland violence in Tampa. The murder remains unsolved.