Two cops in Tampa were killed by the Mafia. Well one for sure, the other very likely.

The still unsolved July 1949 murder of patrolman Morris Lopez was the first. He was shot while walking the beat in Ybor City. Joe M. Cacciatore, Tampa wiseguy and uncle of Santo Trafficante Jr. was a prime suspect, and in later years would brag about having killed Lopez, but no concrete evidence was found. Case is still open.

Detective Richard Cloud was a vice cop who uncovered ties between the Tampa Mafia, strip club industry, drug dealing, and politicians. When he got too close to higher ups in Tampa PD, he was fired. A few months later, in October of 1975 he answered the door to his house and was shot and killed by low level associate Benjamin Guilford who was hired by Anthony Antone (who was put to death for the murder). Guilford killed himself in jail, as did the man who was the mastermind, Victor Acosta. Another accomplice Ellis Haskew testified and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Acosta had pills smuggled into his jail cell to facilitate his demise. Acosta was close to underboss Frank Diecidue.

That was Fort Lee police chief. According to another member of the police force he was depressed regarding his upcoming trial. I believe Willie M. was expected to testify at his upcoming trial.

I think both chiefs ended up dead. So did the guy from Brooklyn who whacked Morelli out.

willie moretti was hit on orders from vito Genovese, moretti was suffering from a veneral disease and it had affected his brain. when he testified in front of the Kefauver commission his speech rambled, and Genovese was afraid he would say things. joe valaci goes into the morretti killing in the book "the valachi papers" valachi says the hitman was johnny robolito, and he took anastasias side after Gambino took over,so Gambino had him hit.

@Binnie Coll
What are you a reporter or something? Why always name names?
There's no need for it. Nobody was asking who or why so why offer up information?

John Damato

I remember reading that moretti was an animal

@Binnie....Don't worry about the peanut gallery, post whatever you feel like buddy....That's what this forum is all about...Some people aren't playing with a full deck and are obviously a bit confused of what goes on here...So just do yourself a favor and put em on the "Pay NO Mind List."

As for U NJCapo who I seriously doubt is from Jersey I have been nothing but cool to U on here. What? I didn't pm u back so now u got sore at me I don't know who u r should I trust u?
You didn't even KNOW who Richie the Boot was until I mentioned his name on here NOW LOOK AT YA u got his pic as your profile pic come on guy who r u kiddin DEFINITELY NOT ME
Drop the act, you don't know shit about half of these wiseguys on here. You are just waiting for posters to drop names so you can search them and act like you know wuz up.
Have a very nice night pal. We can post whatever we feel like right buddy...

Please lady, what you have just posted here goes to show you i was right about the comment that your not playing with a full deck and have some screws loose upstairs...Trust me? , i pm'd you on how to post pics and you didn't even have the courtesy to say Thank You, plus BInnie is a new member here and already your talking shit to him (kind of like you did to me when you first signed up ), so to me that just goes to show your true character...As for the Boot i KNEW of him since i was 8 years old so don't try and play that game with me....Look through my post's and you'll see one or two about Richie before you even signed up, so stop your bullshit!.... I forgot more about the history of organized crime than you'll ever know, believe that...Waiting for people to drop names, huh that's too funny..SMFH

Edit: About the acting part, i'm a little confused here .....Go through all of my post's and please tell me where the acting comes into play.

njcapo35 thank you for your kind words about me. I am new to posting and I like to use sources when I can. im not trying to show any body up here,posters like yourself have extensive knowledge of o. c. myself ive just read a lot. about the subject. you mention Richie "the boot" giardo, I may not have the last name right. however I saw a picture taken in the thirties with joe DiMaggio eating dinner with Richie the boot.so DiMaggio did know some people.

victim: Anton Cermak,Chicago Mayor
date of death: March 20, 1933
behind the murder:The Outfit
killer/s:Giuseppe Zangara

Not clear why the outfit was ordered to kill Cermak, nor whether he was the real target and not Roosevelt

http://archive.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=135110

Tampa Officers Killed: Officer Morris D. Lopez



Tampa Police - Officer Morris Lopez, age 25, conducted his daily foot patrol in historic Ybor City, this was his beat. On July 9, 1949, Officer Lopez just finished contacting headquarters on the Ybor City call box.
Officer Lopez was standing at the corner of 7th Ave. and N. 16th St. when a blue Ford stopped nearby and a gunshot rang out. As the vehicle sped away, Officer Lopez dropped to the sidewalk and died from a gunshot wound to his upper chest.

Detective Richard Cloud was a vice cop who uncovered ties between the Tampa Mafia, strip club industry, drug dealing, and politicians. When he got too close to higher ups in Tampa PD, he was fired. A few months later, in October of 1975 he answered the door to his house and was shot and killed by low level associate Benjamin Guilford who was hired by Anthony Antone (who was put to death for the murder). Guilford killed himself in jail, as did the man who was the mastermind, Victor Acosta. Another accomplice Ellis Haskew testified and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

victim: NY Det. Anthony J. Venditti
date of death: 8 p.m. on the evening of Jan. 21, 1986
behind the murder:fight with three mobsters
killer/s: Federico Giovanelli,Steven Maltese and Carmine Gualtiere

Giovanelli and his two accomplices— identified as Steven Maltese and Carmine Gualtiere—were arrested a short time after the fatal shooting. Following two trials which ended in hung juries, they were acquitted of second-degree murder charges during the third trial. All three men were later convicted on federal racketeering charges and incarcerated.


victim: George Aronwald (real target his son William)
date of death: March 20, 1987
behind the murder:Carmine Persico
killer/s: brothers Vincent and Eddie Carnini hired by Joel Cacace

Persico believed that Aronwald, who had helped prosecute Persico, had been disrespectful to the Cosa Nostra.

victim: retired officer Carlo Antonino
date of death: January 1987
behind the murder:The Colombos
killer/s:maybe Joel Cacace


victim:officer Ralph Dols
date of death: August 25, 1997
behind the murder: Cacace felt humiliated that Dols, a Latino, had recently married Cacace's ex-wife Kim.
killer/s:Colombo capo Dino Calabro and soldier Dino Saracino

I just call em as I see em

Great post

I don't believe the Outfit had anything to do with Cermak's death. The gunman was targeting FDR campaigning in Florida. A brave woman in the audience hit his arm and one bullet struck Cermak and 4 other random people. His obsession with FDR was no secret. He attended an anarchist meeting in Manhattan? and walked away with the idea that all bosses were bad and became obsessed with Roosevelt. He was in constant pain from stomach or duodenal ulcer and probably lost his mind during the Great Depression.

The Untouchables TV show did an episode "The Unhired Assassin". The producers did their homework and IMO did a fairly accurate portrayal. IMO, the Giancana book and other theories are nonsense.

Scarfo/Virgilio = Judge Edwin Helfant @ the Flamingo Lounge in Atlantic City.

But even if Zangara acted alone, in "The Untouchables" they portrayed Cermak as some antimafia hero. What about his contacts with Ted Newberry and Roger Touhy and the failed contract on Nitti?

Yes downntown you're right.


victim: Edwin Helfant, lawyer and part-time municipal court judge
date of death: 15 February 1978
behind the murder: Nicholas "The Blade" Virgilio and Nicky Scarfo Sr
killer/s:Nicholas "The Blade" Virgilio

In 1972 Virgilio was convicted of murder. Nicodemo Scarfo Sr contacted Helfant and delivered $12,000 to him, which was to be given to the Supreme Court judge handling the murder case as a bribe, in exchange for a lenient sentence for Virgilio.
But Virgilio get 15 year In 1978 he was released on early parole, and vowed revenge on Helfant who apparently had not fulfilled his end of the deal.
in 1988 Virgilio get 40 year in the trial against 16 philly mob soldier including the boss Nicky Scarfo sr,but died in 1995.

The episode was semi-fiction. I meant the portrayal of a lone gunman with anarchist ideas was factual.

Thanks to Villain from the Black Hand Forum

In 1926 States Attorney William McSwiggan,known as the “Hanging prosecutor”(for having sent 7 criminals to Death Row in 8 months)was shot to death by a machine gun fire infront of a gambling joint together with two prominent gangsters, James J. Doherty and Thomas Duffy.With this example the mob for the first time characterized its rule in Chicago.

In 1924 Democratic politican Michael Gavin was shot in both legs but survived.

In 1925, David Morgan Chief investigator for the Minister's and Citizens association was shot by Cicero Outfit members but he also survived the shooting.

In 1932 during the battle between John Swanson a State's attorney for Cook County and his opponent Thomas Courtney,the Democratic candidate,a Republican precinct captain was caught in a cross fire of shots between a Democratic precinct captain and five gangsters, who were attacking him. The wounded man later died.

In 1935 tate Representative Albert J. Prignano was shot to death in the doorway of his Chicago home by 3 Outfit gunmen.

In 1936 John M. Bolton while driving home was pursued by another car and during the chase one of the hitmen blew off Bolton's head with a shotgun.

In 1949, Cicero’s former assistant state's attorney Frank Christensen was shot to death outside of his home.

In the 1950's Attorney Marvin Bas, the Republican nominee for Circuit Court Clerk was also murdered by the Outfit.

In 1952 Charles Gross, the Republican Committeeman from the 31st Ward was blown away by seven shotgun blasts.

In 1953 Clem Graver, a state representative and 21st Ward Republican Committeeman was kidnapped by 3 guys and was never seen again.

In 1958 Ben Lewis,the first black alderman to represent the 24th Ward was tied to a chair in his office and shot in the head three times.

Dwalin is right.Cermak was a corrupt politican and wanted to take over the Outfit's rackets with the help of their rivals.

Cermak built the strength of the Democratic Party by bringing together diverse factions and was a known ruthless guy. Cermak's powerful political organization derived much of its strength from the gambling business,which meant a strong alliance with organized crime.Ted Newberry, a former associate of George "Bugs" Moran and Roger Touhy sided with Cermak against the Capone mob.One of Newberry's and Cermak’s obstacle was Frank Nitti and it was rumored that they offered $15,000 to anyone whos goin to have Nitti eliminated.Cermak summoned two members of his special squad to his office, Harry Miller and Henry Lang. Miller and Lang were cops,but also they were crooks.Harry Miller, who had once been dismissed from the force for trafficking in narcotics, was one of the notorious Miller Brothers who headed up the Valley gang.They went to Nitti’s office and Lang fired five shots into Frank Nitti but Nitti managed to survive.On February 15, 1933,Anton Cermak was shot to death while shaking hands with the President Franklin Roosevelt in Miami, Florida. Cermak took two bullets in the chest,while Roosevelt was unharmed, indicating that Joe Zangara’s marksmanship was either very bad or very good.I belive that the Chicago Outfit was behind the hit because of revenge but to be honest theres no real evidence.If you ask me,I really don't believe that much in coincidences,especially in situations like this one.Many reports say that Cermak was standing some good distance from Roosevelt when he was gunned down.Only after 10 days(i think) Zangara was executed with out any real questioning and investigation.Fast justice a?

Story goes that if Cermak escaped Joe Zangara's bullets another triggerman would have gotten him.There weren't going to be any mistakes because the Outfit wouldn't allow that to happend.Two days before Anton Cermak was shot, a Chicago beat cop spotted Three Fingers Jake White(Humphries associate) and Frankie Rio(old Capone bodyguard) sitting inside the main terminal of the Chicago railroad.Both of these guys were ruthless hitmen.Within minutes, several carloads of detectives were inside the station and had White and his companions, Frankie Rio and ward politician Harry Hockstien, up against the wall for a body search. The officers found nothing on the three smirking hoods except a bag of doughnuts and were forced to release them. White and Rio explained that they were on their way to Miami, Florida for a short vacation.

An interesting quote about Cermak and Roger Touhy:

http://rogertouhygangsters.blogspot.it/2010/08/chicago-mayor-anton-cermak-touhys.html

Most of the bosses already knew Roger and decided he was the lesser of the two evils and pitched into a $75,000 protection fund that was handed over to Tommy Touhy. In exchange, the union bosses were allowed to keep their locals, and the treasuries that came with them, and live under the Touhy’s' protection. Roger Touhy was a cautious man, not prone to mistakes or leaps in judgment, especially when it came to defying a man as dangerous as Al Capone.

In fact, the only reason he would have entered a shooting war against Capone and his massive criminal organization, was based on his absolute certainty that he could win. That, and his little known agreement with Chicago's powerful Mayor Anton Cermak, made the bootlegger positive that he could pull Capone off his throne.

After Roger was murdered in 1959, the sociologist and writer Saul Alinsky, who was a member of the Joliet States Prison Parole Board, said that Touhy had told him that in 1932, Cermak and he entered an agreement, a partnership, to run Chicago's underworld. In the meeting in the mayor's office, Cermak urged Touhy to wage a war with the mob but Roger was reluctant. A defensive position against the mob was one thing, but an all-out war was something else again. The Syndicate could, Touhy pointed out, muster at least 500 gunmen in a few days, Cermak responded, "You can have the entire police department."

Eventually, Roger agreed to go along, and Cermak sent word down to his police commanders that the Touhy’s were to be cooperated with in the war against the syndicate. Over the next few months, the sporadic gun battles between the Touhy’s and the Capone’s that had been held on the empty back roads of Cook County were brought into the city streets of Chicago.

According to the Chicago Tribune, in 1932, nearly one hundred gangsters were killed. By the spring of 1933, the impossible was happening, the mouse was eating the lion, the Touhy’s were beating the syndicate. Then the mob killed Anton Cermak and gunned down the gang's field Marshal, Tommy Touhy, and one by one the union bosses surrendered to the syndicate.