Charles McKay Wall (March 10, 1880 – April 18, 1955)Charlie Wall listed a Find A Grave Memorial
/ref> was an American businessman, mobster, and political figure who was a rival of reputed mobsters Santo Trafficante Sr. and Santo Trafficante Jr. His parents were John Perry Wall and Matilda McKay, a former Tampa Mayor and daughter of a former Tampa Mayor. Wall rapidly gained status within the criminal underworld from his early endeavors in the operation of several gambling, prostitution, and illegal numbers rackets. He was killed, beaten with a baseball bat, and his throat slit, on April 18, 1955. He is buried in Tampa's Oaklawn Cemetery .

Early life

Charles McKay Wall was born on March 10, 1880 in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

to John Perry Wall, a local physician and former mayor of the city, and Matilta McKay, a member of the prominent McKay family. Due to the abuse he suffered at the hands of his stepmother, Wall developed

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental hea ...

issues and eventually shot his stepmother, killing her. As a result, Wall was sent to

military school A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

, despite showing promise as a student. He was expelled from the school, due to visiting a brothel.

Crime boss of Ybor City

The young Charlie spent much of his formative years, frequenting the gambling dens of Tampa and, at some point, he took over the city's criminal and political underworld. Wall ran Tampa from the Ybor City neighborhood and employed Italians, Cubans and Irish into his organization. His closest associate was

Evaristo "Tito" Rubio Evaristo "Tito" Rubio (February 5, 1902 – March 8, 1938) was an American mobster of Cuban descent and an associate of businessman and crime boss Charlie Wall. Rubio was also a leader in Tampa's Cuban community, prominently involved in illegal n ...

, a Cuban mobster and co-owner of the El Dorado Club. Additionally, Wall was prominently involved in organized corruption of judges, politicians and other government officials, facing little opposition from the law or other criminals.

Turf wars and death

During the late 1920s, a turf war began between Wall and Ignacio Antinori. They fought each other, as well as the Trafficante's, for control of the numbers rackets in the Tampa area. By the 1930s, Ignacio Antinori and Charlie Wall were in a bloody war for ten years, which would later be known as "Era of Blood". Eddie Virella, Rubio's former partner at the Lincoln Club, was gunned down on 31 January 1937, and Rubio himself was killed by a gunman while on the porch of his home on March 8, 1938. The feud between Wall and Antinori came to a head between factions of Antinori Gang, dissatisfied members of Chicago and St. Louis criminal outfits to whom Antinori was supplying narcotics, and Wall's organisation. On the morning of October 23, 1940, Antinori was shot dead at a local restaurant while sipping his morning coffee by two gunmen. Wall himself had seen an attempt on his life go awry earlier that spring, possibly by some members of Antinori's outfit or even by some in Antinori's ties to

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

mobster Thomas Buffa and/or Kansas City mobsters Nicolo Impostato, James DeSimone and Joseph Deluca. Wall was murdered on April 18, 1955, possibly on orders from the Trafficante's.

In popular culture

''The Ghosts of Ybor City: Charlie Wall'' film

The account and rise and fall of Wall was depicted in the 2008 documentary film '' The Ghosts of Ybor: Charlie Wall'' which starred actors John A. Schakel as Wall, Gene Siudut as Joe Bedami, Chris Pardal as Johnny "Scarface" Rivera, and Rod Grant as the lead detective in the Wall murder investigation.

References

External links

Who Killed Charlie Wall? article written by Gary Mormino, ''Cigar City Magazine'', posted 1/11/2011.The Mob - A Drive-by History of Tampa's Most Notorious Wiseguys, by Scott Deitche for cltampa.com (Creative Loafing), 4/26/2001.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wall, Charlie 1880 births 1955 deaths People from Tampa, Florida American gangsters Murdered American gangsters Deaths by beating in the United States Deaths by stabbing in the United States People murdered in Florida Male murder victims American crime bosses Prohibition-era gangsters Depression-era gangsters Florida local politicians Florida Democrats