Charles (Charlie the Blade) Tourine

Charlie the Blade Tourine was a Genovese Family soldier who was one of the most independent mafioso to ever operate in this country and abroad.

His activities ranged from international narcotics trafficking to gambling rackets to even being utilized as a Genovese Family executioner traveling wherever he was needed to take care of business.

Tourine was an extremely active guy who seemed to have his fingers in many pies through the decades including in Havana, Cuba ; Miami; London; Las Vegas; New Jersey; Washington, D.C.; New York City; Antigua-British West Indies, and elsewhere.

And he seamlessly mixed with major businessmen, politicians, casino owners, power brokers, and many of the most powerful hoodlums in this country from all the Families including Richie the Boot Boiardo, Santo Trafficante Jr. , Joe Adonis, Angelo Bruno , and many others.

Charlie the Blade Tourine - Early Life

Charles (Charlie the Blade) Tourine - aka "Charlie White" - was born in 1906 in Matawan, New Jersey.

Tourine resided for many years in Apt.#10-F, 40 Central Park South, Manhattan, one of the wealthiest sections of New York City. He also liked to spend his winters in Miami at 7116 Bay Drive in the Beaux Arts Apartments.

In addition, he had a residence at 7927 West Drive, Apt #A-6, Harbor Island, and 9101 E. Bay Harbor Dr., Miami, Florida. He also resided in Havana, Cuba while he operated there.

Charlie the Blade Tourine

Charlie the Blade had a son named Charles (Charlie Del Monico) Tourine Jr. who also became a Genovese figure.

Tourine stood 5-feet 6-inches tall and weighed 160-pounds with brown eyes and salt-and-pepper receding hair.

An Enigma

Charlie the Blade Tourine was an enigma and one of the most independent mafioso to ever operate in this country and abroad.

Authorities listed him as being technically illiterate but judging from his accomplishments throughout his lifetime, that either was not true or certainly didn't hinder him in his abilities.

Law enforcement reports and informant tips have ranged alternately from Tourine being a wealthy, versatile hood who backed many large-scale operations to a mafioso who always broke.

In any case, Tourine was an extremely active guy who seemed to have his fingers in many pies through the decades including in Cuba, Miami, London, Las Vegas, New Jersey, Washington DC, New York City, Antigua-British West Indies, and elsewhere.

One story is of him living in exclusive Central Park South while pleading poverty to get free medical care at a local NYC hospital. Yet, he was known to often bankroll guys with large sums of money.

No scam or racket seemed too big or too small for Tourine!

More than Just a Soldier?

Tourine was long ago identified as an important Luciano/Genovese Family member. It is debatable whether he was ever officially more than just a “soldier.”

However, his access to the highest recesses and powers in the underworld makes Tourine a very interesting figure.

He is believed to have possibly served under Richie the Boot Boiardo or Gyp DeCarlo in a New Jersey regime.

His activities included bookmaking and lay-off service, floating dice and card games, slot machines, owner of legal gambling casinos, shylocking, extortion, suspected narcotics smuggling, strong-arm enforcement, and murder.

The FBN long considered Charlie the Blade Tourine to be an international heroin trafficker in league with the deported Giuseppe (Joe) Pici and Tourine’s son, Charlie Jr.

Charles (Charlie Del Monico) Tourine Jr.

In addition, he is alleged to have held various interests in legal casino operations throughout the world including in London, England and Nassau, Bahamas.

He had a piece of the Capri Hotel & Casino in Havana, Cuba, thriving under the Battista regime until Fidel Castro kicked him out of the country and seized the casino. He was one of many hoodlums expelled from Cuba in approximately 1957.

Tourine is also believed to have been a partner in several Miami Beach-based illicit gaming casinos including Treasure Isle Motel, Casablanca Hotel, and the Colony Club in London.

Criminal Record

FBI #695716, NJPD #17747, Miami-PD #A-1783

Charlie the Blade Tourine had a lengthy criminal record with numerous arrests stretching back to 1933. His criminal “jacket” sported page after page with his exploits, including:

1933 - murder - holdup and abduction 1935 - gambling 1937 - vagrancy 1937 - fugitive (extortion indictment) 1938 - investigation (holdup) 1939 - disorderly person (10 days) 1939 - fugitive (10 days) 1939 - holdup 1939 - disorderly conduct 1939 - disorderly (6 months-workhouse) 1940 - witness intimidation 1940 - violation of IRS laws 1941 - fraud 1941 - gambling (1-2 years) 1942 - held for investigation 1944 - unregistered alcohol still (5 years) 1947 - fugitive-parole violation 1948 - conspiracy (2-4 years) 1949 - parole violation 1951 - criminal investigation 1954 - criminal registration (Miami) 1955 - criminal registration ex-felon (Las Vegas) 1957 - vagrancy (Miami PD)

As a young man, he seems to have been a strong-arm and “torpedo” suspected in many gangland-style murders.

Informants claimed Charlie the Blade was utilized as a gunman/executioner traveling throughout the states as asked to eliminate various subjects.

As he evolved into a top hoodlum, it seems his specialty was varied gambling operations, whether it was an illegal crap game in Jersey or Miami, a lay-off service based in the state capitol, or legitimate financial investments in legalized casinos throughout the world.

All Walks of Life

Charlie the Blade also boasted close friendships with many wealthy and influential legitimate people of all walks of life including Hollywood actor George Raft.

Raft was said to be a close personal friend of Charlie and reportedly traveled to Europe with him on several occasions.

He had a close associate named Joseph Nesline, a Washington, D.C. gambler and shylock with whom he partnered in a bookmaking lay-off service based at the Beaux Arts Apartment complex in Miami where Tourine sometimes stayed.

In 1963, Nesline and Tourine were indicted for an Interstate Transportation in Aid of Racketeering (ITAR) related to a gambling layoff service they ran and the Amber Club, a gambling den.

Joseph Nesline

Throughout his career, Charlie the Blade seamlessly mixed with major businessmen, politicians, casino owners, power brokers, and many of the most powerful hoodlums in this country from all the Families, including:

• Vito Genovese • Ruggiero (Rickie the Boot) Boiardo • Anthony (Tony Boy) Boiardo • Angelo (The Gyp) DeCarlo • Vincent (Jimmy Blue Eyes) Alo • Gerardo (Jerry) Catena • Anthony (Little Pussy) Russo • Meyer Lansky • Abner (Longie) Zwillman • Nicholas (Butch the Fat) DiCostanzo • Santo Trafficante, Jr. • Gilbert Lee Beckley • Joseph Massei • Marshall Caifano • Angelo (Bruno) Annaloro • Frank Erickson • Frank Costello • Joseph (Adonis) Doto • Pasquale (Patsy) Erra • Michael (Trigger Mike) Coppola

As can be seen from the above list, his contacts were seemingly unlimited, and this list is but a sampling of the multitude of nationwide and international contacts Tourine had.

Personal Crew

Charlie the Blade's personal “crew” of hoodlum associates included several non-Italians such as his close friend, Joe Nesline.

Another key aide and minion was Gaetano (Tommy Nelson) D’Auria .

D'Auria was one of Tourine’s closest associates for many years with an arrest record that included illicit still, bookmaking, IRS violations, receiving stolen goods, larceny, forgery, and parole violation.

Charlie the Blade Tourine

Other key operatives of Charlie the Blade Tourine included Robert (Little Dum-Dum) Ruggieri, an alleged shylock loan collector of Charlie’s in the Washington, D.C. area, and Benjamin (Benny Brown) Benevento, a NJ based associate and former pit boss at Tourine's Capri Casino in Cuba.

Another associate was Louie (Coke) DeBenedetto.

Charles “Charlie the Blade” Tourine died in 1980 at 74-years-old.

Postscript: As I mentioned earlier in the bio, for me, he was an enigma and a rarity. A highly independent mafioso whose far-flung interests took him around the globe and enabled him to rub elbows with the likes of top racket guys, important businessmen, stars, and politicians alike!

Until next time..."The Other Guy!"

Charles (Charlie the Blade) Tourine – The Genovese Family’s Globetrotting Gangster

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