The underground vault was located in the garage of the Napoli house, which was rented by Ignazio Antinori, the Trafficantes and the Diecidues at the time. The liquor vault was especially hot that summer, and it had not been opened for a long time. Joe Dionigi Antinori was going to go and open it earlier in the afternoon instead of Paul Antinori, but the owner wanted to wait until the house maid had left for the day so that she would not see the vault. The extreme heat had cause the bottles to explode and the noxious fumes were not ventilated. The person that went down into the vault to pull the bodies out was Mario Perla, who wrapped sheets around his head so that he would not be asphyxiated. Paul Antinori was still breathing when he was pulled out, but after Tony Diecidue took him to the Centro Asturiano hospital, he expired. - Paul III, as told by Joe Dionigi Antinori
Tampa Daily Time, 6/18/1931
Paul Antinori, son of Vincent Antinori, secretary of the Italian Club, was one of three young men who lost their lives last night from gas generated in a bootleg liquor vault. Friends said he went to the vault to get liquor for a party.
Frank Napoli, said to be the owner of the liquor vault at 2513 Fifteenth Street in which three young men were killed last night by some mysterious deadly gas. was summoned today to appear before a coroner's jury at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon to tell what he might know about the vault and the death of the three men.
Another summons was issued for Tony Diecidue, reputed bootlegger, who, it is
claimed, carried the body of one of the three men in his car to the Centro
Asturiano hospital and hastily left without relating any details of what took
place.
The dead are: Paul Antinori, 18, son of Vincent Antinori, secretary of
the Italian Club, Nick Midulla, 28, of 1915.5 Eighth avenue and Jimmy Valenti,
27, of 1925 Fifth avenue.
The tragic end of the three young men was an absorbing mystery to investingating officers today. They want to know just what took place in the underground vault, holding thousands of dollars worth of fancy imported liquors, between 9 and 10:30 o'clock last night. They want to know the names of the men who hauled the dead bodies of the youths out of the deep vault with sheets tied together to form a rope and then left the bodies in the driveway to be discovered by an ambulance driver. The vault was under the floor of a garage at Napoli's home. He reported to the Sheriff this morning, and was instructed to appear before the jury tomorrow, when an attempt will be made to learn the direct cause of the deaths. Napoli was served with the summons at his home shortly after noon. Deputy I. Abramovitz said, however, he could not find Diecidue, and this summons was left at his home for delivery.
No definite details of how the men died has been learned this afternoon by investigating officers, but they reported a conversation that took place last night at the scene of the tragedy, alleging to describe what happened. An unidentified Italian, professing to know what occurred, was telling his friends of the death of the three men, but he did not know that a deputy sheriff was within hearing distance. "Midulla went to the trap door first," he is quoted as saying. "He lifted the door, and right away he swayed and said, "Oh, I feel like I am going to die." He fell down into the hole, tumbling down the ladder, and right away Valenti hurried down the ladder to get him. He too fell down, and Antinori jumped in to help him. A fourth man (he did not name him) started down after the three but he noticed the gas and jumped back."
The deputy stepped to the man. "Who else was there besides these three men?" he asked. "Oh, I don't know, that's just what I hear." he was told. And after that he had not a word to say while the officers were present. His name was not learned and no explanation was made why he was not arrested and held for questioning, except the officers believed he was merely repeated hearsay testimony.
An inquest into the three deaths will be held will be held in the court house at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon, when the state will attempt to learn how they died. A coroner's jury is composed of James A. Prest, H.P. Peterson, C.W. Bidell, John H. Miller, Walter Wills and V.L. Johnson. Those summoned include Napoli and Diecidue, Louis Scaglione, driver of an ambulance, who was held himself for a short time last night while officers attempted to learn who sent him to the scene for the bodies. Dr. Meighen, assistant county physician, and Dr. Acosta of the Centro Asturiano hospital.
The Italian colony here was prostrated today when news of the death of the three men spread. While it was believed at first that all three were members of a bootleg liquor ring, at work in the deep vault storing cases, it later was learned that at least Antinori was not engaged in liquor operations. It was believed Antinori, and possibly the other two men also were innocent victims of the deadly gas when they went to the vault in search of liquor for a party. This belief was strengthened this morning when it was learned that young Antinori, early in the evening last night was, was laying plans to attend a party, and was telling friends he was after liquor to to take with him.
He left the Italian club about 9 o'clock, his friends said, after making contact with some unknown party who was to get the liquor for him. Whether that party was Midulla, Valenti, or some other person, or whether that also were to be his companions at the party was not learned. It was at Napoli's house where the bodies were found, and where down inside the vault, officers found several thousands of dollars worth of imported liquors. But Napoli was not at home when the officers reached that place, and had not returned home by noon. It was Diecidue, according to the officers, who carried the dead body of Antinori to the Centro Asturiano hospital in his car and left that place without waiting to tell any facts of the case. Neither was Diecidue at home when officers called there this morning. Recently, federal officers raided his home and seized a large quantity of imported liquors, and at the same time seizing papers and records from his safe. He filed an injunction suit to prevent their using these papers before the grand jury last week, but later withdrew the suit.
Officers first learned of the tragedy when attaches of the hospital informed police that the bodies of the three young men had been left there. Alexandria Scaglione, 18 and Louis Scaglione, 20 drivers of the ambulance that took the bodies of Midulla and Valenti to the hospital, said they had received a mysterious telephone call to go to the Fifteenth avenue address to get the bodies. They found them lying in a driveway in front of the garage. As they were carrying two of the bodies to their ambulance, they said, some person unknown to them drove up in his car and took the third body.
Detective Chief Fred Thomas, investigating the case, found the liquor vault. The house itself was dark, but Thomas drove his car into the driveway to throw a light on the spot where the bodies were found and started a thorough investigation of the place. The concrete floor in the garage sounded hollow. In obe corner was a cleverly concealed trap door, which led by a ladder down into the underground vault under the garage. When the trap door was lifted, the cause of the death of the men became apparent. Gas, beleived to have been generated by liquor spilled from broken bottled on the straw covering made it impossible for investigators to stay in the vault for any length of time.
That the men died down inside the vault was apparent when officers found a number of sheets hastily torn from the beds inside the house, knotted together into a rope that evidently was used to lift the bodies from the liquor store room. On the floor of the garage too, was found a bottle of ammonia, a bottle of alcohol and towels, saturated with the liquids, used in a frantic attempt to revive the men. In reconstructing the crime, Chief Thomas said the three youths, and possibly others had been trapped inside the vault as deadly gas crept upon them. It would take the combined efforts of several strong men, he said to lift the bodies from the vault using sheets. One of the victims weighed at least 200 pounds.
The finding of the expensive liquors in the vault followed closely on the heels of a similar find last week at 1014 Tenth avenue, where a raid disclosed approximately $15,000 worth of imported liquor stored away in a similar underground vault.
Antinori was graduated from Thomas Jefferson junior high school. He is survived by his parents, Mr and Mrs. V. Antinori and five sisters Angela, Vincenzina, Laura, Ada and Dora Antinori. Midulla is survived by his mother, Mrs. Antonina Midulla and eight sisters Mrs. Inazia Alcela, Mrs. Carmelina Midulla, Mrs Josephine Flores, Mrs. Rosa Leto, Mrs. Ambelina Lebron, Mrs Beatric Mangino, Miss Felicia Midulla and Pauline Midulla. Besides his widow, Valenti is survived by a son Vincenzo Valenti, a daughter Marianinna Valenti, his parents Mr and Mrs. D. Valenti; four brothers, Philip, Adolfo and Lorenzo and Salvatore Valenti and three sisters Mrs Maria Tortorici Mrs Adela Spoto and Paulian Filippello.