Mobster’s Mistress - the fifth estate

In 1980, Shirley Ryce was picked up on a police bug with her boyfriend’s brother as he was arranging for her to sleep with his lawyer in exchange for money. Ryce’s lover of 17 years happened to be notorious Hamilton mobster Rocco Papalia and his brother was Frank Papalia. That sting gave police enough information to charge Frank Papalia with procurement and Ryce was forced to testify against him. She was relocated under police protection and given a new identity. Six years after that, the fifth estate spoke to Ryce about how she went from a young wife and mother of three to a mistress to not one but two mobsters, who would eventually instruct other mob girlfriends on how to behave with their powerful and dangerous boyfriends. the fifth estate is celebrating our 40th season and we are taking a look back at some of the people and places we have featured on the program. To celebrate our 40 years on the air, we’re doing something we’ve never done before : turn the cameras on ourselves. Join us on Secrets of the fifth estate. Tune in Thursday April 9th at 9 PM on CBC Television. For more on Secrets of the fifth estate : http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/fifthsecrets/ For more on the fifth estate : http://www.cbc.ca/fifth Follow us on Twitter :   / cbcfifth   Like us on Facebook :   / thefifthestate