Former Mafia boss Francis ‘Cadillac Frank’ Salemme (pictured in a 1995 photo) faces a life sentence for the murder of a nightclub owner
A former Mafia boss-turned-FBI-informant faces a life sentence for a murder he committed more than two decades ago.
Francis ‘Cadillac Frank’ Salemme is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday for the 1993 murder of Boston nightclub owner Steven DiSarro.
DiSarro, a 43-year-old father-of-five, went missing on May 10, 1993. His remains were discovered in 2016 behind an old mill in Providence, Rhode Island.
Authorities said DiSarro was murdered to prevent him from cooperating in a federal investigation targeting Salemme and his son Frank, the Boston Globe reports.
Salemme, now 85, was convicted in June, along with a local plumber named Paul M. Weadick. Salemme and Weadick, 65, face mandatory life sentences.
According to the Globe, DiSarro was a businessman and bought the Channel, a now defunct nightclub. Salemme and his son were interested in buying the club and were also being targeted by the FBI and state investigators at the time.
Salemme and another man, Paul M. Weadick, were convicted in June for the 1993 murder of nightclub owner Steven DiSarro (pictured)
DiSarro’s children were present for the trial and said they were glad justice has finally been served
Salemme and Frank believed DiSarro was working with the FBI. On May 10, 1993, DiSarro’s wife reported seeing her husband get into an SUV outside their Westwood home. He was never seen again and police did not locate his remains until a drug dealer came forward with information in 2016.
Former gangster Stephen ‘The Rifleman’ Flemmi testified during trial that he saw Salemme’s son, Frank, strangling DiSarro inside Salemme’s home. Flemmi said Weadick were holding DiSarro’s legs as Salemme watched the murder.
Salemme’s son died in 1995 from lymphoma.
Flemmi also testified that Salemme told him that he knew DiSarro had been approached by federal investigators and feared he would cooperate with them. Flemmi is currently serving a life sentence after he was convicted of 10 murders.
Former mobsters Robert and Joseph DeLuca also testified that Salemme personally delivered DiSarro’s body to them in Providence and had them bury it.
Robert DeLuca was sentenced to five-and-a-half years last month for lying to investigators about the DiSarro murder. The Boston Globe reports that he only revealed details on the murder after authorities were led to the remains.
A former gangster testified in court that Salemme’s son Frank strangled DiSarro to death while Salemme (pictured on the left in an undated photo) watched and Weadick (right) held DiSarro’s legs
Salemme is one of New England’s most well-known and oldest mobsters. He became an FBI informant in 1999 after he was indicted in a sweeping federal racketeering case along with Mafia bosses James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, Flemmi and others.
Flemmi and Bulger had already starting working with the government. Salemme provided information to authorities to help them take down John J. Connolly Jr, a retired FBI agent convicted of racketeering, obstruction of justice and murder.
Salemme was admitted to the witness protection program and had been living in Atlanta under the alias Richard Parker when authorities discovered DiSarro’s remains and arrested him.
DiSarro’s children were present for the trial and released a statement on Thursday afternoon.
‘We’ve waited a long time for answers and explanations to things that are unexplainable. We can now put many of our questions and the questions of others to rest and for that we are eternally grateful,’ they said, according to NBC 10.