BOSTON (WHDH) - The mob murder trial for former New England Mafia boss Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme continued Friday with a focus on secretly recorded FBI tapes.
Salemme, who led the New England family of La Cosa Nostra in the early 1990s, is accused of killing government witness and Boston nightclub manager Steven DiSarro in 1993 to keep him from cooperating with authorities.
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Disarro ran The Channel, a popular South Boston rock-and-roll venue in the 1980s. His body wasn’t found until 2016, when authorities received a tip that it was buried behind a mill building in Providence, Rhode Island.
Salemme was a secret partner with Disarro at the nightclub but the government says he believed Disarro was a rat as far back as 1991.
Jurors heard a 1991 wiretap, which featured Salemme talking with a Vegas member of La Cosa Nostra at the Logan Airport Hilton. Former FBI agent Vincent delaMontaigne and his men recorded the conversation:
“Disarro is going to turn on you. He’s a snake. He’s a stealer. He’s no (expletive) good! No, no Frank. I grew up with him. I know his mother and…Forget about it! The guys no good!”
The jury saw more surveillance photos in day 8 of testimony. Retired FBI agent Robert Walther identified various pictures he took of Salemme meeting with Steven the “Rifleman” Flemmi, Disarro and his late son, Frankie Jr.
Walther testified that he and Disarro met at a Back Bay gay bar in March 1993.
Walther also testified that he had a friendly talk with Disarro, but made it clear he knew Disarro was in business with Salemme and had taken out a fraudulent loan. Walther asked Disarro to cooperate and become a witness or face prosecution.
“He didn’t really respond yes or no. It was left open,” Walther said when asked how Disarro took it.
About two months later, Disarro disappeared. Prosecutors said Salemme had his son strangle him to death at Salemme’s Sharon home to keep him quiet.
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