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Who was ‘Cadillac Frank’ Salemme? Ex-New England mafia boss serving life sentence dies in prison at 89

‘Cadillac Frank’ Salemme was sentenced to life for the killing of a Boston nightclub owner in 1993
UPDATED DEC 19, 2022
Online records for the Bureau of Prisons show that Salemme passed away on Tuesday, Dec13. (FBI via AP)
Online records for the Bureau of Prisons show that Salemme passed away on Tuesday, Dec13. (FBI via AP)

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Former New England mafia head Francis "Cadillac Frank" Salemme, who was serving a life term in prison for the 1993 murder of a Boston nightclub owner, died at the age of 89, according to the Bureau of Prisons.

Online records for the Bureau of Prisons show that Salemme died on Tuesday, December 13. Salemme led the Patriarca crime family in Boston in the early 1990s before assisting prosecutors in convicting a dishonest FBI agent after finding that other mobsters had been talking about him to the police. The old mafia boss, who has admitted to a spate of other gangland crimes, was residing in Atlanta as Richard Parker when the nightclub owner's bones were discovered in 2016, making the old ex-Mafia don a government target once again.

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'Involved in multiple deaths during Boston's gang battles'

Salemme's 2018 trial was a throwback to the days when the mafia was a feared and strong force in New England, reported AP. Initially, he denied the fact that he was involved in Steven DiSarro's killing, but later he was convicted after his one-time best buddy testified against him. Salemme was involved in multiple deaths during Boston's gang battles in the 1960s and has served 16 years in prison for attempting to murder a lawyer who survived but lost a limb when his car was blown up in 1968. Salemme was critically injured in a shooting incident that took place outside a suburban Boston pancake house after being released from prison. 

'Salemme was apprehended in Florida'

His stint as mafia leader came to an end in 1995, when legendary Boston criminal James "Whitey" Bulger, and others were accused in a massive racketeering case. Salemme and Bulger escaped after the latter's FBI handler, John Connolly Jr, informed them of the impending indictment. Salemme was apprehended in Florida a few months later, but Bulger eluded detection for 16 years before being apprehended at the age of 81 in Santa Monica, California. However, Bulger, 89, was murdered in prison by fellow convicts in 2018. Salemme testified against Connolly in 2002, and Connolly was convicted of assisting Bulger in avoiding justice. The ex-mafia boss was released from prison early in exchange for entering the witness protection program. 

'Frankie boy, Salemme's son, died in 1995'

During the 2018 Boston trial, the jurors saw the hazy surveillance photos from the 1990s and Salemme was practically unrecognizable in his slicked back, straggly gray hair, and slender build. Another ex-mobster testified to investigators that he witnessed Salemme's son choke DiSarro while his co-defendant Paul Weadick grabbed the nightclub owner's feet and Salemme stood by. Salemme’s son “Frankie boy” died in 1995. Steven Boozang, Salemme's longtime lawyer, said he had only ever known Salemme to be a "gentleman" and that he thought Salemme "regretted a lot of the things he had done in his life, particularly the effects it had on his immediate family and the families of others," New York Post reported.

'Predicted his own tale would come to an end in prison'

Salemme stood up from his chair, referred to the proceedings as "ridiculous," and claimed that the truth hadn't been disclosed to DiSarro's family before receiving a life sentence in 2018. But he appeared to have predicted that his own tale would come to an end in prison years ago. “You’re not going to beat the government,” Salemme said to a reporter in 2004. “Let’s face it. One way or the other, they’re going to get you.”

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