BOSTON (AP) — A former New England mafia boss accused of killing a nightclub owner to prevent him from cooperating with authorities 25 years ago is heading to trial.
FILE – This 1995 file booking photo taken in West Palm Beach, Fla., and released by the FBI shows Francis P. “Cadillac Frank” Salemme. Opening statements are expected Wednesday, May 9, 2018 in federal court in Boston, in the trial of the ex-mafia boss Salemme and co-defendant Paul Weadick. Prosecutors said Salemme watched his son strangle nightclub owner Steven DiSarro in 1993 while Weadick held DiSarro’s legs off the ground. Salemme and Weadick deny participating in DiSarro’s killing. (Federal Bureau of Investigation via AP, File)
Opening statements are expected Wednesday in the trial of ex-mafia boss Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme and co-defendant Paul Weadick.
Prosecutors say Salemme watched his son strangle Steven DiSarro in 1993 while Weadick held DiSarro’s legs off the ground. DiSarro’s body wasn’t found until 2016. Prosecutors say Salemme was concerned DiSarro would talk to authorities.
Salemme and Weadick deny participating in DiSarro’s killing.
Salemme led the New England family of La Cosa Nostra in the early 1990s.
Salemme went into the federal witness protection program while he was a cooperating witness during the prosecution of Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger and ex-FBI Agent John Connolly Jr.
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