Free Last Rites by William J. Craig Page A

working with the FBI. The FBI was soon hailing him as the New England Joe Valachi. In August, he testified against Patriarca and Tameleo for conspiracy to murder in the killing of bookmaker Willie Mafeo, a Providence bookmaker, in 1966. He also testified against Jerry Angiulo, who was accused of participating in the murder of Rocco DiSeglio.
    In October, six men were charged with the March 1965 murder of Edward “Teddy” Deegan. Barboza was at the Ebb Tide Lounge on Revere Beach that night when he and several friends left and returned approximately an hour and a half later. The Chelsea Police discovered the body of Edward Deegan slain gangland style in a Second Street alley. A thorough investigation was conducted by the Chelsea Police, and the case file even had a statement by Revere police officer Joe Errico, who was on detail that night at the Ebb Tide and personally identified the men with whom Barboza left. Teddy Deegan was part of a gang that was robbing Angiulo’s bookies. They were all warned, and in 1964 they had a meeting with Angiulo and were told that they would be paying the stolen money back. Deegan was a member of the McLaughlins, so the warning was a courtesy to McLaughlin, since Angiulo had done business with him in the past and respected him. Deegan’s partners, Edward Delaney and Harold Hannon, didn’t listen to the warning and held up Angiulo bookmaker Carmen Puopolo in Everett. They broke into his home, held a gun to his head and proceeded to rob him. Hannon was later found strangled by a Chinese knot and dumped between some pier pilings at Logan Airport. Delaney was found the same day. He had been beaten unconscious and dumped in the harbor, where he later drowned. Deegan laid low for a while and then went back to robbing more bookmakers.
    On March 12, 1965, Roy French contacted Deegan about a big score at the Lincoln National Bank. The others involved were Barboza, Ronnie Cassesso and Louie Grieco. The men then proceeded to break into the bank. On their way out, Barboza, Cassesso and Grieco turned their guns on Deegan. Deegan was murdered on orders from Peter Limone, Angiulo’s right-hand man. In the first trial, none of the jurors found Barboza believable. The second trial was a different story. Patriarca was found guilty of conspiracy to kill Willie Mafeo, who was shot by four shotgun blasts in a telephone booth in a restaurant on Federal Hill.
    The FBI kept moving Barboza to prevent the mob from getting at him. The mob even decided to send a message to Barboza through his attorney, John Fitzgerald. The attorney got in his car outside of his office on Chelsea Street in Everett. Suddenly, there was a large explosion, so immense that it blew out the windows of his office and the surrounding stores in the area. Fitzgerald survived but lost his right leg below the knee. Cadillac Frank Salemme and Stephen Flemmi were responsible for the car bomb. Flemmi informed on Salemme for the sanctioned bombing and caused Salemme to flee to Canada for a few years to avoid prosecution. Eventually, Salemme was caught and served time for his role in the bombing. In May 1968, the Deegan trial began. After fifty days of testimony and deliberations, the jury returned a guilty verdict. Found guilty and sentenced to death were Peter Limone, Louie Grieco, Henry Tameleo and Ronald Cassesso. Sentenced to life in prison were Joseph Salvetti and Wilfred Roy French. Barboza had done an impressive job and was sentenced to one year with time served. In 1969, he was released from prison and told to leave Massachusetts. Barboza managed to stay underground for approximately two years. He resurfaced in 1971 and pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge in California. He was sentenced to five years in Folsom Prison. Once he was released from Folsom, the New England mob was able to track Barboza and his every move. Less than three months after his release, he was gunned down in San Francisco by Joseph