unwilling to leave her life. He is aware that Jane was pregnant with his child, but he respects her decision to raise the child alone, as he had also made the choice to return to the army; she loses the baby midway through the fifth season after being attacked while protecting a witness. Darryl Alan Reed as Rondo, a man with access to information in the criminal world. Although Jane initially dismisses his offer to be her confidential informant, he does become her informant later on, and he provides Jane with information from the criminal world. He has also been shown to have a comical character persona, similar to Larry Laffer. He frequently hits on Jane, calling her "Vanilla", and he eventually develops a friendship with Angela, referring to her as "Mrs. Vanilla". He is revealed to be a former jazz singer in "This Is How a Heart Breaks" but refuses to discuss his past life or to sing. Billy Burke as Gabriel Dean, an FBI agent often seen working with the Boston Homicide detectives and the Medical Examiner's Office. He later becomes romantically involved with Jane but she ends this relationship when he tries to use her as part of a plan to capture Paddy Doyle that forced Jane to shoot Paddy. Chazz Palminteri as Francesco "Frank" Rizzoli Sr. – father of Jane, Frankie, and Tommy. He owns and runs a plumbing business called Rizzoli and Sons. He and Angela separate and then divorce after the first season. He later tries to have their marriage annulled so that he can remarry in a Catholic ceremony. He returns to announce he has stage 2 prostate cancer, and, despite the news, his family finds it difficult to overlook his past transgressions. Matthew Del Negro as Giovanni Gilberti, a dimwitted former classmate of Jane's and a blue-collar auto mechanic. Initially attracted to him against Jane's advice, Maura is quickly nauseated by him. To get him off their backs and halt future advances, Maura and Jane pretend to be dating, which Giovanni repeats in a later episode set at Jane's high school reunion. Michael Massee as Charles Hoyt, a sadistic serial killer who kidnapped and stabbed Jane in both hands and continues to threaten Jane, even from behind bars. Hoyt appears in several episodes, including "See One, Do One, Teach One" (episode 1), "I'm Your Boogie Man", and "Remember Me". In the episode