with information on the FBI handling of Bulger and Flemmi. Salemme's testimony would help convict Connolly, the same man who had arrested him 20 years earlier in New York, on racketeering charges. In 2003, in return for assisting the government, Salemme was released early from prison and brought into the federal witness protection program. Shortly after his release, Salemme appeared before a Congressional committee to testify on the Connolly case. 2018 murder conviction On June 22, 2018, Salemme was convicted of the murder of 43-year-old Steven A. DiSarro, who disappeared in May 1993. DiSarro's remains were unearthed from behind a mill-turned-apartments in Wanskuck, Providence, Rhode Island, on March 31, 2016. Patriarca mob associate William Ricci, who owned the apartment complex, faced gun and drug charges after authorities found over 1,400 marijuana plants and a stolen handgun at the property around August 2015; three weeks after a plea deal was worked out, the remains were recovered at the property. Judge Allison Burroughs sentenced Salemme and former Patriarca crime family associate and accomplice, Paul Weadick, to life in prison on September 13, 2018. According to former Winter Hill Gang member and Whitey Bulger associate, Stephen Flemmi, Salemme stood by and watched as his son strangled DiSarro while Weadick held his legs. According to authorities, Salemme believed DiSarro was informing on him after he was contacted by authorities in the investigation of Salemme's illegal activity within The Channel nightclub. Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Wyshak said that Salemme admitted to murdering eight people during the 1960s, and was suspected of involvement in six additional murders in the early 1990s. Salemme was latterly held at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners. Personal life and death Salemme's namesake son, Francis "Frankie Boy" Salemme Jr, died of AIDS-related leukemia in 1995. On December 13, 2022, Frank Salemme died at MCFP Springfield, at the age of 89. References External links Boston Globe profile of Francis Salemme Boston.com Local News Man who helped bug the mafia dead at 70 Americanmafia.com: Mob War in Beantown II by Allan May The Chicago Syndicate: "Cadillac Frank" Salemme Gets Five Years in Prison 1933 births 2022 deaths Gangsters from Boston People from Weymouth, Massachusetts American gangsters of Irish descent American gangsters American gangsters of Italian descent Mafia hitmen Patriarca crime family American crime bosses People who entered the United States Federal Witness Protection Program Federal Bureau of Investigation informants Gangsters sentenced