How Did Frank Salemme Die? England Mafia Boss Cause of Death Explained

Formerly powerful New England Mafia figure Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme, who was serving a life term in prison for the 1993 murder of a Boston nightclub owner, has passed away.

How Did Frank Salemme Die?

According to the Bureau of Prisons, Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme, a once-powerful New England Mafia boss who was serving a life sentence in prison for the 1993 murder of a Boston nightclub owner, passed away at the age of 89.

Online records for the Bureau of Prisons show that Salemme passed away on Tuesday. When asked for additional details through email on Sunday, bureau representatives did not answer right away.

WPRI-TV was the first to disclose Salemme’s death on Sunday.

Frank Salemme Cause of Death

Frank Salemme cause of death was not disclosed yet. There is no information available about Frank Salemme cause of death.

Former New England mob boss Frank Salemme has died in prison at age 89. His attorney Steven Boozang told news outlets Frank “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.” pic.twitter.com/G8JOfssLOE

— J.M. Lawrence (@BostonJustice) December 19, 2022

We will update you about Frank Salemme cause of death once we get the information from the right source.

Who was Frank Salemme?

Francis Patrick Salemme, better known as “Cadillac Frank” and “Julian Daniel Selig,” was a New England mobster from Boston who rose through the ranks from hitman to leader of the Patriarca crime family before becoming a government witness.

2018 Murder Case

Salemme was given a life sentence after being convicted of killing Providence-based nightclub owner Steven DiSarro in Boston in 1993.

When the U.S. Supreme Court rejected to hear Salemme’s appeal in March, he lost all remaining hope for a fresh trial. At a federal prison in Missouri, he was imprisoned for the rest of his life.

In 2018, federal prosecutors persuaded a jury of 10 women and 6 men that Salemme and co-defendant Paul Weadick killed DiSarro in Salemme’s Sharon home before enlisting the aid of Joe DeLuca, the brother of the then-mob capo Robert DeLuca, and the Branch Avenue mill building in Providence to bury DiSarro’s body.

Salemme’s Former Attorney Statement

Steven Boozang, Salemme’s former lawyer, recalled that despite his demeanour, Salemme was always “a gentleman” and “honest and open” with him.

“I think he regretted a lot of things in his life but came from a different era.”

“I think he felt particularly bad for the hardship that came to his family and to other families.”

1989

Salemme served 16 years in prison for attempting to murder a lawyer whose car was blown up in 1968 but who survived but lost a leg.

He took part in multiple killings during the gang battles in Boston in the 1960s. Salemme suffered significant injuries in a shooting outside a pancake shop in a Boston suburb after being released from jail.

Salemme was the victim of an attempted murder in 1989 when masked gunmen opened fire on him as he entered a pancake restaurant in Saugus, Massachusetts.

At the time, Salemme was a rising star in the crime family. Salemme survived, but Connecticut native William “Billy” Grasso, another mob boss, was killed.

A mob war broke out after the shootings and was put to an end when Raymond “Junior” Patriarca, the boss at the time, welcomed new family members.

Salemme became the leader when Patriarca was detained in 1992, mostly as a result of the secret recording of the induction ceremony.

Witness Protection Scheme

The elder Salemme was charged with racketeering in the same year that Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi and infamous South Boston criminal James “Whitey” Bulger were both arrested.

After being found guilty and given an 11-year prison term, Salemme discovered that Flemmi and Bulger were both top-tier FBI informants. Salemme consequently consented to tell the government everything he knew about the two individuals in charge of the Winter Hill Gang. (It was later learned that Bulger had been hiding out at the time in California.)

While Bulger went on the run for 16 years before being apprehended at the age of 81 in Santa Monica, California, Salemme was apprehended in Florida a few months after. At the age of 89, Bulger was assassinated in prison by other prisoners.

Salemme’s cooperation resulted in John Connolly, Bulger’s handler and a dishonest former FBI agent, being found guilty.

Salemme ultimately enrolled in the witness protection scheme.

Target 12 revealed in 2016 that he joined a New England Patriots fan club while residing in Atlanta under a false name.