If prosecutors have their way, the South Boston nightclub manager who former New England Mafia boss Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme is accused of killing in 1993 will speak from beyond the grave when the aging gangster stands trial for the slaying next month.
In court papers filed Tuesday, prosecutors in US Attorney Andrew E. Lelling’s office said they want jurors to hear a number of statements the victim, Steven DiSarro, made to witnesses before his disappearance. Salemme and a codefendant, Paul Weadick, are charged with murdering DiSarro to keep him from cooperating with US authorities in an investigation that was targeting Salemme and his son, Frank.
The indictment alleges that Salemme and his son, who died in 1995, had a hidden interest in The Channel, a now-defunct Southie club that DiSarro managed in the early 1990s.
Both defendants have pleaded not guilty, and a lawyer for Salemme recently told the Globe that the 84-year-old gangster “100 percent” denies any involvement in DiSarro’s slaying and is “chomping at the bit” for the highly anticipated trial to start.
In Tuesday’s motion, the prosecutors asked Judge Allison D. Burroughs to admit a number of statements at trial that DiSarro made before his death. They include a note DiSarro left for his son on the day that he disappeared, as well as conversations DiSarro had with his half-brother, Channel owner Roland Wheeler.
“Wheeler had a conversation with DiSarro days before DiSarro’s disappearance where DiSarro was distraught that he had been summoned to meet with Salemme,” the motion said.
During another talk, the filing said, “DiSarro told Wheeler about criminal activity of [Frank] Salemme, Jr. that he had witnessed. In particular, DiSarro related to Wheeler that DiSarro was in a vehicle with Salemme, Jr. and Weadick when they ripped off a drug dealer and Salemme, Jr. pushed the drug dealer out of the moving vehicle.”
Another gangster, Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, told investigators in 2003 that Salemme Jr. strangled DiSarro as Weadick held his legs off the ground. DiSarro’s remains were found in Providence in 2016.
Shelley Murphy of the Globe Staff contributed to this report. Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.