"Cadillac" Frank Salemme. (FBI)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- On Tuesday, jurors in the trial of alleged mobster "Cadillac" Frank Salemme for the murder of Stephen DiSarro heard testimony from another Made Man, Robert DeLuca, who said he helped plot DiSarro's murder and later helped dispose of his body.
Wednesday, however, saw Salemme's defense calling the credibility of DeLuca's testimony into question in a South Boston federal courtroom.
Defense attorney Elliot Weinstein cross-examined DeLuca, pointing out the mobster has admitted to lying to federal investigators in the past.
DeLuca admitted he got $64,000 in living expenses as a federal informant--and that he possibly dodged a life sentence in a 2011 extortion case.
Weinstein also picked through DeLuca's plea deal, suggesting he was cooking up his testimony to get the best possible sentence for himself.
"You just want to be free, don't you?" he asked at the close of his questioning.
DeLuca was one of Salemme's capos, and the prosecution's star witness. He claimed on the stand Tuesday that he and Salemme discussed DiSarro's murder at a Providence restaurant, allegedly because DiSarro was skimming money from the Channel Nightclub, in which they both had an interest.
Deluca claims DiSarro was lured to Salemme's home in Sharon, where Salemme's son, Junior, strangled him--assisted, he claims, by co-defendant Paul Weadick. He said he and his brother then helped dispose of DiSarro's body.
He described how they buried DiSarro's remains behind a Providence mill, where they were discovered in 2016.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Kendall Buhl reports