Casey Sherman - Animal: The Bloody Rise and Fall of the Mobs Most Feared Assassin

To complete this book, I had to stand on the shoulders of those great writers and journalists who covered the FBIs relationship with organized crime dating back to the midway point of the last century. I tip my cap to all of them.

I would also like to thank Donald Barboza, James Southwood, and John Cavicchi for their insight and guidance along the way. My goal was never to sensationalize or pay tribute to Joe the Animal Barboza; instead, I hoped to explain his crimes and the crimes of the federal government. The path taken by the FBI in the 1960s in the war on organized crime is eerily similar to the path some government agents took decades later in the war on terror, where their original noble efforts eventually created an enemy within.

I would like to thank my family, Laura, Mia, and Bella for putting up with lost weekends to the cause and some odd music emanating from time to time from my office. My personal playlist accompanies each chapter here.

I would also like to thank my mother, Diane, brother Todd, and Uncle Jim for their continued support. Thanks also to my good friend Toby Duane for first making me aware of Joe Barboza and his story more than two decades ago.

For further reading, I would suggest picking up Howie Carrs The Brothers Bulger; and Hitman, The Underboss by Dick Lehr and Gery ONeill; Paddywhacked by T. J. English; My Life in the Mafia by Vincent Teresa; Boston Organized Crime by Emily Sweeney (thanks for the great photos); The Mob and Me by John Partington and Arlene Violet; WITSEC by Pete Earley and Gerald Shur; and, if you can find it, Barboza by Joe Barboza and Hank Messick. These books were an incredible help during my research.

Out of the shadows now and off to chase the sun Regards,
CASEY SHERMAN, 2012

GENNARO JERRY ANGIULO

Died in 2009 at the age of ninety and given a full Mafia boss funeral, complete with nearly two hundred floral arrangements. Angiulo was also given a full U.S. Navy honor guard for his service in the Pacific during World War II. He is probably the last very significant Mafia boss in Bostons history, said retired State Police colonel Thomas J. Foley. In these times you dont have anybody who exerts the control, the force, or even maintains the discipline like he had with his organization during his day.*

LARRY BAIONE (AKA ILARIO ZANNINO)

Died in 1996 of natural causes while imprisoned for loansharking and illegal gambling.

JAMES WHITEY BULGER

Formerly one of Americas Most Wanted fugitives, Bulger was captured in 2011 and is now imprisoned on charges that he committed at least nineteen murders.

DENNIS CONDON

Died in 1999 at age eighty-five after serving as Massachusetts state police commissioner and undersecretary of public safety for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

JOHN CONNOLLY

Currently serving a life sentence for second-degree murder in Florida for the death of Boston businessman John Callahan.

PATSY FABIANO

Murdered by the Mafia in 1976 shortly after the hit on Joe Barboza.

NICKY FEMIA

Shot and killed during attempted robbery of an auto body shop in 1983.

JOHN FITZGERALD

Relocated by federal government to South Dakota, where he became a circuit court judge. Died during heart surgery in 2001.

STEVIE THE RIFLEMAN FLEMMI

Currently serving a life sentence for murder at an undisclosed location.

* Mob Boss Gennaro Jerry Angiulo Dies at 90, by Shelley Murphy, Boston Globe, August 30, 2009.

VINCENT JIMMY THE BEAR FLEMMI

Alleged to have murdered self-confessed Boston Strangler Albert DeSalvo behind bars in 1973 to stop him from recanting his confession. Died in prison of drug overdose in 1979.

EDWARD TEDDY HARRINGTON

Currently serving as a federal judge in Massachusetts.

PETER LIMONE

Arrested in 2008 on charges of extortion, gambling, and loansharking and still believed to be a high-ranking member of La Cosa Nostra.

GEORGE MCLAUGHLIN

Imprisoned since 1964 and still serving a life sentence in Massachusetts.

JOHN PARTINGTON

After leaving the U.S. Marshals Service in 1980, Partington served as police chief in his hometown of Cumberland, Rhode Island, and later served fifteen years as commissioner of public safety in Providence, RI. He died in 2006 from a viral infection following surgery. He was seventy-seven years old.

JOSEPH J. R. RUSSO

Died in federal prison of throat cancer in 1998 at the age of sixty-seven.

CADILLAC FRANK SALEMME

Released from federal prison in 2009 and living in Massachusetts.

JOSEPH SALVATI

Currently living in Massachusetts enjoying both his freedom and his family.