Salvatore Caruana

[carot]

Any news on this felon??

[Matt C]

Originally Posted by carot

Any news on this felon??

I wish I could help you. I was wondering the same thing myself. It appears that he is either still on the lam or pushing daisies.

http://www.usmarshals.gov/wanted/maj...es/caruana.htm

[NDAlum2003]

Since he's getting pretty up in years, there's a strong possibility he may be deceased.

[Matt C]

Originally Posted by NDAlum2003

Since he's getting pretty up in years, there's a strong possibility he may be deceased.

It would be interesting to look into what the longest time period someone was on the run for, or kidnapped then found.

[NDAlum2003]

They keep track of missing children that way but I am not sure about the others. Any ideas guys?

[TheCars1986]

I just saw this segment for the first time today and I think Caruana was murdered by the Boston mob. For one, the segment said that the motel room Caruana was renting was raided by ATF agents and they found all of his personal papers, which had several implicating papers on crime mobs in the Boston area. They also found his van abandoned at a truck stop, and the van was wiped clean. It doesn't seem like Caruana would go through the trouble of wiping the truck clean, if he was dead set on fleeing. He had already evaded capture for 3 months prior without worrying about making it seem like he was "murdered". And abandoning at the truck stop doesn't seem like something someone described as highly intelligent (who also had the monetary means to buy a new vehicle, let alone have connections to help him flee the area) would do. The UM segment makes it seem like Caruana dumped the van at the stop and then hiked out of the area. I doubt that this high ranking mafioso would even waste his time trying to hike out of the area and bum a ride with a trucker. Not to mention that the 3 months while he was on the lam, he continued to maintain contact with his wife and associates through primitive computer bulletin boards. That contact has ceased since the day the ATF agents found his motel room abandoned. The only things missing from the room were Caruana, his wallet, and a briefcase that he carried with him at all times.

Then I did some digging, and found a wiki page for a Boston mobster named Richard Castucci, which said this:

"Castucci allegedly murdered a man that he suspected of having an affair with his wife Sandra. From late 1969 to 1970, Castucci suspected that Sandra was dating Salvatore M. Caruana, a prominent drug dealer and made man with the Patriarca crime family. Sandra has to this day denied any such relationship with Caruana. Nevertheless, an enraged Castucci threatened Caruana with physical harm if he did not stay away from Sandra.

However, FBI agent John Connolly, Castucci's handler, confirmed Caruana's affair with Sandra. Caruana disappeared in 1984 and was never heard of again. . However, Caruana's body was never found and no one was ever charged with his murder."

I think this is a likely scenario as to what happened to Caruana. Whether or not it was Castucci or another mobster, I think he upset the wrong person and they had him killed. That's the only thing that makes sense as to why his van would have been wiped clean for fingerprints.

[DanCart]

Thats very interesting info you have dug up; one thing keeps nagging my mind - if the mob had killed him why didnt they destroy Caruana`s personal papers which had incriminting information ?

Part of me wonders if maybe he deliberately left those papers as a red herring while he scooted off to South America or Mexico ....

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by DanCart

Thats very interesting info you have dug up; one thing keeps nagging my mind - if the mob had killed him why didnt they destroy Caruana`s personal papers which had incriminting information ?

Part of me wonders if maybe he deliberately left those papers as a red herring while he scooted off to South America or Mexico ....

Maybe to make it look like he fled? I just don't see any reason why if Caruana was simply leaving town he would feel the need to wipe down his van to remove any and all fingerprints. Plus, all contact with his wife and his associates have stopped ever since the date of his disappearance.

[DanCart]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

. Plus, all contact with his wife and his associates have stopped ever since the date of his disappearance.

That is very interesting because keeping contact with the wife is what got Steven Wilson caught by the FBI , but yeah in Salvatore`s case it does look ominous .....and come to think of it you are right about the wiping down of fingerprints it indicates something sinister

One thing that also seems a bit odd is why did Salvatore flee by himself instead of with his wife ?

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by DanCart

One thing that also seems a bit odd is why did Salvatore flee by himself instead of with his wife ?

Possibly to avoid charges being brought against her. I just find it odd that he never surfaced again over the years, nor has there been any mention of his wife fleeing the country or disappearing.

[unsolved243]

I just watched this case on Amazon Prime. Looking at some articles from the 90s, it seems that the theory that Caruana was killed by the mob was probably correct.

Secret mob grave linked to Patriarca family

This 1990 article talks about how three bodies were found buried under a garage in Hamden, Connecticut. It speculates that Caruana may be one of the bodies buried, along with a man named Theodore Berns. Berns was actually the coach of Caruana's son's hockey league. After Caruana went on the run, Berns and Caruana's wife started having an affair. Caruana found out, and (even though he was having affairs as well) kidnapped, tortured, and killed Berns.

He apparently asked for the help of mobster William Grasso in burying Berns. According to witnesses, Berns was buried in the garage with Grasso's help. One set of remains in the garage was later identified as belonging to Berns.

Apparently when he drove Berns's body to the garage, Caruana's left tail light was out. This apparently made Grasso furious, as Caruana could've been caught by police with a body in his trunk. Grasso then allegedly had Caruana killed and placed in the same grave as Berns!

However, I can't find any articles after 1991 (other than the one below) about the bodies in the garage. So, I don't know if any testing was done to compare the remains to Caruana's. If the police still have those remains, and have a DNA profile of Caruana's, they should definitely compare it to finally bring this mystery to a close.

http://www.villagevoice.com/arts/mob-rules-7158882

[SertumAEnigmA]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

However, FBI agent John Connolly, Castucci's handler, confirmed Caruana's affair with Sandra. Caruana disappeared in 1984 and was never heard of again. . However, Caruana's body was never found and no one was ever charged with his murder

Absolutely makes sense. Excellent post. I'd like to add that Caruana is certainly dead if John Connolly was Castucci's "handler". Wouldn't be the first either. Connolly had a long partnership with Boston gangster Whitey Bulger. Bulger and Connolly virtually eliminated the Italian mob in Boston "by any means necessary". Bulger went from a small time thug to ruthless Boston kingpin under Connolly's "handling". Probably didn't hurt that Bulger's brother was arguably the most powerful politician in Massachusetts.

Connolly at one point was considered the top special agent in the FBI and consulted virtually all organized crime divisions under the Department of Justice umbrella after he was credited for single handedly bringing down the Italian mob in Boston.

Twenty years later, he was indicted and subsequently convicted for racketeering and a slew of other organized crime and corruption related charges.

But that's not all. In a bit of irony Special Agent John Connelly was convicted of a murder that was once profiled on Unsolved Mysteries.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Connolly_(FBI)

[DALLASTEXAN!!]

To steal a line from dynoguy I'm going to attack the elephant in the room. Has anyone else noticed that carajuana rhymes with marijuana?

[LakeForestPI]

Originally Posted by SertumAEnigmA

Absolutely makes sense. Excellent post. I'd like to add that Caruana is certainly dead if John Connolly was Castucci "handler". Wouldn't be the first either. Connelly had a long partnership with Boston gangster Whitey Bulger. Bulger and Connelly virtually eliminated the Italian mob in Boston "by any means necessary". Bulger went from a small time thug to ruthless Boston kingpin under Connolly's "handling". Probably didn't hurt that Bulger's brother was arguably the most powerful politician in Massachusetts.

Connelly at one point was considered the top special agent in the FBI and consulted virtually all organized crime divisions under the Department of Justice umbrella after he was credited for single handedly bringing down the Italian mob in Boston.

Twenty years later, he was indicted and subsequently convicted for racketeering and a slew of other organized crime and corruption related charges.

But that's not all. In a bit of irony Special Agent John Connelly was convicted of a murder that was once profiled on Unsolved Mysteries.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Connolly_(FBI)

The murder rap Connolly went down on is dubious. It has to do with the Callahan hit. Callahan was the winter hill gangs inside man at world jai alai. Callahan new about the Wheeler hit that was on UM . According to Wheeler hitmen Johnny Martarano, Whitey felt that Callahan knew too much about winter hill and needed to go. It was not Connolly who ordered Martarano to kill Callahan. Martarano and Connolly did not associate together. Martarano had his own LE source.

[SertumAEnigmA]

Originally Posted by LakeForestPI

The murder rap Connolly went down on is dubious. It has to do with the Callahan hit. Callahan was the winter hill gangs inside man at world jai alai. Callahan new about the Wheeler hit that was on UM . According to Wheeler hitmen Johnny Martarano, Whitey felt that Callahan knew too much about winter hill and needed to go. It was not Connolly who ordered Martarano to kill Callahan. Martarano and Connolly did not associate together. Martarano had his own LE source.

Dubious or not really depends on how you view the law.

First, I want to be clear that in no way did I imply that Connolly ordered the Callahan hit. If my wording gave you that impression, I apologize.

It is well documented that Whitey Bulger and Stephen Flemmi was told by John Connolly that an associate of theirs, Brian Halloran came into his Boston office and became a cooperating witness in the FBI Wheeler investigation after he implicated Bulger, Flemmi and Callahan in the murder. As usual, Connolly ran his typical interference with his FBI superiors and associates and a short time later Halloran was gunned down. Callahan went into hiding after Connolly tipped him off. According to some "sources", Connolly went to Bulger and Flemmi and told them that Callahan had began to cooperate with the FBI which explained his hiding. Other sources speculate that Connolly fabricated this solely to get Callahan killed.

Whether Connolly lied or not about Callahan is irrelevant. It is well established that Connolly advised Bulger and Flemmi that Callahan would flip. He also knew that by doing so would result in his demise, like most Winter Hill Gang informants.

Under Florida law, any involvement in the process of a homicide is no different than pulling the trigger yourself.

In my opinion Connolly used Bulger for his own self serving needs, just as Bulger used him. Pretty obvious that Connolly somewhat enjoyed the power of having people killed through simple suggestion and manipulation.