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Who was Joseph Barboza?
Joseph Barboza was a notorious mob hitman who worked for the Patriarca crime family of New England in the 1960s. He was nicknamed “the Animal” for his brutal and ruthless methods of killing. He claimed to have murdered 26 people, mostly rival gangsters, but also innocent bystanders and witnesses. He was also a professional boxer who fought under the name of “the Baron”. He was born in 1932 to Portuguese immigrants in Massachusetts. He had a wife and two children.
How did Joseph Barboza become an FBI informant?
In 1967, Barboza was arrested for the murder of Edward Deegan, a small-time criminal who was shot dead in a warehouse. Barboza was facing the death penalty, but he decided to cooperate with the FBI and testify against his former bosses and associates. He became the first mobster to ever break the code of silence and betray the Mafia in court. He helped convict several high-ranking members of the Patriarca family, including the boss Raymond Patriarca himself. He also implicated six other men in the Deegan murder, who were all sentenced to death or life in prison. However, it later turned out that Barboza had lied about their involvement, and that he and another FBI informant, Vincent Flemmi, were the actual killers. Barboza had framed the six men to settle personal scores or to protect his friends.
How did Joseph Barboza enter the witness protection program?
As a result of his cooperation, Barboza became a marked man in the underworld. He received death threats from the Mafia and from his former friends. He also faced hostility from some FBI agents who resented his role as an informant. To protect him, the FBI placed him in the witness protection program, the first of its kind. He was given a new identity, Joseph Donati, and a new life in California. He was enrolled in a culinary school in Santa Rosa, and later worked as a cook on a freighter and in a restaurant in San Francisco. He also received a monthly stipend from the government.
How did Joseph Barboza die?
However, Barboza was not satisfied with his new life. He missed the thrill and the power of his old life. He also felt betrayed by the FBI, who he accused of not keeping their promises to him. He resumed his criminal activities, such as loan sharking, extortion, and murder. In 1971, he killed a man named Clay Wilson in Santa Rosa, and was arrested and tried for the crime. During the trial, his true identity was revealed, and he was exposed as a former mob hitman and an FBI informant. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. He was released in 1975, and moved back to San Francisco. He tried to take over the local rackets, and clashed with other gangsters. He also contacted the media and offered to tell his story. He hoped to get a book or a movie deal, and to expose the corruption and the injustice of the FBI and the justice system.
However, his plans were cut short when the Mafia finally caught up with him. On February 11, 1976, Barboza left his friend’s apartment in the Sunset District of San Francisco. As he was walking to his car, he was ambushed by two gunmen, who shot him four times with a shotgun. He died instantly. The gunmen were later identified as Joe Russo and John Martorano, two hitmen from Boston who were sent by the Patriarca family to kill Barboza. They had learned his location from Barboza’s friend, who had betrayed him. Barboza’s death was the end of a violent and tragic life, and a major chapter in the history of organized crime in America.
