Family of Nicholas Pari speaks-out following death

NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) -  

Nicholas Pari, a notorious figure in Rhode Island mob lore, has died at the age of 71.

 

The Rhode Island State Police say Pari died last night at his home after a long battle with cancer.

His oldest son Kenneth Pari says, he was surrounded by loved ones when he died.

"He has 7 children and 9 grandchildren," he says. "My father was a very giving person. He helped everyone that needed help."

Pari most recently made headlines after being snared in a state police dragnet dubbed "Operation Mobbed-Up." Investigators say Pari ran a criminal operation out of the Valley Street Flea Market in Providence.

Also picked-up, notorious mob hit-man Gerald Tillinghast, who investigators say took over the operation when Pari became too ill.

At Pari's arraignment, defense attorney Kevin Salvaggio told the judge the aging mob associate was on his death bed. One month later, it proved to be true.

Pari was in hospice care, his son says, slipping in and out of a coma.

"In the last couple of days, it got real bad," Kenneth Pari says.

Keri Macchio, one of Pari's two daughters, says all the media coverage on her father, was tough on Pari's family.

"It bothered his grandchildren, it effected all of them," Macchio says. "My son says 'my papa is my papa and he loved me very much.'"

Pari served ten years in prison for his role in the 1978 gangland slaying of mob associate Joseph "Joey Onions" Scanlon.

The case is believed to be the first time in Rhode Island where prosecutors were able to secure a murder conviction without a body. The charges were later downgraded to manslaughter.

After his arrest last month, Pari allegedly tipped-off state police investigators where to find Scanlon's body.

When asked if Pari wanted to clear his conscience near the end of his life, Macchio says she doesn't know.

"We are a little bit tongue tied on that," She says.

"He never really discussed that sort of stuff with us," Kenneth Pari says. "We didn't pry and we didn't ask any questions."

He says the family was particularly concerned when the state police "dragged" the elder Pari from his house.

"It worried me they came and took a very, very sick man out of his bed," he says.

Last month, state police, with a Department of Transportation back-hoe, dug for three days behind an East Providence apartment complex -- eventually finding human remains believed to be Scanlon.

The medical examiner is still working on a positive identification.

"I don't want to speak ill of the dead," says Attorney General Patrick Lynch. "Mr. Pari had a lifelong almost legendary criminal history that sadly impacted and hurt a lot of people."

Lynch says they don't expect to charge anyone else in Scanlon's murder.

Kenneth Pari says it's those kinds of comments, they want to address; eager to point out Pari started a charitable foundation in his late son's name.

Joseph Pari died 12 years ago in a motorcycle accident. Kenneth Pari says his father got involved with an organization for ailing children.

"There are things nobody knows," Kenneth Pari says. "If you needed anything… you needed a pair of socks, he'd give you his."