In the early morning hours of June 28, 1978, five men were found shot to death in the basement of the Blackfriars Pub on Summer Street in Boston. The victims included 35-year-old owner Vincent E. Solomonte of Quincy, night manager John Jack Kelly, Peter Meroth, Freddy Delavega, and Charles Magarian. The bodies were discovered about 8:00 a.m. by a janitor arriving for his shift.

Investigators reported small amounts of drugs and about $15,000 in an open safe, but believed the killings were a gangland-style execution linked to a larger cocaine dispute. Solomonte was reportedly under investigation by the FBI and the IRS for bankruptcy fraud and was known to law enforcement as a cocaine trafficker. Suspicion centered on organized crime, including members of the Winter Hill Gang and the Patriarca family.

Two men, Robert Italiano and William N. Ierardi, were arrested on July 12, 1978, and later tried, but a jury acquitted both in 1979. Nicholas Femia was also questioned but no case was pursued against him for lack of credible evidence. No one has been convicted in the Blackfriars Massacre.