John Andrew "Jack" Kelly was a man who lived in two worlds. To many in Boston, the 34-year-old was a respected investigative journalist, a U.S. Air Force veteran, and a married father of four from Framingham. He had built a formidable career in radio, working for stations like WBZ and WNAC-TV, and was known for his hard-hitting reporting, famously breaking the story of the Chappaquiddick incident involving Senator Ted Kennedy three hours before any other outlet. But Kelly was also drawn to the city's shadowy underworld, cultivating connections with mobsters. A friend once said he was "attracted to mobsters like a moth to a candle," a fascination that allowed him to get stories no one else could but which placed him in a dangerous and precarious position. In 1978, he was working as the night manager of the Blackfriars Pub, an Irish-themed bar and late-night disco on Summer Street.
In the early hours of June 28, 1978, after the pub had closed for the night, Kelly and four other men were in the basement playing backgammon. With him were the pub's owner, Vincent E. Solmonte, 35; Peter Meroth, 31; Freddy Delavega, 34; and Charles Magarian, 37. The basement reportedly contained a large amount of cash and several kilograms of cocaine. At some point, a group of gunmen entered the cellar and what began as a robbery escalated into a massacre. It has long been rumored that the killers had not planned to leave witnesses, but when Jack Kelly recognized one of the intruders, the violent robbery turned into a mass execution.
The next morning, a janitor arrived for work and discovered a horrific scene in the cramped, blood-spattered basement. All five men were dead, shot at close range in a gangland-style slaying. Kelly was found lying face-down with two gunshot wounds to his head. The Boston Police Department responded to the scene at 105 Summer Street, and the Suffolk County District Attorney at the time called it one of the most shocking crimes he had ever witnessed. Investigators determined the weapons used were a .12 gauge shotgun and a .25 caliber automatic pistol, leading them to believe at least two shooters were involved. Though the initial motive appeared to be robbery, the fact that some cash and drugs were left behind suggested something more complex, possibly a targeted hit related to a drug deal gone wrong.
The investigation into what the press dubbed the "Blackfriars Massacre" was extensive but ultimately frustrating. Police reports revealed that Kelly had been seen by law enforcement "in the company of known members of organized crime" on at least 25 separate occasions. Less than a month after the killings, two men, Robert J. Italiano and William N. Ierardi, were arrested and charged with the five murders. Their trial was held in 1979, but after 27 days of testimony, both men were acquitted, leaving the brutal case officially unsolved.
Over the decades, the massacre has remained a chilling, unanswered chapter in the city's history, inextricably linked to the violent organized crime syndicates that once held sway over Boston. The names of infamous figures from the Winter Hill Gang and the Patriarca crime family have been persistently tied to the crime, including James "Whitey" Bulger, Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, and Nicholas Femia. Flemmi had reportedly been at the Blackfriars Pub with his girlfriend on the night of the murders but left shortly before they occurred after sensing that something was wrong.
Despite the persistent rumors and the enduring notoriety of the case, no one has ever been convicted for the murders of John A. Kelly and the four other men slain in the basement of the Blackfriars Pub. The full story of what happened that night, and why the life of a journalist who walked the line between two worlds came to such a brutal end, remains lost to history. The case is one of Boston's most infamous unsolved homicides.
