Joseph “The Animal” Barboza
Joseph Barboza worked as a hitman in Boston and other parts of New England for the Patriarca crime family in the 1960s. His family was Portuguese, and Barboza became a skilled chef, specializing in Portuguese cuisine. He also had a brief career as a light heavyweight boxer before he turned his attention to murder.
Barboza served a stint in prison in Massachusetts in the early 1950s, and became involved with the Patriarca organized crime family while he was behind bars. The mob was attracted to Barboza’s violent demeanor and his ability to carry out a contract killing with no hassle. However, he could never be officially inducted into the Patriarca mob because of his Portuguese heritage. Barboza was also allied with the Winter Hill Gang out of Boston.
Barboza had a falling out with the Patriarca family in the late 1960s. While imprisoned on a murder charge in the summer of 1967, Barboza felt he only had one option left. He agreed to cooperate with the FBI and talk about what he knew about organized crime in New England. He became one of the first people to enter the Witness Protection Program. He testified against his former boss in court, and his former associates were furious. Barboza’s testimony led to the imprisonment of 6 men, with 4 of them receiving death sentences.
Barboza moved to northern California to start a new life. Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t stay out of trouble, and he was arrested for second-degree murder in 1971 and sent to Folsom Prison. Barboza was paroled in 1975 and changed his name to “Joseph Donati.” Eventually, vengeful Boston gangsters from his past tracked him down. On February 11, 1976, Barboza was shot and killed while leaving a friend’s apartment in San Francisco.