The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 19

The Boston Globe City Region B3- FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2006 Burlington man gets life term in '96 slaying of Medford teen Crime ring wanted to silence victim worked tirelessly to bring down DeCologero's crew, solve his daughter's murder, and find her remains. Police resumed digging for Aislin Silva's remains this week, for the third time since June, in an area behind the William A. Welch in talking to DeCologero. "I wouldn't accept one word from him," Silva said. "He's a career criminal, a liar, thief, drug dealer, and murderer." Silva called DeCologero's claims of an FBI conspiracy an insult to investigators who have statement, Silva's sister, Corissa Wenning, told DeCologero that she had watched other members of his crew get sent to prison "and now I get to see you the one wlro had her taken away get what you deserve.

She still brought your crew down." Sr. Elementary School in Peabody. "They're going to find her this time," Silva said. He said police were encouraged by the recent discovery of a shovel, which they believed was used to bury his daughter, near the site. During her victim-impact said, but the jury and Silva's family "saw through" his claims that he was an innocent man in the muffin-baking business.

DeCologero, a reputed Mafia associate who operated a crew of drug dealers and thieves, was found guilty in March of ordering Silva's slaying. She was killed Nov. 13, 1996. A key witness testified that DeCologero feared Silva would cooperate with authorities after police raided her Medford apartment in 1996 and found By Shelley Murphy GLOBE STAFF A drug trafficker convicted of ordering the 1996 murder of a Medford teenager has been declaring his innocence on and in lengthy letters to judges, politicians, the media, and even the victim's family. Yesterday as Paul A.

"Big Paul" ik DeCologero was about to be sentenced in federal court, he insisted on taking the witness stand to face the family of the victim, 19-year-old Ais-lin Silva. "Aislin is still pleading from her grave" for the truth, he shouted. "I never had anything to do with hurting Aislin," said DeCologero, 48, of Burlington, insisting that he had been denied guns that had been stolen by DeCologero's crew. The Medford teenager was kept away from her family and police for a week while DeCologero deliberated her fate, according to testimony. After an attempt to kill her with a heroin overdose failed, Silva was strangled and dismembered.

Her remains have not been Police are still searching for the remains of Aislin Silva. Paula Yanosy, History Teacher 1 found, but authorities have been searching an area in Peabody for several months. DeCologero said yesterday that he was a victim of corrupt FBI agents who wanted to take down the Mafia and protect longtime informant James "Whitey" Bulger. He even suggested that he could try to use his contacts to help Silva's family find her remains. "I mean that, if you want to come up and talk to me any time, I'm here," DeCologero said.

But Silva's father, Joseph Silva, later said that he had no interest a fair trial. But Silva's family said they did not believe a word of it. And neither did US District Judge Rya Zo bel, who sentenced DeCologero to life in prison, telling him, "I must say I don't quite see it in the same way as you do." DeCologero will not be eligible for parole. "We all saw the evil, manipulating monster that you are," Silva's mother, Doreen Henderson, told DeCologero during an emotional victim-impact statement. She had watched DeCologero make dramatic gestures and roll his eyes throughout his trial, she NUMBSR5 WHAT'S YOUR NUMBER? The Numbers Game now has bigger prizes than ever.

You have to play. 2d District recount to include all 10 wards own An AO 0 nEMcn im, 1 33 By Russell Nichols GLOBE STAFF A Suffolk Superior Court Judge ruled that all 10 wards be included in today's recount of ballots in the Second Suffolk District Senate race, even though the challenger did not initially gather enough signatures to force a recount in two wards. Sonia Chang-Diaz, who placed second behind state Senator Dianne Wilker- The best value in wireless gets even better. SONIA CHANG-DIAZ son in last week's Democratic primary, turned in the last of the required 50 signa-tures in each ward yesterday. She had turned in the necessary signatures for eight of the district's wards by a Monday deadline.

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A four-hour public count Sept. 21 at City Hall extended Wilkerson's victory to 692 votes of 12,933 votes cast. William McDermott, a lawyer hired by Chang-Diaz, argued yesterday that because the results of the election were not known until last Thursday, the campaign should have been given several more days. Chang-Diaz has said she does not expect to win in a recount but wants to highlight deficiencies so that they can be fixed. "The whole point of asking for the recount was to make sure that the system was one that people could have confidence in going forward," said Chang-Diaz, a 28-year-old former teacher.

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