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man.
    On the night of September 24, he found himself in the Famous Café, a bar in the South End of Boston. That night, he was drinking with a man when a fight broke out between the man and a woman. When the man began beating the woman unmercifully, Big Eddie stepped in and proceeded to give the man a taste of his own medicine. The fight was quickly over, and Philip Spataro—a thirty-five-year-old resident of Hanover Street in the North End of Boston who was a bartender and co-owner of the Famous Café—ordered the man to leave.
    The fighting man walked back into the bar at close to closing time, completely unnoticed by the patrons, who had put the earlier altercation behind them. The man saw Big Eddie at the bar still sitting there, talking and laughing with his friends. He approached the bar and opened fire. Eddie collapsed to the floor, clenching his midsection, while the remaining twenty-five patrons ducked for cover. After the second shot, Spataro jumped over the bar and began to wrestle with the gunman, attempting to disarm him, when the gun discharged, hitting Spataro in the groin. The gunman then ran out of the bar on to Washington Street, where he fired another shot into the air before running up Dover Street. Boston Police Lieutenant John Donovan of the homicide squad said that police officers arrested a thirty-two-year-old South End man in a house on Middlesex Street. The gunman was in custody within two hours of the shooting. He was arrested by Sergeant George Bausch, Detective Thomas Carney, Patrick Hamilton and Edward Twohig. According to the police, the man was booked on suspicion of murder and assault and battery after being identified by Spataro at City Hospital. Spataro underwent surgery and eventually recovered from his wounds. Police thoroughly searched the premises on Middlesex Street, but the weapon was never found. Eddie died at the scene from two small caliber bullets lodged in his abdomen. The next day, U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers was captured by the Soviets, Ted Williams announced his retirement, John F. Kennedy was preparing for his debate with Nixon and the Boston American ’s front-page headline read “Man Slain in S.E. Bar.” This one tragic event would have a devastating impact twenty years later.

    Boston American photo of Ed Marino.

    The front page of the Boston American newspaper announcing Ed Marino’s murder.
    Corrine Marino now found herself having to raise a child and bring another into the world without a father or husband to help her along the way. Within a few months, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy, whom she named Vincent. As time went on, Corrine met and eventually married a loving and hardworking man named Donald Portalla. Don was very accepting of Corrine’s situation, and they both decided that it was in the best interest of the boys to have Don raise them as his own and keep the tragic incident of their father’s murder from them. Don and Corrine went on to have three more children, two boys and a girl.
    The family settled in Revere and lived in the housing projects off Broadway. The housing complex was a series of quaint duplexes with front and backyards. Don and Corrine both worked extremely hard to provide a stable, loving and nurturing home for the children. The children attended the Shurtleff School with other neighborhood children. Corrine raised her kids to be polite, courteous, studious and hardworking. Corrine and Don had taken every precaution to ensure that their children would stay on the right path of life. The neighborhood kids might be out on the corner until all hours, but their children had curfews. Eddie, the oldest, worked at Vazzas restaurant as a chef while maintaining an A average and graduating from Revere High School in 1979. The following year, Vincent, who was nicknamed Gigi, also graduated from Revere High School. Gigi had been a standout athlete in football and was voted king of the prom, elected to the