Backhoes excavate on Bullocks Point Avenue in Riverside yesterday under the eyes of law enforcement officials.

The Providence Journal / Frieda Squires

EAST PROVIDENCE — Two backhoes dug and moved gravel for more than six hours yesterday behind an apartment complex in Riverside without finding the body of Joseph “Joe Onions” Scanlon, the victim of a gangland slaying 30 years ago.

Lt. John J. Leyden and Lt. Kevin J. Hawkins, of the Rhode Island State Police, called off the dig at 3:35 p.m. The backhoe operators from the state Department of Transportation will return to the site this morning and resume their search for Scanlon’s remains behind the Lisboa Apartments, at 378 Bullocks Point Ave. The grassy area behind the complex is less than 20 yards from the East Bay Bike Path.

It was the second straight day of digging. During the excavation, work crews found carpet remnants, plastic bags and wire — but no bones or other body remains.

Investigators remained certain they will find what they are looking for. On Monday morning, Nicholas “Nicky” Pari, 71, of North Providence, one of two men convicted of killing Scanlon, accompanied state police detectives to Riverside and showed them the area where he buried the body. The state police dog also detected a scent of human remains.

Several curiosity seekers stopped by and watched the backhoes turn the grassy field upside down. Several men in their 50s recalled playing on the property back in the ’70s before the apartment complex was constructed. They also knew Nicholas Pari and his sons, who once lived on Peach Orchard Drive in Riverside.

One woman said she remembered Nicky Pari as “a dapper dandy,” who was always neatly dressed and preferred white suits.

One son, Nicholas Pari Jr., was killed in a motorcycle accident a few years back, while another, Joe, has been in and out of trouble most of his life.

In May 1982, Pari and Andy Merola pleaded no contest to manslaughter charges and were sent to the Adult Correctional Institutions for their roles in killing Scanlon in Merola’s social club, on Knight Street in Providence, in 1978.

Mystery surrounded the case because Scanlon’s remains had never been found. As part of the 1982 plea agreement, Pari and Merola agreed to tell where the body was dumped. They told prosecutors they drove the body to Narragansett and tossed it into Narragansett Bay. Many investigators had doubts about the story because no body ever washed ashore.

Former Attorney General Dennis J. Roberts II isn’t one of them.

Roberts, who prosecuted both men, said he believes that they were telling the truth.

“I believed it then and I believe it now, frankly,” said Roberts yesterday. “I thought they took him out to sea and dumped him way out in the ocean.”

On Monday, Pari and 17 others, including mob hitman Gerald “Gerry” Tillinghast, were arrested in a large-scale racketeering, drug peddling and stolen goods ring that the authorities allege operated out of a flea market on Valley Street in Providence.

Yesterday, the state police announced four additional arrests stemming from the undercover probe that was launched 1½ years ago.

On Monday night, the Osceola (Fla.) Fugitive Task Force arrested Domenic Lombardi Jr., a convicted felon and developer from West Warwick, on three counts each of delivery of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver; and one count each of conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance and maintaining a common nuisance.

Lombardi, 74, is accused of selling Vicodin, a prescription narcotic, from his business, Lombardi Realty, at 88 West Warwick Ave., in West Warwick. Lombardi owns the plaza and leases space to Discovery House, a drug rehabilitation clinic for people trying to beat their addictions to, among other drugs, Vicodin.

“He doesn’t get it. He never has and he never will,” said state police Lt. Col. Steven G. O’Donnell. “You’re supposed to grow old and collect Social Security –– you’re not supposed to be selling Vicodin.”

In the mid-’90s, Lombardi was serving a 10-year federal prison sentence on arson-related charges for setting two fires to collect insurance money, mail fraud and money laundering.

“He’s had an illustrious career with law enforcement,” said O’Donnell. “It spans decades, and numerous crimes including arson and drugs. He’s been a thorn in the side of law enforcement for years.”

Lombardi is currently on a suspended sentence for a previous drug conviction, which means he faces prison as a violator once he is returned to Rhode Island from Florida.

The state police also arrested three others later yesterday –– Stephen Wahl, 46, of 40 Hope St., Tiverton, on racketeering and drug charges; Devon McDonald, 24, of 183 Ocean St., Providence, for larceny, and Curtis Ruiz, 44, of 33 Derby St., Cranston, on charges of racketeering, conspiracy and delivery of narcotics.

O’Donnell said authorities are looking for one more suspect. Then, they will pursue additional charges against those already arrested, which could, in turn, lead to more arrests.

With staff reports from Tracy Breton

mstanton@projo.com