DAN REA

Dan Rea has been a general assignment reporter for News 4 New England on WBZ 4 since August 1976. Truly a "Boston-based" reporter, Rea was born at Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain, raised in the Readville section of Boston, and educated at Boston Latin High School, Boston State College, and Boston University Law School.

Beginning in September 1977, Rea worked primarily as a reporter for the station's evening newscasts, with an emphasis on live reports, local and national politics, and breaking news stories. In 1996, Rea moved to the morning shift in order to spend more with his family.

In 1996 Rea's ongoing investigation of a wrongful imprisonment case reached a climactic turning point. Joe Salvati, imprisoned for thirty years for a crime he says he didn't commit, had been the focus of a four-year-long investigation by Rea. His investigation helped lead to the discovery of two new witnesses who came forward to refute Salvati's involvement in the murder of Edward Deegan in 1965. Based on this new evidence, the case was reviewed and Governor Weld recommended that Salvati's life prison sentence be commuted. The Governor's Council accepted the recommendation and Salvati was freed in 1997.

In December of 2000, heretofore hidden FBI documents proved Salvati's innocence and one month later all of the charges against Salvati were dropped. In May of 2001, Salvati, his wife Marie, and his long time attorney Victor Garo, testified about their three-decade ordeal before the United States Congress.

For his work on the Salvati story, the Massachusetts Bar Association honored Rea with the First Annual Excellence in Journalism Award. The Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyers Association for his efforts in the Salvati case also honored Rea.

In 1995 community groups praised Rea for his coverage and personal involvement in the battle to repair and re-open the Loring Arena in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Rea received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Boston State College and earned a Juris Doctor degree at Boston University Law School. Rea is admitted to practice law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the Federal District Court of Massachusetts, and before the United States Supreme Court. In June 1988 Rea was presented with Boston University Law School's prestigious "Silver Shingle" award for outstanding public service.

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Last updated April 16, 2002