Analysis of Individual Murders: An Overview Chart

img054It is best to give an overview to the murders alleged to have been committed by James “Whitey” Bulger by date, by victim, by actual shooter, by motive and by who would gain.  The murders alleged were committed in two time spans, from 1973 to 1976; and from 1981 to 1986, a period of 9 years.

First Years – 1973 to 1976- 11 murders

Year           –   Victim   –       Killer/Shooter     –      Motive  –        Who Gains

1973 –  Michael Milano – Martorano/Winter  – Martorano —    Angiulo

1973 – Al Plummer   – – – Martorano/Winter  – Martorano   —   Angiulo

1973  –  William O’Brien – Martorano/Winter – Martorano —   Angiulo

1973 –   Spike O’Toole  – Martorano/McDonald – Martorano – Martorano

1974  –  Indian Al      – – –   Martorano    – – –      Martorano  – – –    Angiulo

1974   –  James Sousa – – Martorano – – –          Martorano   –   –  McDonald

1974  –  Paulie McGanagle – King          – –        Whitey      – – –       Whitey

1975  –  Eddie Connors  – Whitey/Stevie   –     Winter  – – –           Winter

1975  –  Thomas King   –   Martorano – – – –     Whitey   – – –            Whitey

1975  –  Buddy Leonard –  Whitey –  –  –   –   –  Whitey  –  – –  –       Whitey

1976  –  Richie Castucci  –  Martorano  – – –    The Hill –     —        The Hill

Second Years – 1981 to 1985 – 8 murders

Year           –   Victim   –       Shooter(s)  –             Motive  –        Who Gains

1981  –  Roger Wheeler   —   Martorano —  —  Martoramp  –  Martorano

1981  –  Debbie Davis  – – –    Flemmi   — —    Flemmi   –   –       Flemmi

1982  –  Brian Halloran  —  Whitey/Nee  —  —  Whitey —  —  —  Whitey

1982  –  Michael Donohue – Whitey/Nee  —  —  Whitey — — — Whitey

1982  –  John Callahan — —   Martorano —  —  Martorano — -Martorano

1983  —  Bucky Barett  —  —  Whitey/Flemmi   Whitey  —  —   Whitey

1984 —  John McIntyre —  —  Nee/ Weeks  —  —  Nee —  —  —  Nee

1985 —  Deborah Hussey —  Flemmi —  —  —  Flemmi —  —     Flemmi

The above is the most logical conclusion about the murders charged to Whitey. Understand that the information about some of them came from people who were interested in getting a good deal from the government which was obsessed with getting Whitey so they of necessity minimized their roles and put Whitey in the spotlight. By looking at who had the motive and the most to gain is a better guide to determining the identity of the murderer.

When Weeks said John McIntyre had a bullet put in his head by Whitey that could very well have been done by Nee. In other words the corroboration of the manner of a person’s death only means that a witness like Weeks who was at the scene of the murder will be able to describe how it happened; but it does not follow the players (or killers) who did it were the ones who actually did do it. Weeks was motivated to minimize his and his friends involvement as well as to maximize Whitey’s. Doing otherwise would not have gotten him the sweetheart deal.

An examination of the 19 murders shows that of the 11 murders committed in 1973 to 1976 that the person who actually committed eight of them was Martorano. The remaining three were done by Tommy King, by Whitey, and by Whitey and Stevie Flemmi

Of the eight murders committed between 1981 to 1985,  Martorano did two; Flemmi did two; Whitey did three, and Nee did one. In two of Whitey’s he was with Nee and once with Flemmi.

In fine, Martorano committed ten murders; Whitey committed seven; Flemmi four; Winter three; Nee three; King and McDonald one.  They add up to more than nineteen because in some there were more than one person actively involved in the murder. Keep in mind though that the seven attributed to Whitey are all he is known to have done whereas Martorano has admitted to another ten. The federals used a guy who committed more than 20 murders to get a guy who did seven.

My analysis that will follow over the next couple of days will explain how I reached the conclusions which I have.

In setting the matter out in this manner it shows that Whitey’s murders took place under limited time periods. He murdered with his own hands two  individuals, Eddie Connors and Buddy Leonard in 1975 and was with Tommy King when he killed Paulie McGonagle in 1974.

In 1982 and 1983 he murdered Brian Halloran along with Michael Donohue and Bucky Barrett. He was present at others but was not the main participant or the one with the motive. With a fair amount of confidence it is clear he murdered five men.

Before going on I’d like to return to John Connolly. I’ve noted previously that up until 1981 he had no  reason to believe Whitey had murdered anyone although he did have reason to believe Flemmi had been involved in some murders since he would have known about his murder and explosives charge. Up until the Wheeler murder which occurred in Oklahoma we have seen Whitey was not said to have been involved in any murders for four and a half years. It would be highly unusual for him to have suspected that when the Wheeler case happened in Tulsa that Whitey, who had been clean for that period of time, or even longer, may have been involved.

Suggesting that he somehow should have known or that he knew of Whitey’s involvement in any of the subsequent seven murders that were attributed to Whitey from 1981 to 1985 is to attribute to him some sort of super powers of discernment; something that not even the FBI’s semi-god J. Edgar Hoover possessed. Wheeler and Callahan were murdered out-of-state; the bodies of Davis, Barrett, McIntyre, and Hussey were buried and were thought to be missing persons; and though Halloran and Donohue were murdered in broad daylight, Halloran identified another man as his murderer just before he died.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Comments

  1. Hi Matt and thanks for a great breakdown of the murders committed by Whitey Bulger or his associates.

    Did Bulger and Flemmi tried to shake down Bucky Barrett after the Depositor heist and did Barrett pay the Mafia some money after the heist?

    • David:

      There was some evidence that the did try to shake him down but Bucky went to Frankie Salemme in Walpole who got the message out to them to lay off. They were never happy about that and after laying low for a bit went back at him for the money from Depositor’s Trust.

  2. The only way to resolve the pressing issue of whether fantasy football is gambling as Nevada says or is something else is for you to petition the local DA’s to be appointed special counsel to conduct a grand jury inquiry. Your extensive background in prosecuting bookies would make you the ideal person. Doesn’t Massachusetts have a law that states if four people combine to run a gambling operation they are committing a felony? Are Fan Duel and Draft Kings gambling run by more than four people? Why should New Jersey be precluded from operating a fantasy league? Why can’t this state run one? They run the lottery. Thought monopolies were illegal. Are NFL owners too big to jail

  3. Matt
    When you break down each murder will you be able to share some background information on who each victim was (especially if they were also a criminal).

  4. Matt
    Great breakdown. I just finished re-reading DEADLY ALLIANCE. In the later chapters I had to re-read certain passages because of all the cover ups and conflicting stories. Although John Connolly is not painted in the best light the guy who gets really taken to task is John Morris. Also, Jeremiah O’Sullivan is thrown under the bus too (my opinion). One great aspect of the book is that one learns that the Bulger/Flemmi saga is just one of MANY crime reigns empowered by the TEI program.

    On a side note, did you personally read ALL 661 pages of the Wolf findings in Salemme vs United States?