Anyone Feeling Terrorized? Where Have All The Gangsters Gone?

bloody-murderThe other day I was wondering why I did not feel terrorized. What caused me to think about that was I was wondering why Whitey never answered my letter whether he would meet with me if I went down to visit him in his prison in Florida. He did write earlier indicating that he would but when I gave him some more specifics as to my expected time he remained silent. I do not know what his physical or mental condition is but the last I heard he was in a wheel chair.

What made me think about being terrorized I recalled how the news media wrote that Whitey terrorized Boston for a quarter of a century. I knew of Whitey but never felt that but I was a prosecutor. I once wondered what other people felt during his heydays between 1979 and 1994. Everyone I asked who wasn’t connected with law enforcement, lived in the Boston area during that time, and was a legitimate person told me he had never heard of him.

I suppose the people I should have been surveying were those in the criminal field. I’d suggest the correct media reporting should have said that Whitey  terrorized the criminal element in Boston for 15 years. That is more accurate; he picked on people who were criminals like himself.

You may recall what is known as the Irish Gang war that took place in the 1960s around Boston. It was called Irish because during it a feud took place between two Irish gangs: Buddy McLean’s group from Somerville and the McLaughlins from Charlestown. If I recall my research correctly less than fifteen of the more than sixty people murdered at that time were from those gangs. The rest was an assortment of others killed for various reasons with a good number being executed as favors for the Italian gangsters from the North End.

I mention that because most of those murders went unsolved. It’s not that the cops didn’t have an idea who was involved in them (Whitey wasn’t because he was in prison) it was just that they did not care. I read about some Boston police officer telling a reporter something to the effect who cares if these gangsters want to kill each other.

For some reason this attitude it did not carry over to Whitey’s time. All of a sudden it became a matter of importance that gangsters were murdering other gangsters. In fact it became such a concern that soon the federal courts were giving out large awards of money to Mafia gangsters and doing their best to award money to other involved  gangsters or their families. I’ll never figure out how John Callahan’s family deserved any money – he hired Martorano to murder a legitimate business man in Oklahoma and then Martorano fearing he might turn state’s evidence against him murdered him. Yet the federals felt he was a victim. You play with fire you get burned; you play with murderers you get murdered.

Which brings me to the question. Do you today feel terrorized by any gangsters? The answer most likely is no. I suggest you would have given the same answer during the Whitey years.

The next question is do you think today that some gangsters fear being murdered by other gangsters?  Do you think there are gangsters murdering people? Recall a lot of people Whitey was said to have murdered in the 1980s their deaths at the time never made the news

Which brings me to my basic question: “Where have all the gangsters gone?” When was the last arrest by the federals or state of any of them? (I don’t include labor people.) Is the reason nothing has been done because they are all being protected by the FBI? Or, are we to believed they have they vanished like the Etruscans?

3 Comments

  1. I’m disappointed JB hasn’t answered. You two could have one hell of visit (I’d want to be a fly on the wall). Have you tried offering to top off his commissary? The thought of a fortune in Ramen noodles might entice him, and , if, he could be assured of washing that treasure down with a ten year supply of instant coffee, you just might loosen his tongue.

    They’ll probably ship him to an FMC, pretty soon. It sounds like he’s getting frail.

  2. This post is dated October 2, yet I received email notification of the post this morning, October 16.

    ?