A reader from the auld sod said Whitey would be described in the home of my ancestors as “a cute old hoor” in response to my suggestion that he may just give his testimony and refuse to be cross-examined. Perhaps he’d find there was much to my suggestion as he sat through yesterday’s thrashing of his former buddy, Stevie Flemmi. If the government has on its side anyone with half the cross-examination skill of Hank Brennan, he’s likely to leave the stand a bloody mess.
But that’s not necessarily a given, prosecutors are not as skilled in the use of cross-examination as a defense lawyer. If Whitey thwarted off their questions, it might come out all right for him; however, the media with its rabid anti-Bulger bias, after all both major newspapers have survived playing up the Bulger Boogieman phenomenon to frighten its readership, would do its best to make it look like he was well beaten up.
It is important to keep in mind a definition of the Big Lie. It is that “because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, . . . “ The Boston media has used it to great effect when it comes to the Bulgers
Yes, Bulgers, plural. I don’t have time to go into the history but it began with the Boston Globe around 1988 and with the Boston Herald when its savior and the radio host Howie Carr stole Judge Daher’s description of Billy Bulger as a Corrupt Midget and cleverly used it to build his audience of begrudgers. That it was the impetus of the prosecutor Wyshak in bringing the case was shown by his statement in answer to a question where did FBI Agent John Connolly go wrong. He said “he got too close to the Bulgers and South Boston.”
Motivated by error Wyshak started out on his crusade and we arrive at the penultimate moment of the prosecution’s case with Stevie Flemmi still on the stand and the good thinking people of the world astonished that such a man could be put on the stand as a witness for the United States. Decency bows her head in shame outside the federal courthouse in Boston.
What hadth Wyshak accomplished in his quixotic quest to bring Whitey to heel? He has made the City of Boston a much more dangerous place. It is the only place on earth where men who have murdered at least five persons are allowed to roam free. It is the only place in America that has produced so many serial murderers against whom little or nothing has been done by the authorities.
Before going on to them, Wyshak’s obsession with South Boston is totally misplaced. As I go through the people left on the street who are murderers, I’ll also tell where they are from or where they ran their little racket and put in parenthesis the minimum number of murders they are believed to have been involved with or committed.
Johnny Martorano (20) from the Roxbury gang operated in Roxbury, Dorchester and the South End (not to be confused with South Boston); Stevie Flemmi (20) from the Roxbury gang operated in Roxbury, Dorchester and the South End; Frankie Salemme (10) from the Roxbury gang operated in Roxbury, and the South End; Howie Winter (10) from the Somerville gang operated in Somerville; Jimmy Martorano (8) from the Roxbury gang operated in Roxbury, Dorchester and the South End; Pat Nee (5) from the South Boston Mullens gang operated in South Boston. Of the six men, five would join together as the Winter Hill gang. Of the six, only one is in prison, Stevie Flemmi, and some suggest he has a deal to be released after he testifies. Of the six two are Mafia members. Of the six, five were hit men for the Mafia.
The one serial murderer left is the one on trial. He is from South Boston. He did control the rackets in Southie but beyond that little enclave, his influence is greatly exaggerated. He was allowed to operate not because he was any feared power, but because he was willing to do what the Mafia wanted especially when it came to murders.
Remember the famous words of Boston Mafia Captain-Strongman Larry Baione Zannino. “The Hill is us.” Need proof. The first five murders that Whitey is charged with doing were commissioned by the Boston Mafia through John Martorano and Howie Winter. Need more. Flemmi just testified he murdered two or three people and blew up the car of an attorney because Zannino told him he had to do it.
As for Whitey he may have killed the 19 he is accused of doing although I’d venture to guess he’s down closer to 12 or 15. He’s an evil man. He is where he belongs and he should stay there. Except for Wyshak’s obsession, most if not all of the others should also be there. In a country where persons are executed for one or two murders, some committed during powerfully emotional periods, the idea that so many men with at least 5 premeditated murders to their names walk the street must give one pause.
Perhaps Ralph Dimasi who got out of prison in March after doing 21 years for an attempted armed robbery had the best comment on the case. I’ve written it before but it bears repeating: ““federal justice, I’ll tell you what it is, you have a guy who murdered 20 people walking the street and you have a kid commit one murder and they want him to get the chair. That’s what dealing with the government does.”
I think it is a diversion to look at ethnicity as having any real significance in the Whitney bulger saga. I,m waiting for some writer to suggest that this is a CASE of some Irish FBI agents targeting the Italians in the North End that spun out of control and enshrined Bulger. We collectively are responsible for what became a complete compromise of the law enforcement community in Massachusetts.
THe only people we will not hear from Is the politicians who assisted these criminals along the way and the attorneys who brokered the deals that gave Bulger a green light whether real or imagined.
My experience. with the FBI convinced me of only one thing they didn’t,even sneeze until an AUSA signed on and then Washington Oked it
Robert:
Good points – I agree with some. The only significance of ethnicity is that the Mafia happened to be an Italian organization. J. Edgar Hoover was forced to recognize it after the meeting among all the members at Apalachin, New York It just so happened that a lot of FBI agents were Irish from the Catholic universities who were drawn to the law and order life style it represented. A lot of them came from the Boston area and they migrated back here. But there were also a good number of Italian FBI agents.
Look at the makeup of the group around Whitey and you see it is a mix of Irish and Italian
I don’t see the politicians being involved in any of this. I know you and others believe Billy Bulger had some type role but I don’t see it. As for the attorneys, I’m at a loss to see where they contributed to this.
I think Wyshak is from the Midwest somewhere. His lack of local roots has been pointed out before. I think it fuels his misplaced obsessions
Google his bio, I thought it said he’s from Vermont.
same difference, relative to Southie
I think any misplaced obsessions did not come from Wyshak but came directly from Bostonians themselves which is what empowered this local ring of treachery, sadism and corruption….Wyshak et al are cleaning up the mess.
Jan, I mean Wyshak’s obsession with Billy, and with Whitey being an informant. Billy was never involved or knew specifics about Whitey’s dealings, and Whitey wasn’t an informant, he just exploited John Connolly’s man-crush, and was really a double-agent,… his true master was himself. he had a long run, but he will pay for Michael Donahue’s murder and go out leaving his version as the final legacy of this story.
Rather not, I don’t know about Billy, however, for ex., it’s funny I never heard stories about whitey abusing women and little girls in Southie, it was only Flemmi allegedly having an insatiable appetite with women and MacKenzie being violently assaultive with girls. As a matter of fact a guy I knew, who is in his forties and was around whitey due to family ties was actually respectful about whitey and explained that whitey did mentor him in a fatherly way, for ex., was disappointed when he left college and tried to encourage him to stay in school, etc.. I imagine, or would like to think he regrets the life he led, indicative in the advise that he tried to impress upon my friend.
Jan:
Good post. There has been no evidence in this trial about Whitey and his relationship to women. Don’t you think that if they had negative evidence in that respect it they would have tried to get it in. Your post remeinded me of one of the books I read where the person (it was by the guy who was in an orphanage or foster home) talked about women as if they had no more value than an empty beer can. I remember being digusted with him as a person. I grew up believing the mark of a man is in how he treats women.
Jan, Sociopaths like Whitey can compartmentalize their thoughts, feelings, actions and relationships and be anything to anyone as the situation dictates. I think he has no regrets, and will apologize for nothing on the stand. But he gets to write the final act. Maybe all the years of reading military strategy and history will pay a dividend. It would be nice if he acknowledged the and apologized to the Davis, Hussey, Donahue, and Wheeler families publicly from the stand, and then says whatever he wants to say, refuses cross and then does his time.
Rather:
That would be a good ending.
I’d think the Donahue murder will, at a minimum, keep the jury from pulling an OJ and letting Whitey walk. The Flemmi cross seems to suggest that Whitey will admit to some really bad things, but assert an immunity defense or something akin to it– Connolly et al. gave me permission to do what I did, etc.
Steely:
There are too many murders coupled with too much drug dealings and exortions to give him a pass. I don’t think the idea of government misconduct or permission will get him the pass he is looking for.
Steely:
There’s no OJ feel to the case – OJ at one time did something with his life, Whitey didn’t.
Rather:
Agree
“I remember being digusted with him as a person. I grew up believing the mark of a man is in how he treats women.”
Matt, very true!
Jan:
It wasn’t the Bulgers – it was Whitey; it wasn’t Southie – it was a few low lifes.
Rather:
The mid-west of Boston, Hyde Park.
Matt, I’ll add this to your brilliant piece, the facts of which have never before been stated anywhere, especially so succinctly and with such clarity and power. (1) The Roxbury-connection, the Mafia-connection doesn’t jive with the Globe’s, Herald’s and Wyshak’s anti-Southie fantasies they’ve been selling the public for some 20 years. (2) That in the greater Boston area, Whitey was a bit player in the drug trade, skimming profits off middlemen, i.e. local dealers of coke, grass, speed, etc., also doesn’t jive with their spurious fantasies. (3) Speaking of a kid threatened to be executed for one murder, another “kid” threatened with 50 years imprisonment by the FEDs did nothing more than hijack publicly available info (available for a small fee) from M.I.T.; Martorano killed 20 and served 12 years; (4) an MIT nurse in her fifties, married to a bookie, got hit with 144 counts by the FEDs and forced to plead to 12, and she actually was sentenced to 18 months (FED prosecutor’s recommendation) and served a year in prison for committing such heinous acts as co-signing her husband’s tax returns and dropping his car off at a garage. (5) DiMasi and McDonough get about 8 years each over an alleged $65,000 payoff, and Kevin Weeks, a career criminal, bully, assault-and-batterer, bruiser, who hurt hundreds of innocent people and was a willing accessory to five murders, serves what? A year or two? Justice?
Good comment William. It’s just outrageous. It’s like there’s no rhyme or reason, except that the more evil you are, the more lenient the govt is.
Matt: where is Wyshak from? It seems he has a limited sense of the territorial layout of Boston.
Jon:
Wyshak is from Hyde Park, a section of Boston. Growing up he was afraid to go to Southie because of the tales he heard about it. He vowed when he took his junior G man oath that some day he’d take down that den of evil.
He’s from Hyde Park!!?? Explains a lot. LOL
Question:
Sure does!
Willian:
1. Southie is a small place – it’s been beat about the head and shoulders continually by the Globe. There are and have been much worse places.
2. Whitey was the big fish in a small pond – much larger fish swum around outside in bigger ponds.
3. Excellent comparison, Aaron Schwartz facing 50 years and Martorano facing 12 – justice turned upside down.
4. Wives of bookies who are POOF can all expect the same treatment; they should have married Congressmen.
5. Sal DiMasi and McDonought got more time than any Mafia guy over the last five years. The federal judges in sentencing look at the POOF list, and sentence accordingly like what was done to Catherine Greig. If you are a POOF, the minimum you can get is 8, so actually the judges were only imposing a light sentence on all those people. Wait until probation officer O’Brien comes up – he’ll be 8 plus the Irish factor.
Great post. Demasi may be the only non victim in this case that is telling the truth. A judge usually instructs the jury that they can believe all, part or nothing the witness says. Could some of the jurors reject everything Gucci, Flemmi and Weeks say? If so sans any forensics where is the proof on the murders? Could the jury punish the Feds for using and coddling the serial killers? If the jury is deeply offended by it’s own government’s acts what should they say? If the majority of the case or even the entire case is a lie what should their verdict be? Does the jury want to embrace and sanction what was done here?
Great post Matt. Good comment Neal. Ralph Dimasi really summed it up. It basically says the more skill you have as a criminal, and the more you build a career in crime, the more leverage you have with prosecutors in negotiating a deal. That is truly outrageous.
Except when you report the criminals and crimes of the Govt. POOF!
Question:
Always keep in mind POOF
Jon:
You sum it up nicely.
N:
There is no corroboration of any of the evidence from Murderman, Benji and Fortnight except themselves and Carney could argue their evidence is so weak the state refuses to indict people they say have murdered other people.
The probem is Whitey is going to take the stand while Carney and Brennan sing Old Blue Eyes song “My Way.” He going to tell everyone that he wass all the vicious bastard everyone made him out to me. He wants to go down swinging.