How Beck’s Beer Shows the FBI Agent John Connolly was not Corrupt: Part 1 of 2

The Beck’s beer incident has been in front of everyone’s eyes for years. Kevin Weeks tells about it. Steve Flemmi also does. It involves a double homicide that occurred back in May 11, 1982.

Anyone familiar with the story of James J. ‘Whitey’ Bulger knows of the Halloran and Donohue murders. Halloran had been cooperating with the FBI looking for its help to get him out of a first degree murder charge pending against him in Suffolk County. He had murdered George Pappas, another gangster, early one morning at a Chinese Restaurant in Boston’s Chinatown. He was facing doing life in prison. He had to find someway to make a deal to get out of it. He knew he had to offer up something better than himself if the cops would bite and deal with him.

He went to the FBI. He made up some stories implicating Whitey in some murders. He told how Whitey may have murdered Louis Litif claiming he drove him to the joint called the Triple Os where Whitey hung out. For some reason he stays outside. He said sometime later he saw them taking Litif’s dead body out the side of the joint.

The FBI buys the story (as does the media and the judges) even though it makes no sense. Litif is found in the trunk of his (his wife’s) car. If Halloran drove him there and saw them carrying the body out how does the body end up in the wife’s trunk?

Halloran also said Whitey along with Steve Flemmi talked to him at John Callahan’s condo about hitting a guy in Tulsa Oklahoma named Roger Wheeler. Anyone who knew Whitey or Flemmi would know the last person they would ever do that with was Halloran a known drunk and drug user. Weeks wrote: “one thing Jimmy did not tolerate was drug use among his associates. It made them too unpredictable.”

Flemmi would say that when he and Whitey were at Callahan’s condo Halloran showed up but quickly left. Whether that happened or not who knows but the bottom line is there is no way Whitey would put himself in a position of soliciting a guy like Halloran to commit a murder out-of-state. He was too careful, disciplined and hated guys like Halloran who were always doing alcohol or drugs.

Halloran knew, as Martorano, Weeks, Salemme, Flemmi, and many others would know,that offering up information about Whitey was a golden key to freedom. Agent Tom Daly had filed reports that his informants told him the word on the street was that he was cooperating.  Somehow Whitey learned Halloran was cooperating with the FBI.  His supervisor Agent Morris testified FBI Agent Connolly told him. Kevin Weeks did the same thing.

One day Whitey learned Halloran was drinking down at the South Boston waterfront. He sent Kevin Weeks down to keep a peek on Halloran while he got Pat Nee to come with him for the shooting fest. Whitey and Nee did a good job whacking Halloran and another at the waterfront. They fled after doing it as did Weeks.

The Boston police arrived at the murder scene. Sergeant Bo Mullane went up to Halloran. He asked him who did it. Halloran said it was Jimmy Flynn a gangster from Charlestown.

The car Whitey used to do the hit on Halloran was known as the Tow Truck. After using it they stored it back into a garage. Kevin Weeks knew it needed some mechanical work and was waiting for Whitey to tell him to bring it to a mechanic. Halloran was killed on a Tuesday. Weeks said the following Friday he received a call from Whitey who asked him if he had done anything with the car. Weeks said no he was waiting for the word from him.

Whitey told him to come to his condo in Quincy. When he arrived there he met Whitey outside and the first words out of Whitey’s mouth was: “Thank God for Beck’s beer.” He said that FBI Agent Morris had dropped by Whitey’s condo and had a few Beck’s beers to drink. He told Whitey the FBI had the number of the plate on the car and were looking for that car.

Weeks wrote: “Apparently an FBI agent who had been assigned to Halloran had been down the street at the time of the murder and had watched the whole thing and had gotten the plate, which was legally registered but in a fictitious name.” Weeks wrote the FBI was waiting for the car to surface and “it would have been me driving the car when it did.” (continued tomorrow)