Here’s Whitey Bulger’s problem – he doesn’t want to be known as an informant nor does he want to be known as a person who murders women. Beyond that he’s quite proud of being known as a guy who went around killing some people, extorting others, strong arming some, and running gambling, loan sharking and drug dealing operations.
To believe Whitey murdered women depends on the evidence from two guys, Steve Flemmi and Kevin Weeks, who have as much regard for the truth as for the lives of those they murdered. Both told the tale that the prosecutor wanted to hear to get great deals for themselves. You know the old story, “you want to help yourself you got to give us someone bigger than yourself and it better be good.” What better way to do that than to put another person in your shoes when you committed a murder.
Each man said Whitey murdered Deborah Hussey. They stood and watched. They don’t give us any reason why he’d want to do this..
Deborah was Flemmi’s step-daughter who he sexually molested shortly after she entered her teens. Women subject to that type of betrayal by the person in a close relationship, she called Flemmi dad, usually will have a troubled life. His repeated raping of her had to have totally destroyed all her feelings of self-esteem. My skin crawls just thinking of the vileness of that man who abused this woman, then murdered her, and then is coddled by the U.S. prosecutors who by the way may be trying to spring him from prison.
Not unexpectedly, Deborah would get heavily involved in drugs and prostitution. She became an embarrassment to Flemmi. Every time he saw her fallen state he had to have felt the sting of her reproach. No longer able to stand it, he admits luring her to the scene of her murder.
But he washes his hands of it saying that although he brought her to be murdered, Whitey did it. The problem with throwing Whitey into the murder is he had no motive to do it. You may recall but in case you don’t Whitey usually didn’t murder people without a motive personal to him.
Flemmi also said Whitey murdered Debbie Davis who was Flemmi’s long time girl friend as Flemmi stood by and watched. Weeks couldn’t help with Flemmi’s story since he did not have a relationship with Whitey at the time. What we know of Debbie’s murder is that having met and become involved with Flemmi when she was 17-years-old and he was closing in on age 40 he wined and dined her beyond her wildest young dreams. From a kid working hard in a jewelry store, I’m not sure she knew the owner was the biggest fence in Brookline, scratching out a living she was suddenly thrust into the lap of luxury.
But after seven years she grew up and tired of the baubles, bangles and beads the old man showered on her. She sought to escape. She found another who she planned to go off with. Flemmi was unable to accept this. Not wanting to leave it that he murdered her because she was walking away from him, Flemmi said she was murdered because Whitey ordered it. He gave as Whitey’s reason that she knew of the relationship between Whitey, himself and FBI agent Connolly. He said Whitey feared she’d disclose it.
That makes no sense. Whitey wasn’t bothered when the Boston Globe reported he had a special relationship with the FBI; how likely would he be bothered if Stevie’s ex-girlfriend said he was connected with Connolly? He wouldn’t lose a minute of sleep. First of all who is she going to tell? Next, who is going to believe her? Finally the FBI knew of the relationship and would have protected Connolly. But the fundamental reason it makes no sense is she was trying to get away from them the sooner the better. Getting involved in some type of adversary relationship would be the last thing that she wanted since it would only continue the involvement with them.
Beyond that we almost know for a certainty Whitey had nothing to do with her death. When Martorano asked Flemmi what happened to Debbie he didn’t mention anything about Whitey. That would be the time to do it so he wouldn’t look like a sleaze ball in front of his buddy Martorano. What he said to Martorano was that he accidentally strangled her. That sort of leaves Whitey out in my book.
Two tons of drugs make a nice departmental stash for the FBI.
The link to the store was omitted. Sorry:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/20/us/politics/fbi-evidence-keeping-criticized.html
Another afterthought: Wasn’t Connolly working on a book before he was locked up? If he’s freed, he should finish it. I’m dying to hear his side of the story.
I commend you for having the strength of mind to confidently re-examine evidence and previous assumptions and to arrive at what I agree is a just conclusion. His motives were non – existent for aiding, abetting or actively participating with the aptly named Benji ditchman in the young women’s murders. You do not need to know him personally to understand that paradoxically perhaps J. Bulger has his own old school and old fashioned morality grained in his character ; arguably he wore it somewhat below his sleeve in the form of a hand cannon if we are to accept that he was the hard hitter legend now casts him as. But if so then he did business as business was done in his gangster world. His business would never include so deviant from his character an act as murdering or otherwise harming a young woman. It was always just a non- starter for me.
Your Post is an honorable one. Neither of us would write Jimmy Bulger’s hagiography ; but you have reasonably and honorably set the record right. It is like waking up from a very bad dream in a scene in a bas movie …. a very very badly written scene … in which an old Irish Mob Boss gleefully directs henchmen to bury girls he had no reason ro murder… and then takes … power naps on living room divans. You have called …BS !!!!!!!! . . on this lurid dreck now too. Again…. I take my hat off to you for so doing !!! .. Who wrote that sickening and wretched script to start with though ??? … And why ??? …And how insane did they think people were as this courtroom hypno-script was enacted on Northern Ave. that … We The People… would not finally Wake Up !!!!!! . God Bless You and May God Bless these United States Of America !!!!!!!!!! … MERRY CHRISTMAS 🙂
Connolly never leaked anything. He was found not guilty on all those counts. He never took a penny and no jury convicted him of doing so. You have to believe Flemmi to buy that nonsense. Flemmi would only be credible to the weak minded i. e. Wyshak and Foley.
Matt,
I remember posing this exact theory to you in an earlier post, and you disagreed and felt Whitey was involved in the girls’ murders. What changed your mind?
Dave:
You are right. It’s only been recently that I’ve come around to your thinking. It’s been a process in many things doing reading and thinking and trying to fit them into a consistent theory. One reason I figured Whitey killed Deborah Hussey was that the bodies were buried together in the house, dug up, and reburied near Hilltop Street. I felt confident he was involved in murdering Barrett, less so about McIntyre since Nee had the motive there; McIntyre could not incriminate Whitey since I think he might have only heard about him and never met him. But reconsidering I started to ask what was Whitey’s motive to murder Hussey: all that is left is he wanted to do a favor for Stevie. That’s not out of the realm of possibility but Hussey was bothering Stevie and he had all the motive in the world to murder her and didn’t need Whitey’s help so why is Whitey involved at all. He doesn’t have to be.
As for Debbie Davis what changed my mind was flemmi’s statement to Martorano that he accidentally strangled her. Here again Flemmi had the motive to murder her and Whitey didn’t. Flemmi says Whitey thought she knew of their relationship with Connolly but that’s lame. Who is going to believe anything Debbie said. If Whitey was involved at all Flemmi who has an excuse for everything would have told Martorano that Whitey accidentally strangled her if he were there but he couldn’t do it at that time since he would worry that Martorano would ask Whitey. I’d expect that Flemmi used the same line with Whitey that he accidentally strangled her and Whitey would have helped him get rid of the body.
So with Davis I’m convinced Whitey didn’t do it; as for Hussey let’s say I don’t feel confident beyond a reasonable doubt he had a hand in her murder because the motive is lacking.
Can’t shut up. It also seems to me that the amount of money (rings, wine, whatever) known to be given to Connolly and Morris add up to a very paltry haul indeed when measured against the value of the protection afforded to Bulger and Flemmi by the FBI. The cash and gifts were small enough, I believe, to permit Connolly and Morris to believe they hadn’t been corrupted. By the same token, Bulger probably deluded himself into believing he wasn’t an informer because he was getting so much more out of the relationship than was the FBI.
Dan:
The idea of bribery is that you take something and do something on account of it that you wouldn’t otherwise do. You are right on the money when you talk about the cash and gifts that exchanged hands. Those who took them believed it was all right to do so because they did nothing for them. Connolly and Morris’s job was to protect Flemmi and Whitey. If they got something for doing what they were supposed to do they thought it was all right. No cop who get a free Dunkin Donut coffee believes he is being bribed or gets a free ticket to a concert or a game.
As for whitey, he called informing something else like facilitating or some other euphamism but it was just another name for what other people call informing. It is part of our human nature to delude ourselves.
You write about “the amount of money known to be given to Connolly”> John Connolly was acquitted of all charges that he took any money. You mention “rings”. John Connolly was acquitted of getting a ring from Whitey via Martorano. Please get your facts straight. 2. None of us can get inside another person’s head and we certainly don’t know 20 years after the fact what a cop or FBI agent was thinking. 3. John Connolly was acquitted in Boston of leaking any information that led to anyone’s death; not guilty. 4. John Connolly’s conviction in Miami has been overturned by a Florida appeals court. The State and Feds (Wyshak) are appealing the appellate court’s decision. The FEDs were co-counsel in the Florida trial. 5. As it now stands, after millions upon millions of dollars spent by the FEDs and after two bites of the apple, the FEDs have proven John Connolly committed one crime during his 23 years as an FBI agent: Giving a case of wine with a $1,000 envelope inside to his boss John Morris; the case came from Whitey; John’s one and only crime as an FBI agent = transmitting a bribe from Whitey to Morris; that is John Connolly’s only conviction during his 23 years as an FBI agent. Keep repeating that until everyone gets the record straight. 6. John Connolly has not been convicted of telling Whitey or anyone else that someone was informing on them. Innocent until proven guilty in a court of law is what America is supposed to be about; lawyers should know that; innuendo and false speculation don’t = facts. 7. It is sheer speculation, and sorry speculation, to say John Connolly didn’t care what Whitey did with any info John gave him. Did he admit that. Did he tell someone that he didn’t care if Whitey or Flemmi killed or hurt people? 8. Again, it is a slur to say that any DA or any cop or any FBI agent did not care what their informants did. 9. to protect someone does not mean you allow them to kill or maim or maul or physically beat. It’s an unfounded slur to say so. 9. Few dare defend John Connolly in writing. I do. I do unequivocally. The man was framed by the Feds and defamed by the press (The Globe & the Herald’s Carr). More people should write more often in his defense. Too few do. The sheep before following the Globe writers’ and Howard the corrupt fatso Carr’s maliciousness. Character Assassination is easy. Read all about it in the Baltimore Catechism. It comes under the chapter on Bearing False Witness. Sorry to hurt anyone’s feelings, but someone should defend the defenseless. Everyone once in a great while I’ll pipe up. Merry Christmas.
Hi William, Merry Christmas to you! I don’t think it takes much daring to defend John Connolly publicly. A lot of what Matt ‘ s written does just that. At bottom, I think Bulger and Connolly corrupted each other during the course of a long and ultimately toxic relationship. Toss in John Morris and you’ve got a fine mess. Happy holidays!
Martorano accidently shot 20 unarmed people in the back of the head. What a sorry lot the DOJ in Boston is. Releasing eight serial killers to catch one. If Flemmi gets out it will be nine. Your assessment is correct.
NC:
Worse = Martorano admits he deliberately shot 20 unarmed people in the head. There can be little doubt that the DOJ used as witnesses people who admit to murdering many more people than Whitey can reasonably be accused of murdering. But it wasn’t even Whitey the DOJ was after, it was another.
Well written. Who’s the author of this article?
Afterthought: I can also see why Bulger has convinced himself he wasn’t an informer. He got so much more out of the relationship than Connelly did.
Dan:
No doubt about it although it looks like both will end up dying in prison, one rightly and the other for doing his job.
Matt: I think Connolly did a wee bit more than his job, but I’m open to persuasion. The worst thing said of Connolly, in my opinion, is that he leaked the identity of FBI informers to Bulger, thereby setting them up for murder. What’s your thinking on this?
Dan:
I believe he did tell them if someone was informing on him if he knew about it. That was his job to protect them just like he told them whenever anyone was going up on a wire against them. Protection is not much good if he let them get taken down. That’s the evil of the deal the FBI makes with all its Top Echelon informants. Connolly’s job as he keeps telling people was to protect them. What happens after he tells them he really doesn’t want to know.
I agree. Shame on the prosecutors for aiding and abetting these lies. Flemmi murdered both women. I find Flemmi even scarier than Bulger.
Dan:
Flemmi is the worst of the worst. The fear many have is the prosecutors are going to work for his release soon. Martorano was also worse than Whitey as was Frankie Salemme all witnesses for the government.