I went to a book club the other night where my book Don’t Embarrassed The Family was the topic of discussion. That book considered the 2002 trial of FBI Agent John Connolly and the murders involved were mainly those of Martorano, Weeks and Salemme. All the people at the book group lived in and around Boston from the middle-Sixties until the latter part of the 1990s. The host said to me as soon as I arrived, “I’ve lived here all that time and never knew any of that was going on.” As we discussed the book all the other people expressed surprise that all those murders were occurring.
As you know I was in the Norfolk DA’s office from the mid-Seventies until the late 1990s. I never knew much of what we now being led to believe was common knowledge. I knew Whitey was a hoodlum in Southie and associated with other hoodlums. I also knew that he would make a nice catch if I could get him, Not because he was murdering people but because he was the head of a gangster organization involved in gambling, loan sharking and probably some strong arm stuff.
I don’t recall knowing that he was into the illegal drug business. People I knew like Dick Bergeron of the Quincy Police Special Unit under Captain Dave Rowell and some of the DEA Agents had that knowledge. They made several efforts to put wires into his car and his house.
The other day I wrote how Adrian Walker of the Boston Glove said last July that the Todashev shooting in Florida needed explanation. I didn’t mention because it was not appropriate to the thrust of my post that he also said: “James “Whitey” Bulger, is being tried for decades of terrorizing the city while an FBI informant.”
In an earlier post I pointed out how the U.S. Attorney, Carmen Ortiz, in Boston said Whitey; “was a terrorist and is a terrorist . . . ” In the same article I noted that after his sentencing many papers around the world used the words in describing him that he “continue his reign of terror for decades.”
I found the juxtaposition of the comments of people from Boston with the writings of the news media quite interesting. The media wants us to believe, as Adrian Walker said, and as Howie Carr wrote in the subtitle of his books, that Whitey terrorized Boston. The people who lived here knew nothing of him.
Earlier I said the last time terror seized the citizens of Boston was during the days of the Witch Trials; however thinking that over I recognized I missed two events in the last 50 years that did terrorize Boston: the Boston Strangler and the Marathon Terrorist Attack (MTA). (Ron Paul suggested that it was law enforcement who terrorized Boston after the MTA.)
The truth of the matter as I see it is that no one in Boston was terrorized by Whitey other than the dozen or two who suffered at his hands. And as I’ve pointed out before, on the list of gangsters there were more than a handful who murdered more people than Whitey.
Whitey was an evil man who is wending his way across country to some not so nice prison. But he never terrorized Boston. Except for a small proportion of the population mainly in law enforcement, in illegal activities, or in South Boston, no one had concern about him. I’d suggest that even in the news media up until the late 1980s when his murder days were over he was hardly mentioned; nor was he mentioned in connection with murders until 2000, five years after he fled the city.
Keep in mind as I pointed out earlier I can name 50 people who were murdered gangland style in the 1960s and I’m sure there were many more. Whitey was involved in none of them; Martorano and Flemmi, witnesses against him, were involved in some. Yet even during the Sixties when the bodies were piling up and people knew about them especially since Life Magazine in 1967 did an article showing the photographs of more than 40 no one said during this much worse time that Boston was being terrorized.
Of the 11 murders that were proven by the government that Whitey committed; five of the persons were believed to have disappeared (McGonagle, King, Barrett, McIntyre, and Hussey); two were committed out of state with no public connection to Boston (Wheeler and Callahan), and four hardly raised an eyebrow among the law enforcement community: (Connors in 1975, Castucci in 1976, Halloran and Donohue in 1982.)
Four gangster murders over a seven-year span that were not publicly connected to Whitey at the times of the murders compared with over fifty murders over a similar period of time a little over ten years earlier. The former is supposed to have terrorized Boston for decades; the latter no one seems to have gotten much exercised about.
I find it amazing that the media could turn this small time vicious hoodlum into a giant criminal. But you know why they did it, not because they believed he was but rather by doing so they could in the case of the FBI get us looking away from it; in the case of the media get revenge on his brother; and in the case of the authors to line their pockets with lucre.
What it all comes down to is a decade of betraying the people of the City of Boston into believing a great untruth. Surprisingly to me, they well succeeded in suckering in not only the average Jane but also many judges who should have known better.
It is like what happened before with the witches wherein mass hysteria overtook clear headedness. As we know you can fool all of the people some of the time.
I’ve not even come to the Big Lie – the thing the FBI wants to desperately hide which is the corrupt Top Echelon (TE) Informant program that continues to this date.
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Working Theory: Whitey was created to deflect attention from the hot mess of TEI. They needed time to hide what Peter Lance has investigated.
If I hadn’t read his work and lined up the elevation of Whitey to superhuman status as the FBI covered its tracks regarding other terror attacks, I could not understand how Whitey’s inflation served anyone. I’m coming to think that Billy was collateral damage. Not sure.
Boston took a direct hit from the FBI: we were and are expendable.
Our people, our leaders, our history – used, discredited, maimed, killed, lied to.
Firefly:
Try this theory. The only FBI office that has ever been examined closely is the Boston FBI office; every other of the fifty or more offices has not had any inquiry into its actions.
Connolly was used as a rogue agent. This allowed the FBI to turn the attention from its TEI program by suggesting that Connolly did something wrong in using Whitey as an informant when all in the FBI knew he was using him. If you blacken Connolly you blacken Billy Bulger because Billy was known to be friendly with Connolly and acceded to his requests to meet the top FBI agents when they came to town. The bigger Whitey is, the greater the crime by Connolly in working with him, and the greater the criminal Connolly is, the more Billy’s relationship with him seems wrong. Corrupt brother and corrupt friend equals corrupt Billy.
You are 100% correct. The bogus claim that the area was in fear over WB is nonsense. Most people in the 70s and 80s never heard of him. That’s why the Globe could report he had a special relationship with the FBI in the late 80s and no one even noticed. He’s a media manufactured villain. Most people were concerned about Nuclear Winter and inflation in the 70s and 80s. Today it’s Global warming.( another hyped up story) 2. Whyshak even with the accolades of the press will go down as the worst prosecutor of all time. No other DA ever made a trade of eight serial killers to get one. He boasted that he put the three worst criminals in prison ( WB, Flemmi and Connolly)He’s making the absurd claim that Connolly is worse than Salemmi, Nee and the Martorano brothers ( at least 40 murders). Even if one believes the false charges against Connolly he wouldn’t be within a light year of those Mafia hitmen. If he were asked who was worse Manson or Catherine Graig he’d select the woman. A moral Quasimodo. Wyshak should be prosecuted for malicious prosecution in the probation case as should Ortiz and Coakley. Over the last twenty years the Feds main target was Bill Bulger not WB, a run of the mill gangster. The Feds( prosecutors and judges) combined with the press in this devious campaign. They failed. 80% of the people have a negative opinion of the press and the Federal Government and it is richly deserved. Both organizations have been exposed as routinely false. Ron Paul is right about more than just the Boston Marathon.
N:
Right on the money – as we know the Florida prosecution of Connolly was one of the all time atrocious prosecutions conducted by any prosecutor. At the most Connolly could have been prosecuted for conspiracy to murder (which I don’t believe but I’m asserting it just for argument sake) since he in no way fit the definition of accessory before the fact nor was he involved in the actual committing of the murder.
The idea that Connolly had to tell Bulger that Callahan was a threat is so preposterous that no right minded prosecutor, other than one seeking not justice but fame, would believe it. Martorano in his book tells how he murdered people who he thought might be able to incriminate him or his friends in crimes. Did all of a sudden Martorano go brain dead that he couldn’t figure out that Callahan was the only guy who could put him in the jackpot with the Wheeler killing? In fact, Callahan could only have implicated Martorano and perhaps Flemmi, since he never spoke to Bulger about killing Wheeler. Martorano arranged it with Callahan and told Flemmi about it and got Joe McDonald to go along.
Joe McDonald went along because, and here’s where we reach fantasy land, FBI Agent Rico did a favor for Buddy McLean by hiding him in the basement of his house after Buddy killed some hoodlum who was allegedly set up by Rico. No one ever seems to explain who was Buddy hiding from? No one knew he killed the guy; neither cop or gangster was after him, but we’re supposed to accept McLean (or was it Howie Winter) got a favor from Rico and McDonald was going to help Martorano murder Wheeler because of that.
There’s so many lies and false conclusions in this matter that it amazes me that some of the stuff the prosecutor has sold which is believed by judges (not usually by juries) and other intelligent people. The idea that Whitey has to be told what is going on around him in the street goes against everything we know about Whitey as told by Weeks and his girlfriend Linda Cyr and others who know that even without any information from Connolly Whitey would be on top of most things.
I’ve not even come to the Big Lie – the thing the FBI wants to desperately hide which is the corrupt Top Echelon (TE) Informant program that continues to this date. There so much fraud and falsehoods that have been spun out that one has a hard time knowing where to begin to start addressing them. And with Connolly, I’ve not even touched upon the FBI urging him to enter into relationships with TEs as well as the Department of Justice’s failure to use the Supremacy Clause to protect him which obviously it wouldn’t do since he was being prosecuted by the DOJ for an act of which he was found not responsible when they previously prosecuted him.
If you can tell me where Wyshak made the claim Connolly is one of the worst criminals. The man never shot at anyone and we have, as you mention, serial killers walking the streets of Boston courtesy of Wyshak.
Matt, great posts both by you and N. Right on the money. N. heard that on T.V. a day or two after the sentencing in an interview with Wyshak, and Wyshak saying “I put the worst three in jail; Bulger, Flemmi and Connolly.” Almost an exact quote as best I remember it. I recall I also read it in the press. 2. Remember, too, Connolly was acquitted by the Florida jury of “conspiracy to commit murder” and acquitted of “first degree murder” but was found guilty of the phony, stale, “murder by gun” count which was added after the end of the trial.
William:
I’ve tried to Google it in several ways and cannot find it.
If any charge should have been brought it was conspiracy and as you note he was acquitted of that.
“Mass hysteria” sells newspapers, radio and TV ads. And of course books.
You might even call it “Massachusetts hysteria” —
Henry:
Boston continues to move in a self-delusionary manner thinking like the WASPS that it is the hub upon which the universe spins. Amazingly, it is able to have outside media think the same. The wonder of it all is that anyone with real sense who arrived from overseas quickly moved on leaving us with out own little “Paris of the United States” bereft of all that Paris possesses. It’s amazing how the insular Irish took over from the inslar Yankees (I should point out for some who may read this reply that I’m not referring to the baseball team.)
A friend told me the other day that Ireland is the best place in the world to be around the Christmas holidays. Enjoy.
I have a case of mass hysteria for you guys, West Memphis 3, Jesse Miskelley, Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols. I will let you guys explore it. Dirty cops, Dirty Judge, Dirty “so called experts”, Dirty confession, The killer is out and about for years.. [some suggest it might be] Terry Hobbs he was step father to one of the boys who was killed brutally. The 3 boys I mentioned above were blamed for this crime. Check it out, it so corrupt it is maddening.
Doubting:
I amended your comment by adding “some suggest it might be” since Terry Hobbs has not been convicted of the crime nor is he a police suspect and he repeatedly denied any connection. It is suggested a hair found in the knot of one the shoe laces that were used to tie the boys was linked to Hobbs by DNA but since once of the murder victims was his son it could have gotten there in an entirely innocent manner. It is a disturbing case (not only because three second grade students were murdered) since the evidence against those convicted was flimsy and there was no physical evidence tying them into the case.
I can just imagine the great pressure on the police to come up with a culprit and them grasping at any straws. It’s one of the reasons why I think all statements made during police interrogation should be recorded. If that were done a judge and jury could hear the actual confession and judge whether it was voluntary or not. We have a great fear in this country of doing things in a way that will best produce the truth. You’d think the cops would want that, you know, make sure they got the person who did the crime rather than just anyone so that they can stamp “solved” on the folder. We really do need to adjust our priorities when it comes to police interrogation.
Matt- 3 part documentary takes care of that. DNA was pulled off the ashtray cigarette butts. HBO has it. I should have put allegedly. I would suggest you really watch the trilogy of docs on it, The boys were mutilated by animals when they were dumped in the woods, Everyone said it was satanic rituals by these 3 kids, 2 were in too punk rock, the other kid was borderline retarded. Take a look at Hobbs deposition against one of the Dixie chix, he thought he was so smart and was to get rich. Little did he know his molesting of his step daughter came out, all the beatings he gave that kid came out.David Jacoby is allegedly the man that helped him.
Doubting:
I agree with you that the incarceration of three innocent men for 17 years and the unsolved murder of 3 little boys is a horror. There are other examples of this happening elsewhere. It’s just we should not accuse a person of murder who has not been convicted but should use a modifier as alleged or possibly. I don’t understand why the police would want to cover up for Hobbs. I really can’t get into the case too much since my plate is pretty full.
it was recorded and then edited. The retarded miskelley gave a false confession on audio tape. It made no sense, he was talking out of his ass, none of it was true. “He just wanted to go home”. forget physical evidence Jason baldwin was at school that whole day. Gary Gitchell dirty as they come. He decided to be a big shot and say out of 1 to 10 this is an 11 as far as finding the boys’ killer.
Doubting:
Recorded and edited is the same as not recording, if not worse. With recordings you need the whole pie.