The Mullens vs the Killeens: WILLIAM “BILLY” O’SULLIVAN

March 28, 1971

Surprisingly, Pat Nee would suggest the reason Billy O’Sullivan was murdered was because he shot Donald McGonagle. He wrote revenge was high on the Mullens’ agenda and that they went into the planning mode immediately after Donald’s murder. You would have to consider that an unusually long planning session. It was 16 months between McGonagle’s murder and O’Sullivan’s. That made no sense especially since O’Sullivan was frequenting joints in Southie all during that time. Nor did it make any sense if the Mullens went over to Charlestown to hit Tommy Ballou for Donald’s murder.

It had to be something more recent than Donald’s murder. It most likely was something related to the war which started after Kenny Killeen shot Mickey Dwyer. We know that Paulie McGonagle was arrested on January 13, 1971, for breaking and entering Adams Camera store in downtown Boston. Arrested with him was “Dennis J. Roche of C Street in South Boston.” That would have been Buddy Roache. Buddy was still ambulatory and able to break into places around the middle of January.

Shortly after that break-in, Buddy had a sit down with Billy O’Sullivan. It ended poorly for Buddy when O’Sullivan pulled out a .22 caliber pistol and shot him. It put him in a wheelchair for life. It is difficult to pinpoint the date of that shooting but it could not have happened before the middle of January. Two months later O’Sullivan was murdered. It seems more likely that the shooting of Buddy Roache was the motivating factor in the murder of O’Sullivan.

Gaga agreed with that. He suggested that Buddy’s sister saw O’Sullivan at Muck Kelly’s Cork N’ Bull and that he was drunk. She called Buddy’s friends in the Mullens and lambasted them for their cowardice in not taking revenge on him. Gaga said they gathered up their courage and headed to O’Sullivan’s house to wait for him.

O’Sullivan lived right off Morrissey Boulevard on Savin Hill Avenue in Dorchester with his wife, the former Mary McIntyre and their six children. Earlier in the day, he had been out with his wife shopping. They had an early dinner in South Boston. He dropped her off at their house telling her that he had an errand to do. He came back shortly after midnight. He drove himself home unlike what Gaga said. We know that because his wife heard a commotion outside her house and saw his car in the driveway.

As O’Sullivan reached the steps leading into his house, three or more men confronted him. O’Sullivan bolted down the street with the men chasing him. He tripped on a manhole cover and fell. As O’Sullivan rose back up, one of the men overtook him and shot him twice in the head. Witnesses placed from three to six men involved in the ambush.

Pat Nee previously told this story of the murder that is totally contradicted by eyewitnesses: Paulie McGonagle, dressed in black, waited for hours on the crest of a hill above O’Sullivan’s house, when Billy walked by him.  Paulie aimed a .45 caliber at the middle of Billy back. Billy, hearing the click of the .45 cocking, turned to see Paulie.  He said to Paulie, “Shit, I’m dead.” Paulie growled, “You’re right.” As I’ve mentioned this is a typical cock-and-bull story by a gangster which demonstrates how foolhardy it is to believe anything one says never mind having one testify before a jury.

The Mullens likely followed O’Sullivan from Southie to his house, a trip less than two miles. Nee routinely portrays himself as the big shooter in the Mullens gang.  We know he was likely one of the three to six men.  Nee knows the law.  He could not put himself there because there is no statute of limitations on murder. He would have likely protected anyone else that still lived. Nee spun out a fanciful and dramatic story only implicating a dead guy in the murder. Plus, to further isolate the shooters, Nee related it to a different motive.

With O’Sullivan out of the way, Nee would have us believe the Mullens began to hunt down Whitey Bulger, the Killeen gang’s other main enforcer. Whitey became hard to find. Rumors had it that he was living on Cape Cod to avoid encountering the stronger Mullens. Then again, other rumors place him in Southie chasing after some of the Mullens.  We have no idea what is true as gangster stories have little connection to the facts.

Here’s something to take to the bank. The Killeens and Mullens were at each other’s throats. The situation in Southie was volatile. Donald Killeen, the man who controlled the Southie gambling and loan sharking rackets for decades had lost one of his two protectors. The Mullens were on a high. If they could gun down O’Sullivan they could do the same with Donald Killeen and Whitey Bulger.

Whitey was hiding out. Donald Killeen was not. Their first target became obvious. Once he was out of the way they could go after Whitey Bulger. Whitey alone would be no match for the Mullens after they took care of Donald Killeen.

Whitey would understand this. At some point after Donald Killeen left the scene, Whitey would join up with Howie Winter for his protection. He would also seek to smoke the peace pipe with the Mullens who were in the ascendancy.