I have eliminated seven of the nineteen murders Whitey is alleged to have committed. I will eliminate some others but before you think I’m going to exonerate him of all the murders I think it best I set out some of the remaining twelve in which I believe he did play a role.
It is important to have an understanding of the situation that existed at the time of the murders before deciding upon Whitey’s role. With Debbie Davis we could not come to the right conclusion if we did not know she was breaking up with Flemmi and going off with another guy. Whitey as we have learned was part of the group associated with the Killeens in South Boston. They had controlled the gaming racket there for many years. Another group of guys who hung around together who were common B & E guys and tailgaters were a group that hung around the Mullen Square in South Boston. They would eventually become known as the Mullens.
As time passed the Mullens wanted to get more involved in some of the activities of the Killeens and those groups ended up as rivals. Each gang shot at the other; each gang had a guy or two murdered by the others. At some time in the early 1970s for whatever reason the combatants decided to meet under the auspices of other hoodlums and come to some sort of an understanding. This meeting took place at Chandlers in the South End that was owned by the Martoranos and Howie Winter.
The Killeens was represented by Whitey Bulger; the Mullens according to Pat Nee by their Tommy King and himself. (John Martorano also puts Weasel Manville at the meeting.) Paulie McGonagle another leader was nearby to give help if it was needed. There were other hoodlums there from outside groups to preserve the peace. Whitey knowing he was at a disadvantage agreed to give the Mullens a share of the Killeen operation in exchange for a peace. Even with that agreement Whitey knew his life was not worth a plug nickel in South Boston. Paulie McGonagle who had gunned down Whitey’s partner was still interested in taking out Whitey for his participation in the murder of his brother. With few allies left in South Boston, Whitey would move his daily operations over to Winter Hill in Somerville where Howie Winter, one of the people who mediated the operation at Chandlers had his operation.
Winter Hill at that time was made up of the Winter Gang: Howie Winter, Joe McDonald, Jimmy Sims and some others; the Martorano brothers, John and Jimmy. They were as capable as the Mullens so under their umbrella Whitey felt protected. Along with that, Howie had a good relationship with the Mullens which would guarantee a little peace and protection. But at this time Whitey was very circumspect about doing much in South Boston which was where he wanted to be gangster king.
Of all the gangsters at the Chandlers meeting the most treacherous was the guy from South Boston. It was not Whitey but Pat Nee. He would write “Whitey and I were now partners. . . . “ Actually Nee had other partners, Tommy King and Paulie McGonagle and Buddy Leonard who were in the Mullens. But if he could get rid of them they he would not have to share his part with them.
Nee puts the meeting at some time in “the late fall” after the killing of the leader of the Killeens, Donald, outside his house in Framingham on May 13, 1972. To keep things in perspective and for a time line on these matters, when John Martorano does the first hit to help out Mafia underboss Gerry Angiulo and he tries to implicate Whitey that would be in March 1973.
Matt
Wow. I had not considered the angle of Pat Nee possibly using an alliance with Whitey Bulger to eliminate his partners. Now if that isnt Machiavellian I dont know what is. Damn. Excellent posts you are producing and helpful to all of us readers/commentors.
Matt,
if Whitey was so alienated in Southie at that time, wouldn’t it be logical that he would be keen to ingratiate himself with his new cross-town criminal cohorts?
from your post of September 17, 2015:
” In 1973 and thereafter Angiulo and Winter Hill were working hand-in-hand………… For a year or so Howie Winter, John Martorano, WHITEY and others were doing the bidding of Angiulo in killing off his opposition.”
Contradicts your last sentence of today’s post….”he tries to implicate Whitey”
Rather:
Where is the contradiction? Whitey in late 1972 hooked on to Winter Hill after the peace conference with the Mullens. Angiulo had called upon Winter Hill sometime prior to March 1973 to wipe out Indian Joe and his guys. Last sentence today: “To keep things in perspective and for a time line on these matters, when John Martorano does the first hit to help out Mafia underboss Gerry Angiulo and he tries to implicate Whitey that would be in March 1973.”
If you’ve kept up with me I’ve suggested the murders of the Indian Joe gang were primarily Martorano/Winter/Sims – Martoranos put Whitey in a so called blocking car but because Whitey was so new to the Hill that it is just as likely he was not in these hits, at a minimum he was not doing the shooting. The point of the September 17, 2015 post was that Winter Hill was working with Angiulo and that it would be illogical to suggest Whitey was motivated to provide information to the FBI because of his fear of Angiulo. He had come under Martorano’s and Winter’s umbrella. That he was under their umbrella does not mean he participated in all their hits; just like McDonald and Sims were doing their own separate hits and they were under the Winter Hill umbrella that does not mean Whitey was part of their hits although if they were alive they might have put him there.