The way you wear your hat.
The way you sip your tea.
The memory of all that –
No, no – they can’t take that away from me.
. . . The way you haunt my dream.
. . . The way you hold your knife
. . . The way you’ve changed my life.
No, no – they can’t take that away from me.
The words of this song Frank Sinatra often sang came to mind when I thought of Whitey and the way he dressed for court. Frank wrote a book and used the first line of the song as its title.
I wrote about seeing Whitey come into the courtroom. He walks in a determined manner not like an 83 year older but someone much young as if he were on a mission. I’ve also written that he pictures himself as commander-in-chief. His insouciance reflected in his walk and manner suggested despite his two years in solitary-type confinement he hasn’t lost his idea of himself as in charge or his swagger. His hair was cut in a nice Parris Island Marine boot camp first day issue style.
That suggested something to me but what really hammered home the message was the way he dressed for court. He had a black pullover long sleeve jersey tucked into his blue jeans held up by a cloth-type belt. They wouldn’t let him wear his belt with the Alcatraz buckle. I didn’t see them but he wore white sneakers according to Melinda Henneberger of the Washington Post who gave a very insightful view of the proceedings.
I have to assume this hairdo and get up is Whitey’s idea of how he wants to look. I think it is a bad idea but it tells us a great deal about what is going on his mind. He’s sending a message out to the world in the words of another Frank Sinatra song: “I did it my way.”
And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain
I’ve lived a life that’s full
I traveled each and every highway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way
I’d describe his dress as “Southie Tough.” It’s pretty much how he would have dressed during his day as a gangster. I guess being back in South Boston (the Courthouse is located on the waterfront of South Boston) and knowing this is his final curtain he’s going to go out in Southie style.
I said it was a bad idea because how one dresses is how the jury will think of a person. I’ve mentioned this before but I had two complicated and difficult arson cases in which my evidence was like in most of these cases strictly circumstantial. The first one involved two guys who blew up a store who were defended by highly competent defense counsel. On the first day of trial the two guys walked into the courtroom in leisure suits which all the gangsters seemed to wear at that time. Seeing them dressed that way I felt confident I’d bring home the bacon.
The other arson case I tried twice to a jury. Both cases ended up with a hung jury. I knew I had a problem the first day when the defendant showed up in a business suit along with his dignified wife and their well dressed children who sat behind him throughout the trial. On each of juries there was a handful who weren’t so concerned with the evidence as they were with what would happen to this nice family if they convicted the defendant. After the second mistrial the defendant came up behind me and patted me on the back and uttered: “nice try.” He’d move from the area and a few years later I read an article that one of his kids became one of America’s top ice skaters.
I’m sure if Carney & Brennan had their way Whitey would have come in dressed in a business suit with nice blue shirt and tie; or come in with all the get up of an old man wearing an old dirty-looking suit three sizes too big with a shirt that had enough room to fit another neck in the collar. They’d want to present an image of a beaten down person who could not possibly have committed the horrid crimes of which he stood accused. Instead, they have the jury looking at a guy who very well could have done those evil deeds.
I conclude from his dress several things. Whitey is running his own defense and is very much involved with his two lawyers in making decisions but they are deferring to him the final call, as they must do; Whitey wants to go through this trial in a manner that is most comfortable for him and which he is used to knowing this will be his last chance to dress as he likes; and finally Whitey knows this is his last hurrah, his final strut upon the stage, so he wants to go out dressed as he always did. He’s realistic and knows that there is no chance he won’t be convicted.
It’s like the last meal of a man on death row. It’s the last time he’ll be in Southie and in the clothes to which he has become accustomed. After this, it won’t be the chair, but it will be living and dying in a prison-issued jump suit.
Dear Matt,
Given the profile you’ve established concerning AAG Wushak, I was bemused by CNN’s depiction of him to be a man who became “choked up” when defending the integrity of one criminal investigator. See Ross Levitt, Testimon has yet to open, but ‘Whitey’ Bulger trial already emotional, CNN.COM, Juen 7, 2013, http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/07/justice/massachusetts-bulger-trial/index.html. Were you there to witness this? Did Wyshak shed any discernible tears?
On a separate note, I propose that the prosecution should subpoena Dan Burton to testify at the trial as an expert witness, given his past forensic analyses following the tragic death of Clinton adviser Vince Foster. See Elspeth Reeve, Boehner was afraid Issa would go full pumpkin-shooter on his Holder probe, The Atlantic Wire, June 22, 2012, http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/06/boehner-was-afraid-issa-would-go-full-pumpkin-shooter-his-holder-probe/53830/.
Finally, thank you, Matt, for maintaining a watchful eye over these proceedings and for assuring that the populace remains duly informed. I’ve been around and reading occasionally, although these more recent days have drawn my energies elsewhere.
Sincerely,
Jay
Jay:
I was not there. Took the opportunity after seeing it was jury selection time and nothing of substance would be happening not to hang around the courthouse all day. I know as much about Wyshak’s choking up as you. The Globe also had an article on it which is mentioned in today’s post. Trials can be emotional on people. I read nothing into his tears other than the stress of the day and a suggestion that a guy who has become probably very close to had done something wrong. Wyshak’s invested 20 years into this outcome so he’s created the play and the curtain is beginning to rise so those are tough times.
I agree Dan Burton would be a good witness. At least that will have him doing something other than turning a blind eye to the FBI.
I’m disappointed in you Jay – you should be spending 24 hours a day interested in this. 🙂 Seriously, I appreciate your comments and and can tell from them you have a full life and are engaged in other more important activitiesdo than following this closely. But drop by when you have a chance. Nice to hear from you.
Dear Matt,
Please rest assured that my interest in these proceedings remains paramount, and I’ll be back with a more active voice, when the time is right.
Sincerely,
Jay
Wearing a suit shows respect for the court.
Khalid,
I don’t think this court deserves any respect. If you could ask someone who’s been lynched what clothes they thought they should have worn to court, I suspect they’d all say “something comfortable.” Bulger would be criticized no matter what he wore. Putting on a suit would be an endorsement of the gag that is his trial. Wyshak will make sure his hired hit men will be looking snappy. Bulger doesn’t gain anything by dressing the same as that crew.
On another subject, Wyshak cried in court today because the two main investigators on this case for the last 20 years may be sequestered and will not be able to “help” him with the government witnesses!? That’s a job for a victim witness advocate, not the two men who have investigated the case for twenty years. The primary investigators in the case should be on the witness stand, not helping witnesses. Besides, the gov witnesses are professional, practiced, veteran witnesses. Something is very wrong that the two primary investigators who worked this case for 20 years are not on the on the government’s witness list! More unusual is that the defense will call these two cops!! What is it about these two cops that makes the government NOT want them to testify, but the defense does!?? Could it be that these two coordinated the testimony of the government’s paid witnesses so they could protect people like Pat Nee?
At first i thought Wyshak’s crocodile tears in court today were his way of telling the judge he really wants to win this motion. Now I recall Globe reporters Lehr and O’Neil writing that Wyshak cried twice during an interview of Wyshak and Kelly on the Bulger case. All this crying is very very odd behavior for a professional, especially a “barrel-chested avenger” ala Batman and Robin. Carney should move to prohibit Wyshak from crying in front of the jury.
Patty:
I disagree. All courts deserve respect. However, I don’t see Whitey dressing as he did a sign of disrespect. It’s more indifference knowing that there is little he can do so he might as well be comfortable. You may be down on some of the things relating to this trial but you have to admit that the only way Whitey was ever going to be brought to justice was through the testimony of those he associated with. He picked these witnesses against him as his friends. Their testimony might not be 100% on the level but that doesn’t mean a major portion of it when it comes to Whitey is not.
I don’t make much of Wyshak crying. The pressures on him are immense and he is still human. He feels, rightly or wrongly, a close friend and 20 year associate was unfairly attacked. I find it is not unusual to have the people who worked the investigation with you to help you during the trial and to be present in court with you. They do not have the evidence that you want in a historic case like this but the witnesses do. I believe Tom Foley, tom Duffy and other investigators will give the testimony that Doherty and Johnson could have offered. They will tell about how the investigation proceeded. Their only use to the trial Johnson or Doherty would be if they have heard statements from the witnesses that contradict their testimony.
There are no need for victim witness advocates here and you do need to have the guys who know the case helping you. Again, I don’t make much of the tears other than that Wyshak is an emotional guy which doesn’t mean he isn’t also tough and capable.
Will Catherine Grieg be called to testify?
BRS:
No. She’s not on anyone’s witness list. She really cannot add too much to the case. Thanks for asking.
Matt et alia, Whitey, remember, was a hardened career criminal, a killer, an evil guy who hurt a lot of innocent people. Likewise, some people think Howie Carr is just a joker, entertainer, light weight, character assassin, until Howie starts going after their families and their friends, then they realize what a vile vicious little twerp of a viper he truly is. A hateful hollow man, an empty drum, who enjoys hurting people. I have the same sense about Wyshak: Mean-spirited, soft, pudgy on the outside, a bullying hurtful person on the inside. We all know people historically and presently who abuse office, official power and talents to deliberately hurt others verbally or prosecutorially. Whitey deliberately hurt people physically—with stone cold violence and skimming profits from the cocaine trade. Wyshak and Carr are birds of a feather: light weights who abuse their power to hurt others. Rather than attribute aberrations to “differences of opinion”, please review the histories of several oppressive regimes in history where many “good” people in office and the media pitched in to wreak havoc and hell on their fellow man. See Doctor Zhivago, Cabaret, the Sounds of Music, Schindler’s List, and the Great HUnger, the starvations of millions in Ireland and the Ukraine, brought about and facilitated by petty commissars and propagandists, “Good” people, just going along for the ride, who probably thought they had just cause to hurt, malign, imprison, persecute, prosecute, murder and massacre. Once the corrupt Spy AGents have you in their sights, they prey on you and your family, they share your personal files with narco-terrorists and corrupt elements in other regimes, for the purpose of hurting you and your family and snuffing out your ideas. Because, ultimately, they can’t stand the light of thoughtful opposition. As Satan is the Father of LIes, those who live lives of lies and who perpetuate lies, are the devil’s disciples. Think not? Then think so at your own peril and jeopardy. There is an “enemy within” Government. There are corrupt officials, corrupt reporters, and real life killers—always have been— like Whitey, Martorano, Flemmi, Nee, Weeks, the Russian Mafia, M-16, other Narco-Terrorists, the JIhadists, and they have no moral constraints upon them! Do not fear them; fight them until they are utterly destroyed and defeated. The good will out in the end. Shine a light on the darknesses. “Lies, ruin, disease, into wounds like these, let the truth sting.” I tried to do it, not my way, but the Holy Spirit’s way, and i’m no Holy Roller, although I prefer the Holly Roller’s way to the Whirling Dervish’s, false prophets’, false reporters’ and career criminals’ ways. Fight the good fight! Fly like an Eagle!
William:
You argue that Whitey is the consummate evil who deliberately hurt people with stone cold violence and his involvement in the cocaine trade. Isn’t that the type of person Wyshak should be going after? You sweep with a wide brush.
Oh Mon Dieu! Speaking of eery associations….
Couldn’t help but recall Frank Sinatra to Manchurian Candidate. Then Manchurian candidates association to MKUltra; then MKUltra’s association toWhitey Bulger of course…it all suddenly looped around. No chance Whitey might be another type of Manchurian Candidate of sorts vis a vis his role in Top Echelon???
Could Top Echelon be part of a larger program or a derivative of, or offshoot direction, from other larger interagency coordinated initiatives or CIA initiatives? For example, If CIA used nazi’s at one point the same way the FBI used the mob, doesn’t that then make the Top Echelon program not so unique after all?
(See 2006 Washington Post article in which 27,000 documents were released which “shed light on the secret protection and support given former nazi officials and nazi collaborators by US Intelligence agencies…”)
Alex:
Who knows what evils lurk in the bowels of the FBI or the CIA. The last to know will be the American people. Congress has lost its capacity for outrage. Outrage left us on 9/11 – now anything our government does is for our protection. You understand the words on the Great Seal of the CIA kept out of view to most: “Hostilibus de hostilibus est meus amicus.” Translated means: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
One other comment on attire. Represented a kid in W. R. court charged with Distribution of Marijuana in a school zone. If convicted a two year mandatory would follow. He was offered a suspended sentence by Dol;an J. He refused even after the judge screamed at him to take it. The case was sent to Singer J. for trial. The defendant had on jeans and a tee shirt with a picture of Bob Marley smoking a joint. He was told to go home and change. He came with a jersey almost as bad. Fortunately the case was so weak the jury found him NG. Maybe WB should try to get a youthful jury so he can wear a Marley shirt.
N
I remember that case. It was you who was wearing the Bob Marley shirt and Sarah had to ask you to go home to change it. Your client was dressed in a three piece suit and the trial went on in your absence. In the time it took you to go home and put on your Johnny Pesky T shirt the case has gone to the jury. You got back in time to hear the verdict and Judge Sarah was pleased with your new get up because under her robe she was wearing a Bobby Doerr T shirt. After the verdict, Ted Williams, Clyde Vollmer and Birdie Tebbets who were on the jury made a special point to shake your client’s hand for the job well done. When you asked Ted to autograph your shirt he gave you the bird and walked out with his arm around Sarah. Or, am I getting my stories mixed up. Something in my mind says that on the jury was the Irish guy from Galway, Che Guevara.
Thought all along that WB would appear in the identical suit as Carney with the same look as Carney, beard et al as Alex points out. If three months on into the trial with security relaxed they make the switch. WB hits the road and is given asylum by Putin. This position change would closely mirror how Sydney Carton swapped identities with Charles Darnay in ” A Tale of Two Cities” resulting in Darnay’s escape.. While history wouldn’t repeat itself life would imitate art. 2. WB is making an error with his attire. He should be dressed like Liberace. Be as flamboyant as possible. The jury will conclude he’s either nuts or Gay. In either event he won’t fit the profile of an OC killer. Plus the jury could never withstand being accused of a hate crime. An acquittal would follow. 3. Include me in the group of Bill, Ernie and Patty regarding the character or lack thereof of Wyshak. Look at the pattern of his conduct. HIS BEHAVIOR HAS BEEN NOTHING SHORT OF REPREHENSIBLE. Not just the wrongs he visited on Connolly, but what was done to Gianelli and the Probation Officers. Also throw in the political fix in the Tierney case. A lengthy string of abuses from the same prosecutor. No regard whatsoever for Equal Protection, Double Jeopardy and Due Process ( Statute of Limitations). Prosecutors can’t criticize other prosecutors because they don’t want to ” Embarrass the Family”. Similar to the FBI ethic.. 4. Connolly, the Bulger family and others from the South Boston region have had to endure the sadistic fury of the Mafia, Media and DOJ for the last twenty years. Those same malevolent forces are at work in the present affair.
N:
1. Alex and you are right, they blew their chance to do an identity shuffle. You may be right about Putin sticking his nose in to this deal. Now that Putin has become America’s best friend and seeing that he dragged his poor wife out of their dacha to announce he was going to dump her he may be interested in bringing Whitey to the
Soviet UnionRussia to help him with all the new ladies that flock to power. Carney can sit in prison and wonder whether ’tis a far better thing that I do than I have ever done before in my life.” Speaking of that, perhaps we’d be better off with J.W. in and James White out – who is capable of doing more harm?2. I knew Liberace – Whitey’s no Liberace. JW can call Howie Carr as a witness and ask him if Whitey is gay. He’ll say he is so Whitey doesn’t need to abandon the Southie Strong look to get that vote.
3. Your included in that group. I’ll consider what you have to say again because you make some valid points.
4. You certainly don’t believe the prosecution of Whitey is malevolent?
LOL – the liberace comment….While Whitey may be no Liberace if you have ever seen the photo of Putin fly-fishing with his shirt off, he might be – especially the way he holds the rod and reel with his smooth “man-scaped” chest all revealed. Hey Maybe That’s the look Whitey should sport when he goes into court next – in the interest of international relations. Plus, it might assuage Howie Carr and give him a bit of what he really wants to see because if you ask me, methinks Howie Carr might doth protest too much when he harps on Whitey being gay and all. Lastly, now that Putin is single and wants to foster better American and Foreign relations perhaps he should just reach out to PRince Harry and start chillin with him the next time he goes to Vegas or at least ask for tips where to go.
As for Carney? I wonder if it dawned on him yet or any of his employees yet that they probably spend just as much time in a very small square space all day every day and that space is probably about the same size as hey – a “jail cell”. In other words, they are in prison just as much as their clients are. Question is begged then, at the end of the day, Is it worth it to simply be just dressed better or drive a nice car in traffic(another form of “lock-up” given Boston’s roads)to and from a cell to help out others who go to and from a cell about the same size? I would even bet sometimes, with a quick sandwich lunch at their respective desks and the late nights cutting into sleep-time, that they are actually spending more time literally “in a cell” with worse food and less exercise than their clients do. I am worried that Mr. Carney appears to have lost so much weight lately….someone, please, please buy him lunch at the Courthouse Cafeteria …
Maybe plan B for Carney would be to try and get Whitey into Halden or the cushy Federal Prison in Pensacola where Whitacre was at and pull the old identity “switcheroo” with Bulger then.
Alex:
No matter how small the work space if it is not a jail or prison you can always leave at some point and that makes all the difference in the world.
Thoughts on the motion re: martorano saying he’s currently being shielded from prosecution for his current illegal activities? Any chance the govt actually ponies up the interview files they say are relevant to this (doubtful but wanted to hear your opinion of how this could play out)
Jim:
I’ve downloaded a copy of it and will write about it tomorrow. If you’re around you may want to read it then. Thanks for asking.
Beautiful article today. Awesome. Tossin in a song from the “chairman” ol’ blue eyes known for his rat-pack mob connections….priceless. Then tossin in a reference to someone who dressed up in a suit whose kid went on to skate….more priceless. Then to have it All tied to Whitey and Southie, Well, That’s almost phenomenal in a kind of eery way. I haven’t been there in quite sometime so maybe it is no longer there, but if memory serves me correctly there is a photo of Old Blue Eyes that dresses up the walls of the Francis L. Murphy ice skating arena – the rink in Whitey’s town Southie. (Not sure if it’s still there or they moved it but it was on the wall to the right when you turn the corner when you get to the benches – by the office window before you get to the hallway for the bathrooms.) Who knows maybe they will dress the walls with a photo of Whitey side-by-side ol blue eyes there one day too and start a whole “wall of fame.” (If I am not mistaken I think Sinatra’s photo is signed too,so they will have to get an autograph from Whitey, just to be fair.)
I agree, fashion matters. People always judge a book by its cover. However, while Whitey might be messaging that he is still not to be messed with having “Southie’d Up!” as they say, by your own description he also fits the profile of a soldier with his military hair cut.
But speaking of the hair and a different look – he had to do that. He took one for the team in doing that. Now that he has shaved his beard and no longer looks like a “mini-me” or look-alike of his attorney Jay Carney there will be much less confusion for the jury when the witnesses are instructed by the prosecution to call out, pointing to the defense table: “it was that man; the one with the bald head…the one with the glasses…the one, that one, right there, with the neatly trimmed beard…the one in the suit!”
Think about it for a second, and of course I jest a bit here, but if Bulger went in with his bald head, beard – and wearing a suit – there’s a chance Carney would end up on the bus back to Plymouth and Bulger would end up at the microphone outside the courthouse.
Alternatively, can one say with his military hair-cut and fitness that he is actually now more akin to the other table – in other words, is he trying to project that he is/was one of them – and/or a “soldier” in a much larger war. Personally, I understand that the public and even judges will judge a book by its cover. In fact, I knew of one judge in New Hampshire who just could not think it even plausible that some guy was an abuser despite the man’s own handwritten admission to it among other strong tangible evidence to it because when it came time to sit in the chair and speak that man went into court wearing a nice pink button down shirt, lavender tie, and a yellow v-neck vest. He looked so sweet an innocent – like an, easter bunny, or an easter egg – so how could that man have been an abuser…he looked so sweet? The court failed to see through the phony facade that was so transparent to others.
Yes, Whitey is probably dressed wrong for the all important phony facade that people buy into – to that end he may be doggedly saying in his attire and mannerims that he “was one of them all along and/or is not going down without a fight.” Oddly, however, if one thinks about it for a moment….his dress may reveal a bit of “honesty” as a form of being “true to himself.” His clothing is not a phony facade; and therefore it may, if C&B point it out, give him an edge of credibility and authenticity, certainly far greater than the phony who dressed up in the suit that day with his potted-plant family serving as props of pristine perfection in the courthouse “pews.” Other than that,maybe Mr. Brennan can call in a favor and ask the Kerrigan family if they happen to know that skater to whom you referred and ask if they can borrow that guy’s “lucky suit” that obviously worked so well for him to give it to Whitey for Whitey’s next day in court.
Alex:
Appreciate the color you have added to the column. I’m afraid Whitey will need more than that lucky suit of the guy at the arson trial but it would look good on him probably about 3 sizes too big that might elicit some jury sympathy for all the weight it would look like he lost.
If his woman still loves him, copies of Thucydides and Herodotus in his room and he can taper and put creases in his overalls he is liable to live to be a hundred and twenty five. The man is a hard carmel.
Hopalong:
Agree – maybe he will get out before his hundredth birthday and pay some old friends a visit. I would guess Howie would be high on his list if he’s still around.
If, as the trial develops, the outcome gets “iffy,” could Bulger cut a deal to plead guilty to some counts on the assurance that after conviction he’d be sent to Rochestor FMC, in Minnesota, Springfield FMC, in Missouri, or, Butner FMC, in SC? A straight up conviction, without some agreement, means ADX Florence, Colorado. Getting the chair would be better than ending up at the mercy of the hacks in ADX. Human suffering is their business.
Khalid:
The outcome should never get iffy. He’s got so many charges against him that even if he gets hooked on only the least one he’ll still end up in ADX. There can’t be a plea deal because Whitey won’t admit murdering the women and the family of the women won’t allow him to plead without him doing that. (They have a great deal of influence in this case.) There can’t be a plea since the prosecutors have built this case for almost 20 years intent on getting Whitey’s conviction and they want to hear a jury say guilty, even if it is only to some of the accounts. Everyone knows it is a fight to the finish and everyone knows the outcome will put Whitey in the hands of some of the worst jailers in the world, hardened people who must be that way because they are guarding the worst of the worst. They are not in Guantanamo as VP Cheney said but in the bowels of ADX. They know not the meaning of mercy. You are right about the chair. It’s quick. ADX is a long slow descent into hell, as one of its former wardens likened it to.
Matt,
Just a quick comment. I believe it was Rummy who made the “worst of the worst” remark, and it was made in comparing the guys captured to all guys captured on the battlefield. The military rounded up 70,000 guys in the immediate aftermath of the invasion of Afghanistan. 10,000 of them were subject to rigorous screening. 779 ended up at Gitmo. These included “high value” detainees like KSM, Abu Zubaydah, Abd al Nashiri, Ramzi Binalshibh, Mustafa al Hawsawi, and others who were directly involved in the planning of 9-11 and other attacks like the Cole bombing. So Gitmo did include the worst of the worst in th GWOT.
Jon:
It was Rummy and at one time a small percentage of Guantanamo were the worse of the worse. But ADX really has the bulk of them.
Yes ADX has some real hard core criminals. No doubt.
Hey Matt-
Been following your site for quite some time -very insightful – same goes for your loyal readers who comment. Based on what you wrote i have 2 questions:
1) What is the end-game for Whitey’s lawyers – if they all realize there is no way Whitey walks what are they trying to accomplish? Is the main goal to make Whitey look like a stand-up guy? Assuming Whitey has the final say in things i would guess that still means a lot to him
2) Hypothetically if he were ever found innocent and released do you think at his age he would still strike fear in people on the street? You know, to all the so-called tough guys who shot their mouth off thinking he’d die in jail or his he just too old?
JPO:
Thanks for following.
First part of the end game is to defend Whitey to the best of their ability. That means doing everything in their power, as I think they are doing, to ensure every bit of evidence that gives lie to the government’s case is heard by the jury. Maybe, if the case goes to the jury, they may be able to have some of the charges put in proper perspective. Yes, in part it is to make Whitey look like the stand up guy and to project that image about him. Whitey sees two big things as affecting that image: his association with the death of the women (tough guys don’t kill gals – Martorano made a big point of never having whacked a woman on purpose, the one he did kill was by inadvertence); and the idea that he was an informant (no Irishman could hold his head high if that was part of his legacy). But I think there’s an intermediate game going to be played that is to try to get a mistrial for some reason or another. They have to delay the day of reckoning. Whitey knows he will never get out of prison and is now comfortable as he will ever be. They want to see how long he can maintain his present state.
Your hypothetical is hard to imagine. If he is found innocent he faces murder charges in Florida and Oklahoma, both death penalty cases. Plus the feds will come down with some other charges. To win here, and win in those states, and eventually find himself back on the street it’d take another few years and he’d be nearing 90. I suppose most of his tough guy contemporaries will die off by that time. But as long as he had the strength to hold a gun, he’d have whoever was left out there fearful. But does he have it in him anymore?
I could never figure him sitting out in California with his weapons and not doing anything about what was going on back here. How difficult would it have been for the old man to drive across the country with his gal and check in to a local establishment around Framingham and take out a couple or three of his enemies. That was the way to go down rather than peeking through the blinds at night to see if anyone was watching. So maybe all that he has left is the image and inside everything is empty. Maybe that’s all it ever was, a man behind a screen.