I truly think as strange as this may sound that the prosecutors have already won the case. I’d suggest they go back and review what they plan to do, cut it to the core and move on as rapidly as they can to the end so that the jurors will not forget what happened this week. prosecutor could rest and walk away with a big win.
The Photos. I noted before that Bobby Long got his revenge on Whitey getting away 33 years ago because he took photos and videos of Whitey hanging out with the mobsters at the Lancaster Street garage. You must conclude after viewing these that Whitey and Stevie Flemmi were together all the time and that some very despicable people kept them company like Larry Baione/Zannino and Danny Agiulos identified as Mafia bosses along with people who were top bookies. Jump and shout as much as you want about federal corruption but it wasn’t federal corruption that had Whitey hanging around with all these many gangsters. This is one thing the jurors will bring home with them. The idea as set forth in Carney’s opening, and I think the thrust of his defense, that Whitey was not connected to the Mafia is very damaged. Now all the team of Fred Wyshak, Brian Kelly, and Zac Hafer (WKH) must do is to get that old FBI tape where Zannino said: “Us and the hill are the same thing,” and that should put to rest the idea Whitey is not a vicious gangster.
The Guns: Tommy Foley the former leader of the state police showed up. He was picked on by Carney for not following up on the murders committed by Pat Nee, Howie Winter, and James Martorano. All the time Carney and he were crossing swords, a dozen or so machine guns and revolvers sat on the table in front of the judge. You couldn’t help but glance over to them at times and get the shivers. Foley spent a long time identifying guns – there were well over 50 of them along with assorted other criminal paraphernalia taken introduced into evidence through photographs aside from the ones that sat on the table staring back at the jurors. He showed they came from a hide (a closet hidden behind a wall) in a small one story enclosed gazebo-like structure behind Stevie Flemmi’s mother’s house which is separated from Billy Bulger’s house by a sidewalk that runs between both homes. Obama could adequately arm the Syrian opposition with the weapons seized.
The guns are already connected to Stevie Flemmi and both he and Weeks will come in and connect them to Whitey. In case the jury has trouble believing Whitey had a fondness for machine guns, etc., WKH showed that he had the same type weaponry seized at the time of his arrest in California from a hide in the wall. The jurors can’t help thinking over the weekend that the defendant James Bulger hung around with lots of criminals and had a fondness for machine guns.
Then Jimmy Katz stepped on the stand. I had indicted and convicted Jimmy at least two times in the past. He was one of the best bookies who ever picked up a telephone. He testified he was a bookie. Asked what his hobbies were he answers “gambling.” Here was a man who loved his work. I’ll write more about him in a later post.
Jimmy came across as a guy who was jammed in by the feds and was willing to cooperate with them to make a deal. But the real impact of his statement was he continually linked Whitey and Stevie together using their names interchangeably as if they were Siamese twins. He told how he was terrorized by them. How they changed the percentage the bookies charged from 10% to 20% – he called them the Bulger group – he said if you didn’t go along you’d end up in the hospital.
He met with Stevie Flemmi who told him not to let something happen or he’d be in trouble. He told how all the bookies he worked with had to pay a commission or rent to Whitey and Stevie or sometimes to George Kaufman who worked with Whitey and Stevie.
Jimmy’s a slightly built guy with a nice disposition as befits a bookie. I found him believable. Not at all a tough guy. The jurors took away from this that the guy in front of them was not James Bulger but was Whitey Bulger. He was partners with Stevie Flemmi and they were powerful enough to change the percentage and demand monthly rent payments and injure anyone who didn’t go along.
Then came Dickie O’Brien a life long bookie. O’Brien’s not a nice guy although his demeanor on the stand hides that. O’Brien testified how Whitey (again Whitey) and Stevie charged him rent. O’Brien first worked with the Mafia telling how he cleared it through Zannino; then he switched over to paying Whitey rent after meeting with Whitey and Stevie, Jimmy and John Martorano. He knew Whitey was in a gang war in Southie and they shot people.
But Dickie found paying them rent made them useful to him. He’d take any of his agents who didn’t toe the mark in to meet with Whitey who’d scare them into following Dickie’s orders. It was like Whitey and Stevie were working for Dickie but whatever you thought of that, there was no doubt Whitey and Stevie inspired terror in other people.
The jurors in their weekends dreams will see Guns and Gangsters, Whitey and Stevie, and Threats and Terror. All the federal corruption in the world won’t make those go away.
Is it true or false that Bulger hated the nickname ‘Whitey’? It seems strange that these witnesses call him Whitey on the stand but probably called him Jim back in the day.
D:
Strange as it may seems we are supposed to think he hated the name Whitey. But listening to Martorano who he hung around with for years call him Whitey, it’s not that he’s doing it because he is testifying it seems that is what he always called him. When Weeks testified he alwas called him Jim or James. There is a book written by some Southie guy who tells how he first met Whitey and Whitey said to him he was “Jim Bulger” and the guy shrugged so then he said “I’m also called Whitey.” A guy I knew who hung around in his vicinity calls him Mr. Whitey. Whitey when he called FBI agent Morris got through to him referring to himself as Mr. White. His lawyers call him Jim.
I’d take a stab at it an say in his youth he was known as Whitey and didn’t mind that name and up through the early days of Winter Hill it was all right. But as he got older he figured the name should only be used in times of necessity because it had developed a ominous meaning. I’ll have to pay particular attention to what Stevie Flemmi calls him. But good question.
This Blog is the only place I have seen comments that were mature and thought provoking,more importantly accurate. It is refreshing reading your blog, Born in 1981 I have been studying this since I was a junior in HighSchool. I look to you as a professor in this saga. I really think you should consider teaching a course on this mess, it would have to be at least a 3 part course considering it goes back to RFK and J Edgar.
Doubting
Thanks – it’d have to back to before that perhaps to the time J. Edgar began his 48 year stint.
Ol’ Whitey Bulger’s an amateur compared to the true story I just read called BAD, LIKE JESSE JAMES. It’s about this man who back in the 1970s ran Detroit’s heroin trade, plotted to rob a Brink’s truck and threatened to blow up Detroit airport unless he was paid $1M. Oh yeah, he was also a fed at the time, an ATF agent and was once named “agent of the month”! Mindblowing
Heath:
Thanks for the information. I agree that Whitey has been made into this great criminal when he was really just a local guy who had a big bad rep. Remember were in Boston and here we thing we’re a big city on par with New York City and that the world revolves around us. So our local guys are tougher than all the other gangsters in the world. We even have John Martorano saying the New York Mafia was afraid of the Winter Hill gang. So we live in this delusionary city where we think Boston is the Athens of America or sometimes is equivalent to Paris, Rome, or London. You’re right, Whitey was an amateur among the realm of criminals but if Boston can be Paris, Whitey can be a Master Criminal. Thanks for the information on the book. I’ll want to read it.
Also, who is the author of the book
Dear Matt,
Whitey’s one-time flame told the Herald he had a “Gold standard defense.”
Maybe not for winning the case, but he has a gold standard for being granted another Boston trial – AT TAXPAYER’S EXPENSE.
I sent both Carney and Whitey copies of my lawsuit and my brother’s lawsuit. Each lawsuit mentioned the federal seal. Of course the FBI knew about the federal seal, since some defendants in our lawsuits included the FBI, as well as the United States of America.
All Whitey needs to do is file a complaint concerning ineffectual legal representation. His lawyer never mentioned that a federal seal was placed on a public record that contradicted Kevin Week’s under-oath testimony.
Afraid:
I’m going to see if I can find out about whether Whitey knows about the letter under seal. I’m not sure I’ll be successful but I’ll try at some point. Weeks is going to testify in July. You may recall I went to John Connolly’s trial because I was puzzled over the Naimovich case. By the way I learned more about that in the last week than I did during that trial. I recognized that there were thing the FBI didn’t want to come into evidence so both the government and Connolly, who was in a position where negative things about the FBI would bear on him, kept them out.
Your brother’s statement contradicts Weeks so the government won’t want to use it; it also puts Whitey at the scened of the murders so the defense,if they are going to deny Whitey murdered Halloran/Donohue, wouldn’t want it either. So your brother’s information gets squeezed out with the consent of all the parties and if that is the case then Whitey can’t complain about it.
There will never be another Whitey trial. If he’s convicted he’ll go away to ADX. The Court of Appeals will never reverse this no matter how egregious the errors.
Afraid: The book sounds great. Hope you get to read http://www.macthedogthenovel.com and http://www.characterassassins.com and Shots Heard Round the World: Americans Answer the Call to Arms Connolly (USPHS-CO), Farrow (USN-Korean war combat vet), Kiander (USN-Vietnam war combat vet) (Xlibris) which tells the story of how the kids from Southie, Charlestown, Roxbury, Allston-Bri, Dot, especially Savie and Fields Corner conquered the World since before 1776
Eddie Connors’ spelling Eddie, not Eddy. Too bad there’s not a lengthy chapter on Tuck (Vietnam combat vet)!!! Maybe We’ll join forces and do an Epic Odyssey on that young lad. All the best. Singed, Billy C
P.S. Whatever happened to that BBC production? I thought we were going to be stars or millionaires or famous, or at least you were. My younger brother remembers some of your clashes outside the ring, and I remember that brave Viking boxer taking on pros half his age at the old Bradford. Keep punching
Correction: The William Connolly book Character Assassins is orderable at http://www.characterassassins.net Not at .com
Dear Henry,
I figured it would be best to first give the table of contents. Tomorrow is Sunday in Australia. It a day of rest. Now that I look at it, the chapters gave been sent out of order. Except for the tables of contents, I’ll start over on Monday.
“Gaga”: The Real Whitey
Bulger/Irish Mob Story
By: Francis X. “Gaga” Murray
on Stuen-Parker
Permission for reproducing, storing in or introducing into a retrieval system or transmitting in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) “Gaga”: The Real Whitey Bulger/Irish Mob Story for the sole purpose of individual scholarly consultation or reference is granted by the authors. This permission is not to be interpreted as affecting publication of “Gaga”: The Real Whitey Bulger/Irish Mob Story or otherwise placing it in the public domain and the authors reserve all rights of ownership guaranteed under common law protection of manuscripts.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Whitey I 5
Boston 12
South Boston 14
Charlestown 16
Somerville 19
Gaga I 20
World War II 32
Gaga II 39
Korean War 42
Gaga III 48
Whitey II 78
Hank Garrity 82
Richie Kelly 84
Jimmy Keeney 87
Scoring Women 89
Killeens 93
Mullens 98
Kevin Weeks 101
Stevie “The Rifleman” Flemmi 103
Bennetts 106
Great Brinks Robbery 118
Elmer “Trigger” Burke 123
Plymouth Mail Robbery 125
The Waterfront 127
Irish War 129
Owney “The Killer” Madden 138
McCormacks 143
Joe Moakley 144
McLaughlins 145
Hughes 158
Harold Hannon 161
Jimmy O’Toole 162
Billy O’Sullivan 167
Vincent “The Bear” Flemmi 175
Joseph “The Animal” Barboza 178
Edward Deegan 180
Roy French 181
Arthur Ventola 181
Danny Murphy 184
Eddie Cronin 184
Doc Madden 185
Ralphie Mazuca 188
Bucky Barrett 189
Tommy Callahan 191
Richie Castucci 193
Jay Johnson 195
Mike Whalen 198
Johnny Quill 200
Horse Racing 207
Onion Joe 211
Gambling 212
Casino Gambling 214
New Orleans 216
Ben Tilley 217
Knickerson 219
Charlie Carr 220
Eddy Connors 221
Rooney 222
Sonny Calo 223
Robichaud 224
Tubby Flannery 226
Sonny Daley 227
Willie Delaney 228
Romeo Martin 229
Dick Buck 231
Overseas Travel 233
Ireland 236
Australia 237
Tommy Ballou 240
Martin ”Mutt” Kelley 243
Jerry Blanchard 247
Matty Landy 249
Tommy Nee 251
Harry Johnson 252
Buddy McLean 256
Joe McDonald 260
Howie Winter 260
Bernie McGarry 262
Abie Sarkis 264
Larry Baione 266
Phil Waggenheim 269
Gerry Angiulo 270
Mafia 271
Russians 275
Gaga IV 275
Whitey III 282
More Information 287
Afraid:
Sounds very interesting – are you going to send us the whole book a couple or so chapters at a time? I know some of my readers are hoping so. Didn’t know you were down under. You’re not kidding when you say you’re afraid of the FBi if that’s where you’ve gone to. Give us an idea what we will be privy to. Thanks. And if you intend to put it out here, tell us what stipulations you want to make about it.
MATT, On that audio of Zanino saying ”we are the hill”.. was that the 98 prince st. dog house tapes? Also are the dog house tapes available anywhere you could direct me?
Doubting:
I’m not sure if they are available outside of the FBI. Although they must have been introduced into evidence in 1984 trial which means the lawyers and feds would have had copies but whether they have them now I’m not sure. The tape was made of a conversation with Larry and some guy who owed money to Whitey’s group. At that time they had the bug in 98 Prince and Larry’s headquarters. I’m not sure which location gave us that quote but it was back in 1981.
Matt,
true, but Carney can make the case Whitey was in the threaten to kill business in order to help his shake down business.
Wouldn’t the same thing been said to this guy more or less had Dickie gone to the North End to straighten this out?
In other words if this is the defense Whitey wants then so far I haven’t seen anything to make him any different than anyone else in charge. The evidence, accept Carney’s opening, seems to fit what you have been saying along. At least what I think you have been saying. ‘Whitey is a bad guy. Very bad guy. But he was a very bad guy amongst many very bad guys and a few very very bad guys. He doesn’t deserve the reputation but it fits the government’s purposes.’
Ernie:
Carney can make that argument if the case stopped now but there are going to be a lot of bodies brought into court. There’s also going to be his former associates telling how sordid their lives have been. The jury will be revolted after listening to them but that’ll not be enough for them to cut Whitey some slack..The jruy’s going to say, “yeah, the feds are pretty bad and corrupt, and maybe they enabled Whitey to murder these people, but that doesn’t mean we should cut Whitey some slack.”
Carney’s a very good lawyer. He’s going to do his best. He’s seen the governments’s case. He knows he’s licked if it goes on anything like I’ve seen so far. But he’s going to keep punching even though the bell rang a long time ago. What you say may be the lame defense he comes up with, Whitey’s bad but other bad guys are out there who are worse than he is. It has no legs for a jury. But he can’t surrender so he must try something.
Thanks Matt,
Playing devil’s advocate, which Carney has to do, it appeared to me that for both Katz and O’Brien paid Whitey and Stevie because they were the ones in that position at that time. In other words the bookies always paid someone. O’Brien’s dad paid someone and his daughters, if still bokkin, pay someone now. Probably Martarano.
If it wasn’t whitey it was the north end or whoever was the designated person which was decided by people high above the bookies.
Carney can make the case that whitey was just another guy out of scores in boston who were paid off by bookies in the last 60 years.
Ernie:
I found it interesting that for paying they also got their collection service without it seems extra charge because if they had been charged Dickie would have mentioned it. You’re right about having to pay someone. Dickie O’Brien indicated as much when he said there were no independent bookies. Everyone probably pays the North End now or one of the Martoranos.
Carney can’t make that case after these two testified how Whitey was in the killing business.
Matt, isn’t last chance collection services part of the protection services provided by those in the protection business. Every so often, perhaps not more than once every few years a chat with Stevie or Whitey helps move things along in an expensive business deal. Especially when the protector’s are due a piece of it, one way or another.
Ernie:
That’s what it is. An audience with the guys in charge often solves the problems. I just hope Carney give this Dicke O’Brien who is posing as a kindly old man a going over. That’s what is all that I find left in this case – the pleasure of seeing Carney kick the shit (excuse the vulgarity) out of some of these witnesesses. He’s a master at cross-examination so I’m anxiously awaiting to watch him.