Whitey bulger trial, boston
gangsters, winter hill crime gang, sinn fein, Gerry adams td, provisional ira
Federal prosecutors
described accused Boston mob boss James ‘Whitey’ Bulger as a “hands-on killer”
in the opening statements today in his long-awaited trial on 19 murders he is
said to have committed or ordered in the 1970s and 80s.
Whitey Bulger often thought
dead, often sighted around the world, while on the run from police for 16
years, is very much alive and facing many ghosts from his past. Whitey had
close connections with Provisional Sinn Fein/IRA and terror tactics such as kidnapping,
murder and secret burial of innocent victims were shared by Whitey Bulger’s
murder squads and Provisional Sinn Fein/IRA murder squads lead by people such
as M15 Agent Freddie Scappittini. The intention behind such brutal murders, particularly of women, was to ensure the silence of rape victims and child abuse victims, such as seen in the case of Serial Child Rapist Gerry Adams Snr who was also a long serving RUC informer.
In a story that has
fascinated Boston for decades, the accused head of the ‘Winter Hill’ crime gang
fled after a corrupt law enforcement agent tipped him off in 1994 that arrest
was imminent.
He lived in hiding for 16
years, most of them while on the FBI’s most wanted list.
“It’s a case about organized
crime, public corruption and all sorts of illegal activities ranging from extortion
to drug dealing to money laundering, to possession of machine guns to murder,”
said assistant US attorney Brian Kelly in his opening statement.
“While he started out as
just one member of the enterprise, eventually he took control, he became the
leader. And he was no ordinary leader because he did the dirty work himself. He
was a hands-on killer.”
Bulger’s trial at US
District Court in Boston is expected to run about four months and feature more
than 100 witnesses, including alleged victims, criminal associates and law
enforcement personnel.
Charges against Bulger (83)
include extortion and racketeering in adddition to murder. He faces the
possibility of life in prison if convicted.
Bulger has pleaded not
guilty to all counts.
Attorneys for Bulger, who
sat quietly in court dressed in jeans, white sneakers and a casual shirt, were
due to make their opening statement later today.
Bulger has lost the bright
blond hair that earned him his nickname in his youth and has shaved the beard
he wore at the time of his arrest in a seaside California town two years ago.
His attorneys have argued
that Bulger was granted immunity for his crimes by a now-deceased federal
prosecutor, although US district judge Denise Casper has said such a deal would
not be legally valid.
It took the court more than
a week to work through a pool of more than 800 potential jurors to build a jury
of 12 members and six alternates who said they could be impartial on one of
Boston’s most notorious criminal cases.
Bulger’s story inspired
Martin Scorsese’s 1996 Academy Award-winning film The Departed. Several scenes
from the movie were shot within blocks of the waterfront federal courthouse
where Bulger is being tried.
The trial drew an overflow
crowd of onlookers, reporters and families of some of Bulger’s alleged victims,
including Steven Davis, whose 26-year-old sister, Debra, was one of Bulger’s
alleged victims, and Patricia Donahue, widow of Michael Donahue.
