Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Not only did Martorano kill multiple people, he justified killing them on grounds they were Judases.
John Martorano took the stand Wednesday for his third straight day of testimony in the case against James "Whitey" Bulger—testimony that had Bulger followers glued to their Twitter feeds. On Tuesday, Martorano, who admitted to killing 20 people and served only 12 years in prison for the crimes after reaching an agreement with prosecutors, told jurors grisly stories of the murders he committed, according to media reports. Through Tuesday, he had linked Bulger to 11 of those murders, according to WBUR. Boston.com outlined some of the murder stories Martorano told in court: Read more about their stories at Boston.com. BostonHerald.com said Martorano admitted six of the murders he committed were mistakes. Martorano, himself, spent 16 years as …
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
In the 1980s, Arthur Bourque was a member of the Mass. State Police Major Crimes Unit working to bring down Whitey Bulger's gang with electronic surveillance and wiretaps. But Bulger's connections ran deep.
Arthur Bourque of Lynnfield, the current town moderator and a former selectman, has more reasons than many people to follow the ongoing Whitey Bulger trial. In the 1980s, the retired Massachusetts State Trooper was a member of the major crimes unit working to bring down Bulger's Winter Hill gang through constant surveillance, wiretapping, and even a break-in at the gang's Lancaster Street Garage headquarters to plant electronic bugs. What the unit had no way of knowing at the time was that their investigation was compromised by Bulger's own informants. In a recent conversation with Lynnfield Patch, Bourque talked extensively about his law enforcement career, which began in 1971 when he joined the Mass. State Police at the age of 21. Later…
Monday, June 17, 2013
John Martorano told members of the jury about murder and gang wars stemming back to the 1960s.
John Martorano, an admitted murderer, calmly told jurors in the trial of James "Whitey" Bulger about several murders he was involved with, according to media reports about Monday's testimony. According to WBUR, when asked about several of his victims, including Johnny Jackson, Tony Veranis, and Robert Palladino, Martorano replied about each man, "I shot him." Martorano told the jury Bulger "broke my heart" when he learned Bulger and Stephen Flemmi, a Bulger associate, were informants for the FBI, according to BostonHerald.com. "The were my partners in crime. They were my best friends," Martorano said, according to the news website. Martorano admitted to killing 20 people, and he reached a controversial plea agreement that let him out of …
Friday, June 14, 2013
On Thursday, jurors heard from a retired state trooper who talked about corrupt FBI agents.
After listening to opening statements on Wednesday, jurors in the trial of James "Whitey" Bulger heard testimony from former law enforcement officials and bookmakers on Thursday and Friday, capping the first week of the trial. On Friday, former bookie James Katz told the jury he paid $1,000 a month in "rent" to Bulger during the NFL season and $500 a month during the rest of the year, according to BostonHerald.com. Katz told the jury "you could end up in the hospital" if you disobeyed Bulger, according to the newspaper's website. The jury also heard from Richard O'Brien, another bookie, who said he paid rent to Bulger for 14 years, according to WBUR. WBUR says that in the 1970s Bulger told O'Brien to "forget the North End, if you want to …
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
The prosecution painted James "Whitey" Bulger as "hands-on killer," while Bulger's defense team argued he's the victim of stories woven by corrupt FBI officials and untrustworthy criminals.
The trial of James "Whitey" Bulger began Wednesday morning as lawyers for the prosecution and defense gave opening statements in a trial that is expected to last into September and mesmerize the Boston community. In his opening statement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kelly painted Bulger as a "hands-on killer" who was involved in extortion, drugs and murder. Kelly told the jury, "This case will have a lot of witnesses, a lot of pieces of evidence … like putting pieces of a puzzle together," and he provided a summary of some stories the prosecution will tell during the trial. He outlined 32 charges brought against Bulger for money laundering, extortion and illegal guns, but he spent the majority of his time telling the jury about the …
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Tempers flared in court Wednesday as attorneys argued about allegations state police protected a key witness from criminal investigations.
A jury of 18 people—12 jurors and 6 alternates—was chosen and sworn in Tuesday to hear the case against James "Whitey" Bulger, according to media reports. Eight men and four women will serve on the jury, with three men and three women serving as alternates, according to Boston.com. It took a week to whittle a pool of 858 potential jurors down to 18. Bulger, 83, is a notorious reputed mobster who is accused of participating in 19 murders. He spent 16 years as a fugitive and was captured in California in 2011. His trial is expected to last into September, and many potential jurors, when questioned, explain why serving on the jury would be a hardship. One woman said she had to care for a dog with crippled hind legs, another spoke of suffering…
Monday, June 10, 2013
In the James "Whitey" Bulger trial: The defense team questions a witness' criminal activity, jury selection continues, and three prominent reports are allowed to follow the trial.
The defense team for reputed mobster James "Whitey" Bulger filed a motion Monday morning to have opening statements in the criminal case against their client delayed, according to media reports. U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper hoped to begin opening statements Wednesday, but Bulger's lawyers have raised questions about one of the important witnesses in the case, John Martorano, who confessed to and served 14 years in prison for committing 20 murders, according to BostonHerald.com. Bulger's lawyers say there are allegations that Martorano, a former Winter Hill Gang member, returned to a life of crime after being released from prison in 2007 and that his Massachusetts State Police "handler" covered up his crimes because Martorano was…
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Also, a dispute over prominent figures on the defense team's witness list.
Even more potential jurors have been called to duty in the trial of reputed gangster James "Whitey" Bulger. The original pool of 675 potential jurors has expanded to 858, according to the Boston Herald, which says it's the biggest jury pool ever called by a federal court in Massachusetts. U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper, prosecutors and defense attorneys will screen the jurors and ultimately select 18 to sit for a trial that is expected to last into September. The legal teams must review detailed 13-page questionnaires filled out by the potential jurors, some of whom will be called back to the courthouse for individual questioning on Monday, according WBUR.org. Although the hefty task of selecting a jury has delayed the start of …
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Opening statements in the trial are also scheduled for the week of June 10.
Update, 1:10 p.m., Wedensday: According to WBUR, Judge Casper has added another 100 potential jurors to the pool. The radio station reported Casper hopes opening statements in the trial will happen on June 12. ORIGINAL STORY U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper, along with federal prosecutors and defense lawyers for James "Whitey" Bulger, continued to screen potential jurors Wednesday for a trial that is expected to last into September, according to media reports. Casper and the attorneys have been reviewing a pool of 675 potential jurors in three batches of 225, according to Boston.com. They aim to narrow the pool down to 18 jurors—12 to sit on the jury, 6 alternates. The news website says Casper and lawyers were scheduled to finish…
Monday, June 3, 2013
Also, four books you might want to read about Bulger.
In Boston, the backdrop to the summer of 2013 will be the trial of James "Whitey" Bulger, a reputed mobster accused of multiple crimes, including 19 murders. Bulger's story is one of brutal violence, crime, intrigue, corruption, political connections and a city's not-so-distant history of ethnic divides and parochial neighborhood worldviews. Throw a stone in Boston and you'll hit an armchair Whitey Bulger scholar, but for everyone else the story can seem like a maze of names, places and confusing family trees. As previously written on Somerville Patch, "You've got your Johnny and your Jimmy Martorano (brothers), your Ilario Zannino and your Larry Baione (same person), your Paul Rico (an FBI agent) and your all-capital-letters RICO (…
SHARNISHA GASTON
2:44 pm on Wednesday, June 12, 2013
We don't need people out there like that because people have every right to live and everybody has a family just like he do and he should have thought about the consequences and thats on him i hope they throw the books at him.- more ›