"Whitey" Bulger had Much to Say and He Said it to Me....
Updated: Apr 5, 2019
"Whitey" Bulger is dead. He never liked being call Whitey. His name was James. I called him Jim. I took part in sending him to prison 5 years ago as a juror in a highly orchestrated trial. A trial that never had to be. Jim wanted to plead guilty to all charges, and was willing to accept an expedited death sentence.
A trial that never had to be, because the charges on the guns found in his California apartment would have put him away for life -- no questions asked.
The Boston US Attorney's Office insisted the trial take place. Eighteen jurors were used by the Boston DOJ. For 10 weeks many struggled financially; suffered emotionally; and were used thoroughly.
Those unfortunate witnesses who dared to speak truth, contradicting the script of the Assistant US Attorneys (AUSA) would suffer greatly. Two were charged with dubious crimes following the trial. They took the oath seriously to tell the truth. They ended up in prison for it.
The Boston media, seemingly being fed from the hands of the Boston US Attorney's Office, failed to print many shocking admissions exposing, in detail, the horrific manipulation of witnesses by the AUSAs. The Boston media, for 20 years, had followed the lead of AUSA Fred Wyshak in any and everything pertaining to James Bulger. Wyshak, seemingly like Javert in Les Misérables, was obsessed with Jim Bulger, and determined to destroy him by any means necessary. (And, like Javert, perhaps Wyshak will destroy himself in the end? Obsession tends to work that way....)
What most don't realize is that RICO indictments (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) are written in such a way that an indicted individual is often simply guilty by association. (Example: If my good friend Sally robs a bank, then I'm guilty of robbing the bank by association.) Therefore, if a juror didn't really believe Sally (or Jim?) committed the actual crime, it was very difficult to escape a guilty verdict against her.
Throughout the trial, I felt facts and truth were being withheld from the jury. Yet, in deliberations, we were told to determine guilt or innocence based on fact and truth. In the end, it didn't really matter because if friends of Jim Bulger's committed a crime, he too was guilty. If John Martorano was convinced by his best friend John Callahan to kill Callahan's boss Roger Wheeler -- Jim was guilty. If Martorano then decided to kill his best friend of 25 years John Callahan to keep him from squealing about poor Mr. Wheeler's murder -- then Jim was guilty. And, so it goes.... Facts and truth were irrelevant in the end.
Many jurors struggled with the "guilt by association" mandate. And, sadly, I and others gave in. But, NOT in the Debbie Davis murder. We dug in our heels, we refused to agree, we believed the written affidavit by Debbie's own mother Olga that Flemmi killed both Debbie -- and her father! (Strange thing, the Boston media still runs to Debbie's brother Steve Davis for an interview for anything pertaining to Bulger. I've never understood why. Jim Bulger shared with me that he wondered if Flemmi was paying Steve Davis to keep the focus on Jim having killed Debbie? I certainly understood why he wondered this -- after all, Flemmi was given his "get out of jail" card and the Boston US Attorney's Office gave him back more than $3 million in tainted assets when he "passed go!")
Immediately after the trial, when able to seek the answers to so many questions I had, I deeply regret not standing opposed to many of the guilt by association verdicts. And, I determined to do what the professional journalists of the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, and WBUR refused to do. I went to the source and asked the questions. I dared to ask Jim Bulger -- for 5 years we corresponded. I sat facing him, close enough to touch, in the prison visiting hall for a total of 15 hours.
The Boston US Attorney's Office (DOJ) attempted to shut Bulger up. Certainly the media would never seek out his input -- they had made up their minds (or had them made up for them by the DOJ?) twenty years before. They attempted to shut him up, but they weren't successful. He had much to say -- and he said it to me....