By Scott Malone
BOSTON, June 18 (Reuters) – An ex-convict and confessed
murdered will be back on the witness stand Tuesday in the trial
of James “Whitey” Bulger, accused of running Boston’s “Winter
Hill Gang” for decades and threatening to kill small-time
criminals unless they paid protection money.
John Martorano, who previously described Bulger as a partner
in crime, is the first of the accused mobster’s top associates
to take the stand in what is expected to be a three- to
four-month trial in U.S. District Court in Boston.
Bulger has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including 19
murders that prosecutors say he committed or ordered in the
1970s and ’80s. His rise from small-time crook in a gritty
Boston neighborhood to one of the most feared criminals in the
city’s history – who then disappeared and spent 16 years in
hiding before his arrest in 2011 – has captivated the city for
years.
Martorano, who served 12 years in prison after confessing to
20 murders, on Monday told the jury he had been close friends
with Bulger and other members of the gang, even naming his
youngest son after Bulger and another associate.
“They were my partners in crime, they were my best friends,
they were my children’s godfathers,” the 72-year-old witness
said. He also testified to committing murders with Bulger in
which Martorano was the gunman and Bulger drove a support
vehicle as they eliminated rivals during Bulger’s rise to power.
Bulger’s story, which inspired the 2006 Academy
Award-winning movie “The Departed,” stands as a black mark on
the history of Boston law enforcement. Prosecutors contend
Bulger cooperated with a corrupt FBI agent, John Connolly, who
took information on rival gangs but turned a blind eye to
Bulger’s crimes.
Bulger, 83, denies ever serving as an FBI informant. In
opening statements, his attorneys said their client paid
Connolly for information but offered none of his own.
Martorano said Bulger and Connolly, who both grew up in
Boston’s “Southie” neighborhood, first got in contact after
Connolly met with Whitey Bulger’s brother, William, a powerful
Massachusetts politician who became the speaker of the state
senate.
The outcome of that meeting was a request from William
Bulger, Martorano said: “If you can keep my brother out of
trouble, that would be helpful to him.”
After his first meeting with Connolly, “Whitey” Bulger told
his gang mates that the two would have a productive
relationship.
“He said that they guy wanted to help him,” Martorano said,
adding that cooperation could help “keep the notoriety off
Billy.”
(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Douglas Royalty)
