海角大神

In matter-of-fact tones that made him appear completely unmoved at recalling the many violent deaths he admits causing or helping plan, Stephen 鈥渢he Rifleman鈥� Flemmi on Friday detailed murder after grisly murder committed alongside defendant James 鈥�Whitey鈥� Bulger.

Mr. Flemmi鈥檚 graphic testimony at the federal courthouse in Boston may be the most important part of the case for prosecutors who are trying to provide the jury with chapter-and-verse insider testimony to nail shut each of the 32 racketeering charges, including 19 murders, against Mr. Bulger. Flemmi detailed about half of those murders Friday 鈥� with his testimony expected to continue next week.

Bulger and Flemmi ran the South-Boston-based Winter Hill Gang for more than 20 years, making millions by extorting bookies, loan sharks, and drug dealers, prosecutors say. But the pair also planned 鈥� and mopped up after 鈥� the killing of mob figures, businessmen, potential informants or 鈥渞ats鈥� 鈥� including even Flemmi鈥檚 own girlfriend, Debra Davis.

Bulger strangled Ms. Davis in 1981 鈥渂ecause I couldn鈥檛 do it 鈥� and he knew it,鈥� Flemmi testified.

Even so, Flemmi said he put aside his feelings 鈥渁nd did what I had to do,鈥� and cleaned up after the murder. This included, he said, removing Davis鈥檚 clothes so there would be fewer identifying elements, wrapping her body in a plastic tarp, and hauling it away in the trunk of a car to bury near a highway in Quincy, Mass.

With a federal indictment bearing down on the pair in 1994, Bulger fled Boston and lived on the run for 16 years before being caught, while his former partner Flemmi was arrested and eventually confessed to 10 murders 鈥� escaping the death penalty through a deal with prosecutors.

Although Bulger has pleaded not guilty, his defense lawyers have already acknowledged their client was deeply involved in criminal activities such as gambling and loan sharking. But the defense wants to cast doubt on the credibility of key prosecution witnesses 鈥� including Flemmi and other former criminals who received lighter sentences in return for their willingness to testify.

Topping Bulger鈥檚 wish list, say observers, is having his defense team and witnesses cast doubt on the whole idea that he ever served as an FBI informant or that he killed women.

Prosecutors began Friday by immediately quizzing Flemmi about the early days of his life of crime in the 1960s. What emerged were details of killings needed to underpin and enforce the highly lucrative crime operation in South Boston.

Under questioning from Assistant US Attorney Fred Wyshak, Flemmi first detailed how he came to be associated with the Winter Hill crime gang 颅颅鈥� and how he came to be friends with Bulger.

Along the way, Flemmi was peppered with questions about various victims 鈥� who they were, what they did 鈥� thus detailing a string of murders he had either witnessed, planned, assisted with, or carried out on his own 鈥� most committed in the company of Bulger.

Flemmi recounted, for instance, meetings of the Winter Hill gang where Bulger insisted that certain individuals should be killed. When there was gang agreement, he testified that he then helped carry out the hits.

Flemmi recalled travelling to a shooting range in Hopkinton, Mass., ostensibly to show friends how to shoot. But he also had a body with him that he later helped bury at the remote site.

Flemmi also detailed how Bulger came to introduce him to FBI agent John Connolly in 1975 鈥� and how inside information from Connolly, relayed by Bulger, helped them several times avoid being entrapped by sting operations.

Bulger, he said, told his associates that it was important to meet with Mr. Connolly.

鈥淭he Mafia has their sources and we can help you,鈥� Bulger quoted Connolly as saying, Flemmi testified. 鈥淚f they want to play checkers, we can play chess,鈥� Bulger told the gang, Flemmi said.

One of those stings was a loan-sharking operation that was being videotaped by the FBI. But Connolly鈥檚 warning, relayed through Bulger, enabled Flemmi to avoid the location and avoid arrest. As a result, he felt 鈥済rateful,鈥� he said, which was one reason he was willing later 鈥� at Bulger鈥檚 insistence 鈥� to meet directly with Connolly.

Flemmi testified that he always assumed that inside information he was getting from his own contacts inside the Mafia, and then gave to Bulger, was then being relayed by Bulger to Connolly. It was that information the FBI was using to try to shut down Mafia operations in Boston, according to later reports.

Undercutting Bulger鈥檚 contention that he was never a 鈥渞at,鈥� Flemmi said he witnessed Bulger tell Connolly at meetings 鈥渉undreds of times鈥� about an array of criminal activity. It was a point addressed in his first day of testimony.

"Who did most of the talking at these meetings?" Mr. Wyshak asked Thursday.

"James Bulger," Flemmi replied.

He was then asked to describe his relationship with Bulger.

"Strictly criminal," he replied.

Flemmi also testified that Bulger told him he had murdered Paul McGonagle, a Boston mobster. His testimony backs up that of John Martorano, a hit man who detailed Bulger's involvement in several聽 murders.

In his account, Flemmi told how both Bulger and Flemmi had fired their weapons at Eddie Connors, a bar owner who had bragged too much about his own role helping the gang in one of the murders. Connors was shot multiple times in a phone booth.

All the testimony about blood and betrayal and informing from prosecution witnesses is about building an iron box that Bulger鈥檚 lawyers won鈥檛 be able to break out of when they begin calling defense witnesses, legal analysts say.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a slow, tedious, but workmanlike performance by prosecutors that鈥檚 necessary to establish the scope of charges that cover nearly 30 years,鈥� says Michael Coyne, associate dean at the Massachusetts School of Law, who has followed the trial closely. 鈥淔lemmi, being with Bulger most of the time, provides the jury with details needed to prove the facts alleged in the indictment.鈥�

Flemmi鈥檚 testimony Friday also corroborated that of Kevin Weeks, another Bulger associate, who previously testified that Bulger鈥檚 gang was extensively involved in drug dealing in South Boston 鈥� another area that Bulger has denied involvement, Mr. Coyne notes.

鈥淒id you earn money from that?鈥� prosecutor Wyshak asked, regarding the drug-dealing business in South Boston.

鈥淎 substantial amount of money over time,鈥� Flemmi responded.

鈥淲ho operated the drug dealing,鈥� Wyshak probed.

鈥淛im Bulger organized the whole thing,鈥� Flemmi said.

Bulger still faces the prospect of other multiple indictments in Florida and Oklahoma for crimes committed there. That, Coyne notes, leaves him one objective from the current trial 鈥� to preserve a reputation he felt he once had in his hometown of South Boston as a sort of Robin Hood. To do that, Bulger needs to create the plausibility that he was neither a drug dealer nor murderer of women and, most of all, not a 鈥渞at.鈥�

鈥淣o matter what happens in this court here, he will never see the light of day 鈥� and he knows it,鈥� Coyne says. 鈥淣ow it鈥檚 all about his personal code 鈥� he鈥檚 now trying to preserve his personal legacy and image. That鈥檚 what it鈥檚 been about from Day 1.鈥�