Johnny Martorano’s move got ball rolling
by Howie Carr 8/13/13
Like most people in Boston, Johnny Martorano was in a good mood yesterday afternoon.
“If Whitey wasn’t an informant,” he was saying, “I never would have come forward.”
Martorano was the catalyst. If he doesn’t step forward in 1998 and start talking about the murders, this day might have never arrived. Once Martorano vanished from “the pod” in Plymouth, it wasn’t long before Kevin “Two” Weeks started telling where the bodies were buried, literally.
“I’m glad I stepped up and tried to turn it around” Martorano said. “And now I’m just glad it’s over.”
Or is it? What did Jay Carney say outside the courthouse yesterday?
“You haven’t heard the last from Jim Bulger.”
Is that a threat, Counselor? Odd that less than two weeks ago he had a chance to go up on the witness stand and spill his guts, and instead he soiled his drawers. He claimed the trial was a “sham.” Now he’s convicted on 31 of 32 counts, and his lawyer says Whitey is “pleased” with the outcome. Huh?
The problem with Whitey testifying was that he would have been cross-examined. And the very first question would have been, “Mr. Bulger, didn’t you become a rat for the feds in 1956 after you were arrested for bank robbery and realized you could do a lot better at sentencing if you ratted out two of the other guys in your gang?”
I think it was Whitey’s other lawyer, Hank Brennan, who said Whitey went to trial “to highlight the corruption and complicity of the FBI in criminal activity.”
And who exactly became a multimillionaire while engaging in that criminal activity?
Remember how Carney asked for a couple of days off in the middle of the trial? Whitey was having a tough time getting up at 4 a.m. Didn’t like being shackled for the daily ride up in the Ratmobile either. And then there were all those humiliating requests for early bathroom breaks — what a drag it is, having an 83-year-old prostate.
Well, look on the bright side, Whitey. Now you can sleep late. And you can go to the bathroom whenever you want to.
So we haven’t heard the last of Jim Bulger, eh? Carney probably means “60 Minutes.” After all, it was Johnny Martorano’s “insane lies” on “60 Minutes” that drove Whitey to begin his own memoirs out in Santa Monica. Now Whitey wants his own opportunity to spew out insane lies.
You know, about how he had “immunity,” even though it was given to him by a dead guy, Jeremiah O’Sullivan. Of course he had immunity, that’s why he ran away with an arsenal and millions in cash and hid for 16 years.
I hope this sordid tale has one more chapter, and that its first words are, “Welcome to Tulsa.”
Whitey, did you know that Oklahoma has the highest per-capita number of executions of any state?
For Johnny Martorano, it may not be quite over, but wouldn’t it be worth it, one more trip, to strap Whitey onto the gurney where he so richly belongs.