Hockey dad faced earlier charges

When a judge sentences Thomas Junta today in the fatal beating of a fellow hockey father during a rink fight, he could take into consideration two other episodes in Junta's life - a 1991 restraining order alleging the beating of his wife in front of their young children, and charges that he assaulted a police officer the following year.

The whole trial seems to hinge around the disparity of weight in the combatants. It seems that if you are large and some guy jumps on your back and starts punching, you should be able to run away without fighting back.

Of all my friends, the one who has sent more men to the hospital with his bare hands weighs only 165 lbs.

I have never seen him start a fight or lose one. He lives for martial arts, yet looks as meek as a lamb.

The Boston Herald

July 11, 2000 Tuesday ALL EDITIONS

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 010

LENGTH: 247 words

HEADLINE: Pal: Suspect in beating known to have a short fuse

BYLINE: By FRANCI RICHARDSON

BODY:
While Thomas Junta was hailed as "a great father" by many of his Reading neighbors, a Charlestown friend of 25 years said Junta has always had a short fuse.

"He just loses his temper when someone mouths off. He's been in a few fights," said a fellow member of the Knights of Columbus in Charlestown, who spoke on condition of anonymity yesterday.

The man said Junta, 42, is well-known for his aggression, but has never done anything as serious as what prosecutors charge he did last week when he allegedly beat Michael Costin, 40, until he was brain dead.

Junta, a 13-year truck driver at US Foods in Everett, was freed yesterday on $ 5,000 bail after his arraignment.

While Junta has no record, he was charged in 1992 with assault and battery on a police officer and malicious destruction of property. The case was continued without a finding.

In 1985, he was one of several men questioned by police in the still-unsolved murder of his wife's brother, Robert "Booboo" Barrett, who was shot to death inside the former Celtic Tavern in Charlestown.

"He's my brother-in-law. I did support him," said Susan Barrett, sister of Junta's wife, Michelle, and Robert Barrett.

Born in November 1957, Junta is one of 12 siblings who grew up in Charlestown.

Junta's longtime friend said his temper was bound to get him in trouble.

"He knew what he was doing," the man said. "I'm sure he's sorry for what he did, but now it's too late."

Laurel J. Sweet contributed to this report.

I have a friend who lives in Charlestown near the Celtic Tavern where he said Junta used to hang out. I have been in there with him. There is a real hard core crowd of "Charlestown Townies" there, a number of the regulars have been in MAJOR trouble with the law (bank robbery, armored car robberies, unsolved murders). Charlestown is famous for the "code of silence" amongst the townies. Anyone who talks to the Police and gives up some information on another Townie usually winds up dead.

Junta came from a neighborhood where being tough was a way of life, and where someone can be murdered in a bar, and no one sees anything or knows anything.

Funny how the judge might take into consideration Juntas past, but would not allow Costin's past to be discussed. Yep, thats justice in America.

As much as slimy defense attorneys tried, Costin was not on trial (he was indisposed). Justice would have executed Junta or sold him into slavery to pay for Costin's family. Junta lied through his teeth on the stand though, I'll grant you that. He used his 12 yo son to lie for him too. Sad how kids learn to go to prison from their fathers.

Neither Junta nor Costin was new to the criminal justice system. Costin had been in prison seven times between 1983 and 1995 for crimes that stretched from breaking and entering to assaulting a cop, and Reading police believe he had ties to a gang of Hell's Angels in nearby Lynn, Mass. Junta had been charged with but found not guilty of willful destruction of property, had been sentenced to a year in jail for using a vehicle without the owner's permission and, in 1992, had been arrested for assault and battery. (There was no disposition in that case.) source:www.sportsillustrated.cnn.com

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