Free Republic

The body of a key witness in James 'Whitey’ Bulger's racketeering trial was found dead on the side of a road Wednesday by a jogger in Lincoln, Mass., which is just west of Boston. The body belonged to Stephen "Stippo" Rakes, 59, who was allegedly extorted by Bulger and considered one of the most determined alleged victims who waited a decade to testify, The Boston Globe reported. The Globe reported that Rakes has been a fixture for six weeks at Bulger's trial and was told recently that he would not get the chance to testify. The Middlesex County district attorney's...

Howie thread for last half of Aug starting with his July 17 2013 Herald column

Howie thread for the second half of June, 2013 starting with his Sunday Herald column, another one related to Whitey Bulger: "Stench from garage finally out"

As the trial of alleged Boston gang boss, FBI informant and former fugitive James "Whitey" Bulger begins with jury selection Tuesday, Steve Davis is looking for three things: answers, justice and eye contact. "He will not turn back and look at any of us," Davis complained Monday night after Bulger, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, sat stony-faced through a lengthy pre-trial hearing. "What a coward." Davis's sister, Debra, was allegedly strangled by a bare-handed Bulger in 1981 because she planned to break up with his partner, Steven "The Rifleman" Flemmi. That's one of 19 slayings the 83-year-old Bulger is accused...

The FBI has paid out $2.1 million in reward money for the information that led to the capture of feared Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger, according to the bureau. The Boston FBI office last week got the green light to disburse $2 million for Bulger and an additional $100,000 in reward money for his companion, Catherine Greig. "As of Friday, September 23, 2011, the FBI has paid this reward money to more than one individual," the bureau said, without disclosing any information about the parties collecting the reward. Bulger, who is charged with 19 murders in the 1970s and 80s...

In October 25, 2007, a U.S. Army specialist in Afghanistan braved enemy fire in an attempt to save a fellow soldier who had been wounded in an ambush. An insurgent bullet struck his armored chest plate, knocking him down. He got up and rushed back into enemy fire to retrieve his fallen comrade. He threw several hand grenades toward the enemy, and was able to grab his colleague and immediately begin first aid. Though the man he'd risked his life for later died from the wounds, his heroic actions didn't go unnoticed. Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, received the medal...

Whitey Bulger pleads not guilty on 19 murder counts BOSTON - James "Whitey" Bulger pleaded not guilty today to a racketeering indictment .. in 19 murders, some dating back to the 1970s. [DNC and General court bigwigs] brothers William and John . were seated in the front row.]

Murder, Inc. - Experts say Whitey could cash in on his brutal bio [taxpayers to pay legal bills] "If convicted, accused mass murderer James “Whitey” Bulger could make a killing selling his blood-soaked biography to a publishing house or Hollywood studio, experts say, thanks in part to state lawmakers, who for years have refused to bar cons from cashing in on their crimes." "With no notoriety for profit law on the books, it’s not just Bulger’s secrets from 16 years on the lam that are potentially worth big bucks. ... Notoriety for profit laws have been adopted by Texas, California,...

Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger kept hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash hidden behind the walls of his Santa Monica apartment and traveled –- sometimes in disguise and armed -- to Boston, Las Vegas and Mexico to purchase pharmaceuticals, according to court records made public Monday in Boston. ...FBI agents are quoted in the documents as saying Bulger later admitted traveling from time to time outside the Santa Monica area. “Bulger waived his Miranda rights and admitted that he had been a frequent traveler as a fugitive. Bulger acknowledged visiting Las Vegas on numerous occasions to play the slots...

The murderer in chief of the Boston mob, Whitey Bulger, has now been arrested, but the godfather of the mob, William Bulger (known as “Billy”), is still at large. Until William Bulger is brought to justice, there will be no occasion for celebration. Without William Bulger, there would have been no Whitey Bulger. Killer Whitey would have remained a petty criminal were it not for the protection he allegedly got from his Godfather Billy. While Whitey Bulger was climbing the ladder of crime in Boston, Billy was climbing the ladder of politics. Of course in Boston, the separation between crime...

BOSTON (AP) - After 16 long years, the arrest of notorious Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger appeared to end a long, frustrating manhunt that had embarrassed the FBI and raised questions about its efforts to find one of its most wanted fugitives. But Bulger's capture could be only the beginning of a new scandal for the Boston FBI and others. If Bulger decides to cut a deal with prosecutors, he could implicate an untold number of local, state and federal law enforcement officials, according to investigators who built a racketeering indictment against Bulger before he fled in 1995. "If he...

Brothers Bulger wave in court, Whitey held "It was a family reunion in U.S. District Court today featuring former Senate president William "Billy" Bulger (Democrat) waving to his mobster brother James "Whitey" Bulger at his arraignment and mouthing hello. Galpal Catherine Greig also smiled at her twin sister at her arraignment after Bulger and raised her eyebrows as she was being taken out of court. Billy Bulger said outside court that seeing his big brother in handcuffs after 16 years on the run "an unusual experience." Asked to explain further, Billy Bulger stammered and added "I have to think about...

After all these years, how do the feds finally catch Whitey? By running an ad on “The View.” Or “Rachael Ray.” Or some other silly daytime women’s TV show. Whitey, the president-for-life of the He Man Woman Haters’ Club, brought down by the likes of Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg. And where were he and Catherine Greig living? Not in some dreary British tenement, but in Santa Monica, LaLa Land. And no Hollywood ending either. Hey Whitey, in case you’ve forgotten, Oklahoma and Florida are death-penalty states. The best part about this capture is that now our worst nightmare isn’t...

You’ll have to admit that the Pakistani ambassador to the United States did have a point when he was explaining how Osama bin Laden could live so openly in Pakistan for so long. “If Whitey Bulger can live undetected by American police for so long,” Husain Haqqani told the Atlantic, “why can’t Osama bin Laden live undetected by Pakistani authorities?” He’s right, isn’t he? The reason Whitey could live “undetected” so long was exactly the same reason that bin Laden could likewise remain “undetected” in Pakistan. He was one of the boys, he was on the team. Haqqani, it turns...

THURSDAY in Iowa, former Massachusetts governor and GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said he wants to strip government officials convicted for corruption of their pensions. He noted his disappointment with ethically lapsed Republicans in particular: "I expect more of people in my own party. We speak about high ethical standards and we should be an example of those high ethical standards." It turns out, Romney was the rare Massachusetts pol to act correctly in one of the state's worst political scandals. ...snip... As Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr wrote in his book, "The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted...

Howie Carr live thread with online exclusive column and regular column

“The Departed” deserved to win the Oscar for Best Picture. But it is,of course, a work of fiction. And truth is always stranger, and gorier, than fiction. Just check out these state police crime-scene photos, which have never been published. These pictures, taken in Revere on the last day of 1976, chronicle another chapter in the sordid story of Whitey Bulger unlikely to make the sequel to “The Departed.” The dead man in the trunk is Richie Castucci, a 48-year-old FBI informant. An FBI agent tipped off two other FBI informants that Castucci was working for the feds, and the...

HC yesterday: "So the politicians who asked you for your vote for the past 6 months now want to deny you the right to vote on gay marriage"

Howie Carr talks about the criminal alliance between brothers William Billy Bulger and James Whitey Bulger. Mr. Carr explains their impact on the the political and crime worlds in Boston for the last quarter of the 20th Century. James Bulger, who ran an organized crime organization in South Boston, remains the number 2 man on the FBI's most wanted list. William Bulger, a politician who rose to the rank of president of the Massachusetts State Senate and was later appointed president of the University of Massachusetts, was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in 2003 (in connection with...

Here's the question about Stevie Flemmi: Is he going out as Joe Valachi, or as Joe Barboza? That is, is he an embittered old man lifting the lid on organized crime, or is he an imprisoned hit man using the government to settle all his old scores? Probably some of both. I know that all of the ex-FBI agents have denied they took cash from the serial killers, Stevie Flemmi and his partner, Whitey Bulger. But at least one or two of these feds have already been named by other witnesses, under oath. Kevin Weeks testified that Whitey used to...