James “Whitey” Bulger
The Boston trial of 83-year-old alleged underworld kingpin James “Whitey” Bulger has provided some interesting insights into the way organizations involved with crime operate, regardless of on which side of the law they fall.
Yesterday, 72-year-old convicted hit man John Martorano, who hardly batted an eyelash while establishing his creds by recounting all of his murders, spoke of how “It broke my heart” when he learned that Mr. Bulger had turned FBI informant. Defendant Bulger, for his part, apparently wants to “clear his name” by refuting changes that he ever betrayed his friends and business associates in this way.
And at the center of the controversy is a former FBI special agent named John Connolly who is currently serving time on both federal and state charges of racketeering and obstruction of justice.
Trust can be a funny thing.
If you look at this from a standpoint of corporate culture, you start to see it from Mr. Martorano’s point of view. For nearly three decades he worked for Whitey Bulger, killing people as business dictated. That was his job description, just as it was Whitey’s to order those hits as necessary. Martorano, colloquially known as “The Executioner,” didn’t spill his own guts until he thought Whitey had gone over to the Feds to protect his own skin.
Special Agent John Connolly had grown up in Whitey’s old South Boston neighborhood. When the FBI assigns new agents to the field, it purposely directs them away from their old haunts to neutralize any possible influence or non-FBI ties they may have. But as Connolly’s career developed, he began concentrating on organized crime and got to be an important player. He claimed to have developed his old chum Bulger as a source, and the Bureau bought into it. He had a bunch of commendations by the time he retired.
Now, where it gets sticky is that while the FBI perceived that Connolly was getting information from Bulger, he was playing both sides of the street and feeding information to Whitey that allowed him to stay one step ahead of the law. Connolly claims he was doing good and just playing the role he had to to keep up his appearances with the mob.
One of the reasons the Bureau doesn’t like to keep agents undercover for too long – Joe “Donnie Brasco” Pistone notwithstanding – is that they can start to think like the guys they are infiltrating. It’s not that they go over to the dark side so much as that in the netherworld between the two organizations, they may feel they can embrace the other side’s techniques and culture to further their objectives.
Things reached a boiling point when Connolly informed Bulger about an ongoing investigation. This tip-off led to a witness being killed and pretty soon Connolly’s jig was up. It came out at his trial that he had accepted bribes from Bulger. Connolly might have believed it was okay since he was dealing with the mob on its own terms.
That part is okay with Whitey. The notion that Connolly actually got him to betray his own organization – not so much.
So is it true that there is no honor among thieves? Judge for yourself.
I thought he was dead?
The word honor is one that thieves have no knowledge of. Do they work together though? Absolutely, and they work together better than we do in the law enforcement business. The only thing they are concerned with is money, this man was able to corrupt FBI agents which have cast a shadow over the Bureau that does not end there. When he was located and extradited to Boston he stood trial for 16 counts of predicate murder, the United States Attorney; Carmen Ortiz dismissed them!
The point is simple Mr. Douglas, why did we bother finding him if it were just to dismiss all charges? Why doe the FBI assume he has only committed murders in Boston? That was why he was laughing, the FBI know so little about the extent of this mans contacts and crime it was amusing to him. I hope it is amusing to see his entire organization fall to pieces because of our hard work. And it was hard work finding him, it was not due to a media blitz as the FBI suggests but due to a intense investigation they only saw a fraction of, is there honor among law enforcement? You had a great deal of integrity Mr. Douglas but the FBI today cast doubt on the future of the worlds best law enforcement agency and that is because they do not seem to care about victims, researchers or justice. That breaks my heart, who gives a damn what breaks a hit man’s heart, as if the murdering son of a bitch had one to begin with. They said this man was dead, is he not? They protect murderers and rapist with their pride and false compassion. I am so tired of hearing, “It will jeopardize the investigation.” Where is the FOIA? I keep doing the right thing though because it is Gods law they are violating and one day these serial killers will be gone, that’s what Bulger is a serial killer, two in fact rolled up in one man. He shot those kids at Lake Herman Road, did you know that is how I found him? Yea, it gets deeper John Douglas but I figure I will have my chance to be an agent so that two million they had on his head they can give to the Harrington family. All I want is a job doing what I am good at, mapping the criminal mind.