Kevin Weeks, the loyal tough guy whom James “Whitey†Bulger groomed as his successor, told jurors in US District Court Boston this morning that he developed a friendship with the gangster while working as a bouncer at a South Boston bar, Triple O’s, that Bulger frequented.
Eventually Weeks began working for Bulger full time, driving him around, running errands.
“Sometimes I’d beat somebody up,†he said.
He also said Bulger and his partner in crime, Stephen “The Rifleman†Flemmi, would often walk around parks in South Boston so they could speak freely without concern they were being recorded.
Prosecutors used Weeks to introduce photos of Bulger as evidence in court Monday.
Follow Globe coverage of the Bulger trial on boston.com’s live blog.
Weeks is one of the government’s key witnesses. He was one of Bulger’s closest associates for several decades. He started working with Bulger as an enforcer in the late 1970s and by the early 1980s was by his side during most of their criminal exploits.
After Bulger fled in 1995, Weeks was indicted for racketeering in 1999 and faced life in prison. After learning that Bulger was an FBI informant, he agreed to cooperate and led investigators to secret graves across Boston where authorities recovered remains of eight alleged Bulger victims.
Weeks is the one who led investigators to an unmarked grave in January 2000 across from Florian Hall in Dorchester and found the remains of three alleged victims of Bulger: Deborah Hussey, Arthur “Bucky†Barrett, and John McIntyre.
He admitted to being an accessory to five murders and served five years in prison.
Bulger has denied killing Hussey and another woman, Debra Davis, who are among the 19 people he is accused of slaying.
But Weeks has testified in previous court proceedings that he was present in January 1985 when Bulger strangled Hussey inside a South Boston home.
Weeks wrote an autobiography titled “Brutal: The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger’s Irish Mob.’’
Weeks also co-wrote a book titled, “Where’s Whitey?†released in 2010.
He testified Monday that he agreed to sell his story as part of an agreement he reached in US bankruptcy court, with proceeds going to some of Bulger’s victims.
Bulger has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is being held without bail. Through his attorneys, Bulger has insisted he was never an informant for the FBI.
Shelley Murphy can be reached at shmurphy@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @shelleymurph. Milton J. Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @miltonvalencia.
