Whitey Bulger partner, Stephen ‘The Rifleman' Flemmi takes a dig at Bulger's informant status

By Shelley Murphy, Milton J. Valencia and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, a former partner of notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, took a dig at Bulger’s service as an FBI informant today during Flemmis’ cross-examination in Bulger’s trial in federal court in Boston.

Asked if he liked being called a “rat,” Flemmi said, “I don’t think anyone likes it. I don’t think Mr. Bulger likes it, either.” Bulger whipped his head up and looked at Flemmi.

Defense attorney Hank Brennan then commented that a “rat is something that scurries into corners and feeds on others.” The judge sustained a prosecution objection to that comment.

Bulger, 83, is charged in a sweeping federal racketeering indictment with participating in 19 murders, extortion, money laundering, and stockpiling guns in the 1970s and 1980s. Prosecutors say he got away with his crimes for so long because he was protected by corrupt FBI handlers.

Flemmi has testified about his own relationship with corrupt agents. But Bulger has said that the allegations he most wants to refute are that he killed two young women and was an FBI informant, despite his voluminous FBI informant file.

Brennan pursued a line of questioning that appeared intended to cast doubt on whether Bulger was an informant, even though Bulger does not face a charge of being an informant and it isn’t clear how proving that bolsters his defense to the other charges.

Brennan tried to establish that Flemmi had his own relationship with the FBI and wasn’t part of an informant team with Bulger, but Flemmi insisted they were.

Bulger’s trial hit another low Tuesday when Flemmi called Bulger a pedophile, saying that as middle-aged men, they both had sexual encounters with teenaged girls.

“You want to talk about pedophilia, right over there at that table,” Flemmi snarled, angrily pointing at Bulger.

Bulger’s case has inspired books, movies, and TV shows. The tale has fascinated people because of his 16-year run from a worldwide manhunt, the revelations of FBI corruption, and the parallel rise of his brother William to become one of the most powerful politicians in the state.