James “Whitey†Bulger today offered to hand over the $822,000 in cash found inside the walls of his California apartment, provided that the cash will be handed over to relatives of two men he is accused of murdering while he was an FBI informant.
The unusual offer was made by defense attorney J.W. Carney Jr. today as the gangster faced a deadline for deciding whether he will take the stand in his racketeering and murder trial that is nearing its end in US District Court in Boston.
Bulger has to decide by today whether testify.
Bulger is accused of participating in 19 murders, but Carney said Bulger wants the money to go to the relatives of Michael Donahue and Brian Halloran, who were allegedly murdered by Bulger himself n May 11, 1982.
According to trial testimony, Bulger had been tipped that Halloran was cooperating with the FBI against him; Donahue was an innocent who offered to give Halloran a ride home.
Both families sued the FBI for its corrupt relationship with Bulger, but the federal courts reluctantly threw out the cases on grounds they were filed beyond the statute of limitations, an argument aggressively pushed by the Justice Department.
Tom Donahue, whose father was murdered, said he was “overwhelmed†by Bulger’s bid to give his family the money. “I wasn’t expecting that.’’
The Donahues hope Bulger takes the stand and identifies who was with him when he allegedly killed Michael Donahue.
The cash was found hidden inside the walls of the Santa Monica, Calif., apartment where Bulger was living with his girlfriend, Catherine Greig, when he was finally captured on June 22, 2011. The capture ended an international manhunt for Bulger, who had been on the run for more than 16 years.
US District Court Judge Denise J. Casper on Thursday told Bulger’s lawyers that she will not wait beyond today for Bulger’s decision, and noted that she allowed the defense to file a series of photos showing Bulger over his lifetime in anticipation of Bulger taking the stand.
Earlier this year, Carney vowed that Bulger would take the stand. But, Casper has ruled that he cannot raise an immunity defense on the stand, and that may influence his decision.
Bulger’s defense team had sought to ask jurors to consider his contention that the federal government granted him immunity for all of his crimes, including murder.
The question of whether Bulger will testify is the last major issue in the trial, which has so far included 71 witnesses and 34 days of testimony.
The possibility that Bulger will finally speak has produced a surge in the number of people trying to get a seat in the overflow courtrooms where the trial is being broadcast on a closed-circuit television.
Also today, two of former state Senate President William Bulger’s children, William Jr. and Sarah, are in the courtroom in the space reserved for Bulger’s relatives. They exchanged greetings as the 83-year-old gangster came into the courtroom.
Bulger, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, is accused in a sweeping racketeering indictment with participating in 19 murders. Bulger’s lawyers have sought to prove that he was never an FBI informant and that he did not kill women, specifically not the two women who are listed among his alleged victims, Debra Davis and Deborah Hussey.
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.
