James “Whitey†Bulger was “one of the most vicious, violent criminals ever to walk the streets of Boston,’’ a federal prosecutor said this morning as closing arguments got underway in the racketeering and murder trial of the notorious South Boston gangster.
Whitey Bulger’s booking photo after his 2011 arrest
Speaking in US District Court, where the trial began in mid-June, Assistant US Attorney Fred Wyshak is summarizing the evidence that prosecutors say proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Bulger was a fearsome gang leader who rampaged through Boston’s underworld in the 1970s and 1980s and was involved in 19 murders.
“We’ve been here for two months, and we’re near the end,†Wyshak told the jurors as US District Court Judge Denise J. Casper looked on. “There’s no doubt that the evidence you heard in this case is deeply disturbing.â€
Wyshak reminded jurors that key evidence against Bulger came from his former allies, especially confessed hitman John Martorano and Bulger’s one-time partner, Stephen “The Rifleman†Flemmi, both of whom implicated Bulger in murder, extortion, and other violent crimes.
Flemmi, Wyshak noted, was an informant for the FBI — just as Bulger was. Wyshak also said that because of Bulger’s connection to corrupt FBI agent John Connolly, Bulger’s FBI handler, at least four people lost their lives.
“It does not matter that Mr. Bulger was an FBI informant when he put the gun to Arthur Barrett’s head and pulled the trigger,’’ Wyshak said. “Whether he was an informant or not, he’s guilty of murder.â€
Barrett was murdered in July 1983. Bulger allegedly killed him because he and his gang wanted money Barrett had stolen during a 1980 Medford bank heist.
The closings come after Bulger rose to his feet Friday and told Casper that he would not take the stand in his own defense, bringing an anticlimactic end to a trial that had lasted for seven weeks. Bulger, who had repeatedly vowed to testify since his capture in California two years ago, instead complained he was not given a fair trial.
“As far as I’m concerned, I didn’t get a fair trial, and this is a sham,†Bulger told Casper with jurors out of the courtroom. “Do what youse want with me. That’s my final word.â€
The suspense had been building as defense lawyers waited until the last of 72 witnesses had testified, on the last day of 35 days of testimony, to announce that Bulger would not testify.
While the jury remained outside the courtroom, Casper asked Bulger if he had made his decision “voluntarily and freely.â€
“I’m making the choice involuntarily,†Bulger said in a clear, calm voice as he stood before the judge, dressed in a long-sleeved navy shirt and jeans.
“I feel that I’ve been choked off from having an opportunity to give an adequate defense and explain about my conversation and agreement with [former federal prosecutor] Jeremiah O’Sullivan.
“For my protection of his life, in return, he promised to give me immunity,†Bulger said.
Bulger’s lawyers contended that O’Sullivan, the former head of the New England Organized Crime Strike Force, offered Bulger immunity decades ago.
But Casper barred the immunity defense, ruling that Bulger had offered no documentation to support his assertion and that even if O’Sullivan had made such a promise, he had no authority to do so. O’Sullivan died in 2009.
In past interviews with the Globe, Connolly credited Bulger with warning him that local Mafia members were stalking O’Sullivan in the 1980s and knew the route he walked from work to the commuter train. Connolly said he passed that information to O’Sullivan.
Bulger faces a sweeping federal racketeering indictment that, in addition to the murders, charges him with extortion, money laundering, and possession of illegal weapons. Prosecutors have portrayed him as a long-time, prized FBI informant who killed several people after being warned by a corrupt FBI agent that they were cooperating against him.
His notoriety grew when he eluded a worldwide manhunt for 16 years until his capture in seaside Santa Monica, Calif., in 2011. Revelations of FBI corruption and his brother William’s parallel rise in the political world stoked further interest in the case and inspired numerous books, TV shows, and movies.
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. John R. Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @JREbosglobe.
