By Shelley Murphy, Milton J. Valencia and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff
James "Whitey" Bulger was "one of the most vicious, violent criminals ever to walk the streets of Boston'' and he was no Robin Hood, despite the myth that he kept drugs off the streets of South Boston, a federal prosecutor said during his closing argument today at the notorious gangster's federal trial.
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 summarized 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."
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 Jr., 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."
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.
Wyshak also attacked one of the myths that surrounded Bulger during his years as the leader of the Winter Hill Gang and as one of the best-known criminals in his South Boston neighborhood: the notion that Bulger was a criminal, but not a drug dealer.
"This is not about a Robin Hood story about a man who keeps angel dust and heroin out of South Boston," Wyshak said. He said the reality instead was that South Boston was flooded with drugs, with Bulger's explicit approval and direct involvement.
Wyshak also reminded jurors that Connolly was close to Bulger's brother, William, the former Senate president and president of the University of Massachusetts system. William Bulger, the prosecutor said, was Connolly's advocate when Connolly sought to be picked as Boston police commissioner.
William Bulger was not in the courtroom today, although two of his adult children were on hand, sitting next to their uncle, John "Jackie" Bulger, who was convicted of twice lying to federal grand juries and who helped create fake identity cards for Whitey while he was on the run.
Connolly tipped Bulger off that he was about to be indicted, and Bulger ran from Boston, eventually spending 16 years on the run before he was tracked down in 2011 to Santa Monica, Calif. where he was living in a rent-controlled apartment with girlfriend, Catherine Greig.
Wyshak told jurors that Bulger was long protected by corrupt elements of the FBI, but that federal law enforcement had shifted gears and was ready to prosecute him until he went on the run. The result of that action by Bulger, Wyshack said, was that jurors heard during the trial about crimes that happened 20 or more years go.
"We are here in 2013 because that man ran away,'' said Wyshak, pointing directly at Bulger.
He urged jurors to accept the testimony of government, even though decades have passed since what they witnessed took place. Those moments were seared into their memories by the intensity of the event, he said, just as a fan would remember for years watching Red Sox player Dustin Pedroia hitting a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning.
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."
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."
"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.
Bulger has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is being held without bail.
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. 
NST Online Business Times : latest
