James “Whitey” Bulger’s 1959 Alcatraz mug shot. Photo courtesy
When the notorious James “Whitey” Bulger went on trial in 2013 on charges that included racketeering, extortion, and murder, the organized crime boss owned up to many of those actions. What Bulger emphatically denied, however, was cooperating with the FBI as an informant.
Former Boston Globe investigative reporter Dick Lehr says that although Bulger fed information to the FBI over many years, the criminal figure insisted he was a “consultant” or “a liaison.”
“In his universe, in his world, some of the crimes he owned up to are badges of honor,” Lehr tells Steve Fast, “But it’s the ultimate dishonor to be known as a rat or informant.”
Along with fellow Globe reporter Gerard O’Neill, Lehr wrote the book “Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, The FBI, and a Devil’s Deal,” detailing the relationship between Bulger’s Winter Hill Gang and the Boston office of the FBI.
Agent John Connolly recruited Bulger as an informant by offering protection for the crime boss. Over the course of the relationship, Lehr claims, Bulger manipulated his FBI contacts into becoming, effectively, an extension of his criminal gang.
“They were lawless,” Lehr says of the agents to enabled and protected the crime boss. Lehr notes that from the onset of the relationship the FBI aided and abetted Winter Hill Gang crimes. In seeking information about Italian gang activities John Connolly nearly immediately gave Bulger information that led to a series of crimes that would become known as the Tip Off Murders.
“The records now show that within a matter of months John Connolly information that became the first Tip Off Murder,” Lehr says. “It went bad real fast.”
“Black Mass” has been adapted into a feature film that stars Johnny Depp in the role of Whitey Bulger.
Listen to the interview: Dick Lehr on The Steve Fast Show
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