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Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Mob killer to testify against ex-FBI man
Prosecutor says Connolly suggested hit
By Curt Anderson THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Former FBI agent John Connolly during a court hearing Sept. 4.
MIAMI- Former FBI agent John Connolly made a corrupt career out of protecting Boston mobsters, including passing along critical information leading to the 1982 slaying of a gambling executive, a prosecutor said as Connolly's murder trial opened yesterday.
A hit man for Boston's notorious Winter Hill Gang pulled the trigger that killed John Callahan, but Connolly was equally responsible, prosecutor Fred Wyshak told a jury.
"He gave sensitive information to gangsters, who used that information to protect themselves. And (they) used that information to kill people. One of those people was John Callahan," Wyshak said.
Callahan was a 45-year-old former president of Miami-based World Jai-Alai. His body was found Aug. 2, 1982, in the trunk of his silver Cadillac, parked at Miami International Airport. Admitted hit man John Martorano has pleaded guilty to shooting Callahan and will testify about Connolly's role in the killing, Wyshak said.
Connolly, 68, faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder and murder conspiracy charges. The trial is likely to last two months.
Callahan was murdered, Wyshak said, because Winter Hill Gang leaders James "******" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi feared he would tell authorities they were behind the 1981 killing of Tulsa, Okla., businessman Roger Wheeler in a dispute over the jai-alai business. Martorano also has confessed to shooting Wheeler.
Defense lawyer Manuel Casabielle said the links are flimsy between Connolly and Callahan, a man he called "a brilliant accountant by day, a gangster wannabe by night." Bulger and his cohorts knew Callahan might talk, Casabielle said, and they made it a practice not to discuss killings with Connolly.
"They never, ever spoke of murder to any law enforcement officer in general, or Mr. Connolly in particular," he said.
Connolly is serving a 10-year sentence for a 2002 federal racketeering conviction stemming from his long association with Bulger, Flemmi and other mobsters. Both men were FBI informants about rival Italian Mafia organizations in Boston with Connolly as their handler - and Connolly was convicted of protecting them in turn.
When he learned that Callahan was the target of investigators looking into the Wheeler murder, Connolly told his gangster friends that he had to be eliminated, Wyshak said.
Connolly said of Callahan, " 'This guy is weak. He's not going to stand up,' " the prosecutor said. He said Martorano was chosen to kill Callahan because the two were close friends and he reluctantly agreed.
Numerous FBI agents who knew and worked with Connolly are expected to testify, along with Flemmi, Martorano and other Boston gangsters.
This should be an interesting trial.
Mob killer to testify against ex-FBI man
Prosecutor says Connolly suggested hit
By Curt Anderson THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former FBI agent John Connolly during a court hearing Sept. 4.
MIAMI- Former FBI agent John Connolly made a corrupt career out of protecting Boston mobsters, including passing along critical information leading to the 1982 slaying of a gambling executive, a prosecutor said as Connolly's murder trial opened yesterday.
A hit man for Boston's notorious Winter Hill Gang pulled the trigger that killed John Callahan, but Connolly was equally responsible, prosecutor Fred Wyshak told a jury.
"He gave sensitive information to gangsters, who used that information to protect themselves. And (they) used that information to kill people. One of those people was John Callahan," Wyshak said.
Callahan was a 45-year-old former president of Miami-based World Jai-Alai. His body was found Aug. 2, 1982, in the trunk of his silver Cadillac, parked at Miami International Airport. Admitted hit man John Martorano has pleaded guilty to shooting Callahan and will testify about Connolly's role in the killing, Wyshak said.
Connolly, 68, faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder and murder conspiracy charges. The trial is likely to last two months.
Callahan was murdered, Wyshak said, because Winter Hill Gang leaders James "******" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi feared he would tell authorities they were behind the 1981 killing of Tulsa, Okla., businessman Roger Wheeler in a dispute over the jai-alai business. Martorano also has confessed to shooting Wheeler.
Defense lawyer Manuel Casabielle said the links are flimsy between Connolly and Callahan, a man he called "a brilliant accountant by day, a gangster wannabe by night." Bulger and his cohorts knew Callahan might talk, Casabielle said, and they made it a practice not to discuss killings with Connolly.
"They never, ever spoke of murder to any law enforcement officer in general, or Mr. Connolly in particular," he said.
Connolly is serving a 10-year sentence for a 2002 federal racketeering conviction stemming from his long association with Bulger, Flemmi and other mobsters. Both men were FBI informants about rival Italian Mafia organizations in Boston with Connolly as their handler - and Connolly was convicted of protecting them in turn.
When he learned that Callahan was the target of investigators looking into the Wheeler murder, Connolly told his gangster friends that he had to be eliminated, Wyshak said.
Connolly said of Callahan, " 'This guy is weak. He's not going to stand up,' " the prosecutor said. He said Martorano was chosen to kill Callahan because the two were close friends and he reluctantly agreed.
Numerous FBI agents who knew and worked with Connolly are expected to testify, along with Flemmi, Martorano and other Boston gangsters.
This should be an interesting trial.
