By Richard Valdmanis
BOSTON (Reuters) - Accused Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger and one of his associates shot dead a bar owner in a phone booth for bragging about helping the "Winter Hill Gang" with another killing, an ex-convict and confessed murderer testified on Tuesday.
John Martorano, who previously described Bulger as a "partner in crime," is the first of the accused mob gang leader's top associates to take the stand in what is expected to be a three- to four-month trial in U.S. District Court in Boston.
"They took him out in the phone booth," Martorano said of the 1975 killing of Dorchester bar owner Edward Connors. "I heard the shots. They came back and said, 'He's gone.'"
Bulger is accused of committing or ordering 19 murders while running Boston's Winter Hill Gang in the 1970s and '80s. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
His rise from small-time crook in a gritty Boston neighborhood to one of the most feared criminals in the city's history - who then disappeared and spent 16 years in hiding before his arrest in 2011 - has captivated the city for years.
Martorano, who served 12 years in prison after confessing to 20 murders, told the jury he had been close friends with Bulger and other members of the gang, even naming his youngest son after Bulger and another associate.
He said on Tuesday that Bulger and his partner Stephen Flemmi killed Connors after tracking his location to a telephone booth during an arranged call.
He also testified to committing murders with Bulger in which Martorano was the gunman and Bulger drove a support vehicle as they eliminated rivals during Bulger's rise to power.
He said Bulger ordered the 1975 killing of Tommy King, a Winter Hill Gang associate who Bulger feared was talking too much.
SHOT IN THE HEAD
Martorano said Bulger devised a plan to lure King into a car by telling him he needed to take part in a separate killing. He said Bulger handed King a gun loaded with blanks and gave Martorano a gun with live bullets.
"Pretty much after we pulled out, I shot Tommy. Where did I shoot him? In the head," Martorano said.
Bulger's story, which inspired the 2006 Academy Award-winning movie "The Departed," stands as a black mark on the history of Boston law enforcement.
Prosecutors contend Bulger cooperated with a corrupt FBI agent, John Connolly, who took information on rival gangs but turned a blind eye to Bulger's crimes.
Bulger, 83, denies ever serving as an FBI informant. In opening statements, his attorneys said their client paid Connolly for information but offered none of his own.
Martorano said Bulger and Connolly, who both grew up in Boston's "Southie" neighborhood, first got in contact after Connolly met with Whitey Bulger's brother, William, a powerful Massachusetts politician who became speaker of the state senate.
The outcome of that meeting was a request from William Bulger, Martorano said: "If you can keep my brother out of trouble, that would be helpful to him."
After his first meeting with Connolly, "Whitey" Bulger told his gang mates that the two would have a productive relationship.
"He said that the guy wanted to help him," Martorano said, adding that cooperation could help "keep the notoriety off Billy."
(Reporting by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Scott Malone and Douglas Royalty)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/whitey-bulger-jury-hear-accuseds-partner-crime-090630450.html
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