Print
Dec 3, 2008 9:51 pm US/Eastern
Report: Whitey Bulger Considered Surrendering
By Reporter Jim Smith
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
-
-
This picture of Bulger was taken in the 1980s.
WBZ
-
-
John Connolly is convicted of second-degree murder on Nov. 6, 2008.
WBZ
Whitey Bulger, one of the
most wanted criminals in the world, may have had plans to turn himself in –- that according to imprisoned
former FBI agent and convict John Connally.
Connally told the
Boston Globe in a jailhouse interview that Bulger called him about surrendering after the mobster fled from Boston in 1995.
Connolly told the Globe reporter he spoke with Whitey Bulger by phone on two different occasions, shortly after Bulger went on the run.
If it's true, it's another explosive chapter in the Boston mob saga.
Connolly is currently sitting in a jail cell awaiting his sentencing on a murder conviction and a sentencing set for Thursday.
He didn't testify at his trial but he's speaking out now.
Connolly said he got two pre-arranged phone calls from Bulger sometime between 1995 and 1996.
He said he answered both of the calls at a public phone near the Prudential Center.
Connolly said this about the Bulger calls, "He was thinking of giving himself up. He was serious about it."
Bulger wanted assurances that both he and accomplice
Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi would be freed on bail during any trial. Connolly says he told Bulger that would be difficult to arrange.
Connolly also said Bulger was outraged that he was indicted on gambling and loanshark charges because Bulger felt that the FBI authorized him to commit those crimes in return for information about the mafia.
The fugitive crime boss also reportedly asked Connolly for the names of some lawyers, which Connolly supplied.
That was their last conversation. Connolly said Bulger told him "good luck." Connolly replied "good luck to you."
The surrender never came, and Bulger to this day remains on the loose.
Connolly told the Globe he didn't know where Bulger was when he took the calls. He said he knew it was a pay phone because he could hear Bulger putting coins in the phone several times.
Connolly was convicted of murder for giving Bulger information that led to the execution of Boston businessman John Callahan.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
