Sep 17, 2008 6:36 pm US/Eastern
Bulger Hit Man Testifies In Trial Of Ex-FBI Agent
MIAMI (WBZ) ―
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Hitman John Martorano testifies that he killed John Callahan after former FBI agent John Connolly provided information to the Boston Winter Hill Gang that Callahan was providing information to the FBI.
WBZ
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John Connolly in a Miami courtroom Sept. 8
WBZ
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1994 photos of Whitey Bulger.
FBI/Getty Images
A former hit man for
James "Whitey" Bulger took the witness stand Wednesday in the trial of a former Boston FBI agent accused of murder.
John Martorano told the court in a soft voice how he killed John Callahan in Miami in 1982.
Martorano testified about how former agent
John Connolly provided information leading to Callahan's murder. Martorano, who has confessed to 20 murders, has already pleaded guilty to shooting Callahan, who was the president of World Jai-Alai. Martorano said leaders of Boston's Winter Hill Gang got protection and tips from Connolly, whom they often referred to as "Zip."
Martarano said one of those insider tips was that Callahan was going to the FBI with information about an earlier hit on Oklahoma businessman Roger Wheeler.
"Callahan had gone to the FBI," Martorano testified Wednesday.
"What did you do?" prosecutors asked him.
"I shot him," Martorano answered.
Connolly, 68, is on trial for Callahan's 1982 murder and has pleaded not guilty. He faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder and murder conspiracy charges.
Callahan's body was found stuffed in the trunk of a car at Miami International Airport.
"I believed I was protecting myself, Whitey Bulger, Steve Flemmi and Connolly," Martorano said.
During the 1970s and 1980s Bulger and his right-hand man, Stephen Flemmi, would often hire Martorano to kill people for them.
"They'd want to kill a guy, and I'd just kill the guy for them," Martorano said.
Flemmi is also expected to testify against Connolly.
Martorano served 14 years in prison after agreeing to cooperate in the Connolly case.
Martarano said a plea agreement with federal prosecutors requires him to testify truthfully against Connolly, and that if he lied he would be sent back to prison.
Former FBI agent Connolly was the handler of high-level Boston gangsters who were government informants. Connolly is already serving a 10-year prison term for a federal racketeering conviction for also protecting members of Bulger's Winter Hill Gang.
Bulger, now 79, is a fugitive on the FBI's "
Ten Most Wanted" list. He fled after being tipped in 1995 about an impending federal racketeering indictment. Others will testify that it was Bulger who told them about Connolly providing information leading to Callahan's murder.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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