Stephen Flemmi
Encyclopedia
Stephen Joseph "The Rifleman" Flemmi (born June 9, 1935) is an Italian-American mobster and close associate of Winter Hill Gang
boss James J. Bulger
. Beginning in 1965, Flemmi was a top echelon informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI). Despite delivering a great deal of intelligence about the inner workings of the Patriarca crime family
, Flemmi's own criminal activities proved a public relations nightmare for the FBI. For this reason, he was prosecuted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
(RICO) and sentenced to a long term of incarceration.
Flemmi is a decorated veteran of the Korean War
.
immigrant Giovanni and Mary Irene Flemmi. He was raised in the Orchard Park tenement
located at 25 Ambrose Street in Roxbury, Massachusetts
. His father was a bricklayer
and veteran of the Royal Italian Army
during World War I
, and his mother, who never lost her thick Italian accent, was a full-time homemaker.
Flemmi is described by his former mistress Marilyn DeSilva as mild mannered and personable. He was a childhood friend and mentor of Richard J. Schneiderhan
, who later became a Lieutenant in the Massachusetts State Police
.
Flemmi was raised while a child as a Roman Catholic, but unofficially converted to Jehovah's Witness while incarcerated in 1981.
. He also served as a paratrooper
during the Korean War
and was honorably discharged in 1955. He was highly decorated, being awarded the Silver Star
and Bronze Star
for rescuing his fellow soldier James W. Lang in a battle with the Chinese Communist Army. He renewed his friendship with Lang after meeting him 35 years later at a veteran's reunion in Norfolk, Virginia
.
At his friend's urging, Flemmi joined the International Association of Airborne Veterans (IAAV) and traveled the world jumping out of planes with active paratroopers in South Africa
, East Germany and Thailand
. While a IAAV member, he fraternized with military generals, sending them small gifts after returning to Boston. In 1993, he donated $3,000 to a Korean War memorial in Charlestown, Massachusetts
, where his name is inscribed on a granite bench reading, "In memory of the paratroopers who made the supreme sacrifice on the battlefields of Korea."
In later years, Flemmi was dubbed "The Rifleman" by the Boston media for the sharpshooting skills he had demonstrated in combat.
joined the crew of Portuguese-American mobster Joe Barboza
. Barboza had close ties to both the Patriarca crime family
of Providence, Rhode Island
and the Irish-American Winter Hill Gang
of Somerville, Massachusetts
.
In the early 1960s, a gangland war broke out on the streets of Boston after George McLaughlin, the younger brother of the Charlestown Mob
's boss, groped the girlfriend of a ranking Winter Hill member. In retaliation, McLaughlin was severely beaten and left for dead. Enraged, his brother demanded that Winter Hill boss James "Buddy" McLean sanction the murders of the men responsible. McLean refused, saying that McLaughlin's actions were "out of line". Enraged, the McLaughlins later attempted to wire a bomb under his car and were disrupted by McLean. More than 40 murders throughout the Boston area are believed to be linked to the resulting clash.
During the course of the war, the Barboza crew allied itself with Winter Hill and assisted in several contract killings.
In 1965, Flemmi was secretly recruited as a confidential informant by FBI Agent H. Paul Rico
, giving the agency inside information about Boston's gangland. However, Flemmi allegedly used his informant status to get important members of the rival Charlestown Mob arrested and to protect his allies.
In 1967, after Barboza became a cooperating witness and disappeared into the fledgling Witness Protection Program, Flemmi and his partner Frank Salemme
arranged the car bombing of Barboza's lawyer, John Fitzgerald, who was suspected of persuading his client to testify. Fitzgerald was severely injured, but survived.
In response, Flemmi and Salemme fled Boston. After Salemme was arrested in New York City
in 1972, Flemmi fled to Montreal
, Quebec
.
In May 1974, Rico told Flemmi it was safe to return to Boston, which he did once the charges against him were dismissed. He moved back with his mistress, Marion Hussey, in suburban Milton, Massachusetts
.
. After Killeen was murdered by an enforcer for the Mullen Gang
, Winter Hill Gang boss Howie Winter
mediated the dispute between Bulger and the remaining Killeens and the Mullens, who were led by Patrick Nee
. Winter soon chose Bulger as his man in South Boston. Shortly afterward, Bulger became partners with Flemmi.
At this time, the Boston FBI office tried to convince Bulger to become an informant, but he refused.
Disgraced former FBI agent John Connolly (FBI)
, who grew up with Bulger in South Boston, always claimed that he reached an agreement with Bulger during a late night meeting inside an unmarked car. According to Flemmi, Bulger became an informant on his own and quickly learned of his partner's secret.
Bulger allegedly told Flemmi that he knew his secret. Flemmi has insisted that he did not know at the time that Bulger was also an informant. Weeks, however, insists that Flemmi's story is untrue. He considers it too much of a coincidence that Bulger became an informant a year after becoming Flemmi's partner. He has written of his belief that Flemmi had probably helped to build a Federal case against him. Weeks has said that Bulger was likely forced to choose between supplying information to the FBI or returning to prison.
However, Flemmi and Bulger were quickly able to turn their informant status to their own advantage. John Connolly, who had been assigned to keep an eye on them, soon came to look up to Bulger and viewed him like an older brother. Federal prosecutors have since stated that Connolly became a member of the Winter Hill Gang, allegedly supplying them with the names of informants and funneling bribes to at least one fellow agent.
In 1979, the U.S. Attorney indicted the leadership of the Winter Hill Gang, including boss Howie Winter
, on extortion
, gambling, and racketeering charges. Flemmi and Bulger were both listed as unindicted co-defendants. John Connelly
had convinced prosecutors that his two informants were too valuable to prosecute. At that time, Irish-American gangsters were not the FBI's main concern; they wanted to destroy the Patriarca crime family
. Then, as now, arrests and trials of Italian-American mobsters garnered far more of the publicity on which the FBI's funding depends. After the conviction of Winter and his associates, the leadership of the Winter Hill Gang devolved on Bulger, who chose Flemmi as his lieutenant. The pair moved the gang's headquarters to the Lancaster Street Garage in Boston's West End.
, the Patriarca crime family's underboss
in Boston, he rarely spoke to the Italians personally, usually using Flemmi as a go-between. Through Vincent, he had become acquainted with his brother's handler H. Paul Rico, and as Vincent succumbed to heroin addiction in the late 1960s, Rico increasingly sought Stephen out for reliable information.
Flemmi was offered the privilege of becoming a made man
, as was Johnny Martorano
, another Winter Hill Gang member. However, Flemmi declined the offer from Angiulo and Ilario Zannino
and stayed with the Winter Hill Gang.
At one point, Bulger and Flemmi took out a $200,000 loan from Angiulo. When Angiulo asked them about repayment, Bulger and Flemmi stalled him. Angiulo was infuriated and a serious gang war appeared imminent. However, Flemmi had already been describing the layout of the Angiulo's headquarters, which was inside a Prince Street tenement in the North End, Boston. In 1986, the FBI planted a bug in the building.
. McIntyre had informed on the Valhalla arms trafficking deal between the Winter Hill Gang and the Provos. Like Barret, McIntyre was lured to the house and killed in the basement. Bulger shot McIntyre in the back of the head with a .22 caliber rifle, killing him instantly. Weeks and Flemmi buried McIntyre's remains just like they had done with Barret.
by a gang of African-Americans, and a photo of her sitting outside her car, on the pavement dazed and bloody, had appeared on the regional Associated Press
wire. This infuriated Flemmi, who remained close to his ailing mother over the years. He felt the need to locate his parents to a nice, low crime neighborhood. After consulting Bulger, he was told that 832 East Third Street, next door to Bulger's brother William, happened to be up for sale. Flemmi's parents' house eventually became a place for him to meet with Bulger, Connolly, and Rico.
In the 1950s, Flemmi was married to an Irish-American woman named Jeanette, from whom he later became estranged. By 1980, he planned to divorce Jeanette to marry his longtime mistress, Marilyn DeSilva, but it is unknown whether he ever followed through with the legal actions. Throughout his life, Flemmi was engaged in clandestine affairs with several other women, including sisters Debra and Michelle Davis and Deborah Hussey.
After his return to Boston, Flemmi began a common law marriage with Marion Hussey, a Boston divorcee with several children. With Marion he fathered two children, Stephen and Robert Hussey, and two daughters. He also became the stepfather of two daughters including Debra, from a previous marriage. He bought Deborah Hussey a Jaguar when she turned sixteen, and later he set her up in an apartment in the Back Bay, even as he continued living with her mother in Milton. By the age of seventeen, his stepdaughter had dropped out of high school and gone from working as a waitress in Dorchester to working as a stripper
and occasional prostitute in Boston's Combat Zone
.
It is thought that Flemmi, Bulger, and Weeks lured her to the house at 799 East Third Street in South Boston and garrotted her. Her body was then buried in the basement. According to Kevin Weeks
,
In 1997, shortly after the Boston Globe disclosed that Bulger and Flemmi had been informants, former Bulger confidant Kevin Weeks met with Connolly, who showed him a photocopy of Bulger's FBI informant file. In order to explain Bulger and Flemmi's status as informants, Connolly said, "The Mafia
was going against Jimmy and Stevie, so Jimmy and Stevie went against them." According to Weeks,
and the FBI was due to make arrests during the Christmas season. In response, Bulger fled Boston on December 23, 1994, accompanied by his common law wife
, Catherine Greig.
According to Kevin Weeks,
Flemmi, however, chose to remain in Boston and was swiftly taken into custody and incarcerated at the Plymouth County
House of Correction. He believed he had protection, but not immunity.
With his lawyer, Flemmi planned to prove through the testimony of his self and others, that he had indeed had protection from the FBI, Judge Wolf would have no choice but to throw out the entire indictment. Stephens' problem was that he couldn't really come clean. Without immunity, he couldn't admit to killings he hadn't been charged with. And by the time Stephen took the stand, in August 1998, John Martorano had already started outlining the details of almost twenty murders he'd committed. Many of his murders had been done at the direction of Bulger and Stephen, who had paid him more than $1 million during his years as a wanted fugitive between 1978 and 1995. To many questions about the murders Flemmi was involved in, he pled the Fifth Amendment
.
In 1999 Mary Flemmi died, and two of Stephen's illegitimate sons, borne by Marion Hussey, decided to case the Winter Hill Gang's old headquarters on East Third Street. They discovered $500,000 in cash which they spent over a period of a six-month shopping spree, as one of them later testified. The families of John McIntyre, Debra Davis, Brian Halloran, and Wimpy and Walter Bennett
all filed civil suits against the U.S. Government, claiming that the FBI's protection of Bulger and Flemmi had resulted in the murders of their loved ones. In January 2003, Flemmi's brother Michael, then a retired Boston Police officer, pleaded guilty to selling a load of Stephen's stolen jewellery for $40,000.
The major witness against Flemmi was William St. Croix, formerly known as William Hussey, Stephen's illegitimate son born to his common-law wife Marion Hussey. St. Croix had turned against his father after learning that Flemmi and Bulger had strangled his half-sister, Deborah Hussey. In October 2003, Flemmi pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Boston to 10 counts of murder. He made the decision as a part of a deal to reduce the sentence for his brother Michael Flemmi, who is not scheduled to be released from prison until September 5, 2011.
In November, Flemmi's friend Frank Salemme
led police to the Hopkinton's Sportsmen's Club in Hopkinton, Massachusetts
, where he said he and Flemmi had buried the bodies of Wimpy and Walter Bennett
in 1967. After days of digging, the police abandoned the search, claiming that the topography of the area had been changed by the dumping of millions of tons of dirt from the Big Dig
, the $15 billion public works project in downtown Boston.
On the same day that Kevin O'Neil and Kevin Weeks were arrested in Boston, Flemmi pleaded guilty in Tulsa, Oklahoma
state court to the 1981 murder of business tycoon Roger Wheeler.
In April 2005, Flemmi was deposed in New York City
by a group of lawyers representing the families of his and Bulger's victims, who are currently suing the federal government. Among other things, he testified that he and Bulger had been paying off six FBI agents in the Boston office. Those who could be reached issued denials. Flemmi also named Patrick Nee
as the other gunman, along with Bulger, in the 1982 murders of informant Edward Brian Halloran and his friend Michael Donahue. Nee responded to The Boston Globe
by calling Flemmi a "punk" and saying that "He should do his time like the rest of us." He was also questioned at length about the 1985 murder of his stepdaughter, Deborah Hussey, but declined to comment from the advice of his lawyer.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons
, he is not in federal custody as of 2011 and his release date is unknown.
's chief enforcer and contract killer "Arnold French" portrayed by Ray Winstone
in the 2006 crime thriller The Departed
. The character reenacts the murder of his stepdaughter Deborah Hussey, although in the film the character based on Deborah Hussey is said to be his wife. It shows a brief scene where he garrotes his character wife, the same way he murdered his stepdaughter.
Winter Hill Gang
The Winter Hill Gang is a structured confederation of Boston, Massachusetts-area organized crime figures, predominantly Irish-American with a small Italian-American faction. It derives its name from the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts north of Boston. Its members have...
boss James J. Bulger
James J. Bulger
James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger, Jr. is a former organized crime figure from Boston, Massachusetts.Local folklore depicted Bulger as a Robin Hood-style social bandit dedicated to protecting the neighborhood and its residents. Bulger allegedly masterminded a protection racket targeting drug kingpins...
. Beginning in 1965, Flemmi was a top echelon informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI). Despite delivering a great deal of intelligence about the inner workings of the Patriarca crime family
Patriarca crime family
The Patriarca crime family, also known as the New England crime family and the Providence crime family, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in New England, specifically Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts, and is part of the Italian-American Mafia or "La Cosa Nostra"...
, Flemmi's own criminal activities proved a public relations nightmare for the FBI. For this reason, he was prosecuted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization...
(RICO) and sentenced to a long term of incarceration.
Flemmi is a decorated veteran of the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
.
Early years
Stephen Joseph Flemmi was the eldest of two brothers born to ItalianItalian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
immigrant Giovanni and Mary Irene Flemmi. He was raised in the Orchard Park tenement
Tenement
A tenement is, in most English-speaking areas, a substandard multi-family dwelling, usually old, occupied by the poor.-History:Originally the term tenement referred to tenancy and therefore to any rented accommodation...
located at 25 Ambrose Street in Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and became a city in 1846 until annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868...
. His father was a bricklayer
Bricklayer
A bricklayer or mason is a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The term also refers to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of masonry. In British and Australian English, a bricklayer is colloquially known as a "brickie".The training of a trade in...
and veteran of the Royal Italian Army
Royal Italian Army
The Regio Esercito was the army of the Kingdom of Italy from the unification of Italy in 1861 to the birth of the Italian Republic in 1946...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and his mother, who never lost her thick Italian accent, was a full-time homemaker.
Flemmi is described by his former mistress Marilyn DeSilva as mild mannered and personable. He was a childhood friend and mentor of Richard J. Schneiderhan
Richard J. Schneiderhan
Richard Joseph Schneiderhan is a former Massachusetts State Police Lieutenant in the Attorney General's Organized Crime Unit. He was convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice stemming from his relationship with gangster Stephen Flemmi and the Winter Hill Gang...
, who later became a Lieutenant in the Massachusetts State Police
Massachusetts State Police
The Massachusetts State Police is an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Executive Office of Public Safety and Security responsible for criminal law enforcement and traffic vehicle regulation across the state...
.
Flemmi was raised while a child as a Roman Catholic, but unofficially converted to Jehovah's Witness while incarcerated in 1981.
Korean War
Flemmi enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 17, and served two tours with the 187th Infantry Regiment187th Infantry Regiment
The 187th Infantry Regiment is a regiment of the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army.The regimental motto is the Latin "Ne Desit Virtus" . The nickname "The Rakkasans" is derived from the Japanese word for parachute. The name was given to the 187th during its tour in occupied Japan...
. He also served as a paratrooper
Paratrooper
Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...
during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and was honorably discharged in 1955. He was highly decorated, being awarded the Silver Star
Silver Star
The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
and Bronze Star
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
for rescuing his fellow soldier James W. Lang in a battle with the Chinese Communist Army. He renewed his friendship with Lang after meeting him 35 years later at a veteran's reunion in Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
.
At his friend's urging, Flemmi joined the International Association of Airborne Veterans (IAAV) and traveled the world jumping out of planes with active paratroopers in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, East Germany and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. While a IAAV member, he fraternized with military generals, sending them small gifts after returning to Boston. In 1993, he donated $3,000 to a Korean War memorial in Charlestown, Massachusetts
Charlestown, Massachusetts
Charlestown is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and is located on a peninsula north of downtown Boston. Charlestown was originally a separate town and the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; it became a city in 1847 and was annexed by Boston on January 5, 1874...
, where his name is inscribed on a granite bench reading, "In memory of the paratroopers who made the supreme sacrifice on the battlefields of Korea."
In later years, Flemmi was dubbed "The Rifleman" by the Boston media for the sharpshooting skills he had demonstrated in combat.
Criminal career
After the end of the Korean War, Flemmi and his brother VincentVincent Flemmi
Vincent James Flemmi , also known as "Jimmy The Bear," was an Italian-American mobster who freelanced for the Winter Hill Gang and the Patriarca crime family. He was also a longtime informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was also the brother of government informant Stephen...
joined the crew of Portuguese-American mobster Joe Barboza
Joe Barboza
Joseph "The Animal" Barboza was a Portuguese-American mafioso and one of the most feared mob hitmen during the 1960s...
. Barboza had close ties to both the Patriarca crime family
Patriarca crime family
The Patriarca crime family, also known as the New England crime family and the Providence crime family, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in New England, specifically Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts, and is part of the Italian-American Mafia or "La Cosa Nostra"...
of Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
and the Irish-American Winter Hill Gang
Winter Hill Gang
The Winter Hill Gang is a structured confederation of Boston, Massachusetts-area organized crime figures, predominantly Irish-American with a small Italian-American faction. It derives its name from the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts north of Boston. Its members have...
of Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...
.
In the early 1960s, a gangland war broke out on the streets of Boston after George McLaughlin, the younger brother of the Charlestown Mob
Charlestown Mob
The Charlestown Mob was an Irish Mob group in Charlestown, which figured prominently in the history of Boston for much of the 20th century....
's boss, groped the girlfriend of a ranking Winter Hill member. In retaliation, McLaughlin was severely beaten and left for dead. Enraged, his brother demanded that Winter Hill boss James "Buddy" McLean sanction the murders of the men responsible. McLean refused, saying that McLaughlin's actions were "out of line". Enraged, the McLaughlins later attempted to wire a bomb under his car and were disrupted by McLean. More than 40 murders throughout the Boston area are believed to be linked to the resulting clash.
During the course of the war, the Barboza crew allied itself with Winter Hill and assisted in several contract killings.
In 1965, Flemmi was secretly recruited as a confidential informant by FBI Agent H. Paul Rico
H. Paul Rico
Harold Paul Rico was an FBI agent. Indicted for murder in 2003, he played a significant role in the 1968 framing of four men for murder, unjustly imprisoning them for decades....
, giving the agency inside information about Boston's gangland. However, Flemmi allegedly used his informant status to get important members of the rival Charlestown Mob arrested and to protect his allies.
In 1967, after Barboza became a cooperating witness and disappeared into the fledgling Witness Protection Program, Flemmi and his partner Frank Salemme
Frank Salemme
Francis P. Salemme [Salemone], also known as "Cadillac Frank" and "Julian Daniel Selig" , is a Boston, Massachusetts mobster who became a hitman and eventually the boss of the Patriarca crime family of New England before turning government witness.-Early years:In 1957, while in prison, Salemme...
arranged the car bombing of Barboza's lawyer, John Fitzgerald, who was suspected of persuading his client to testify. Fitzgerald was severely injured, but survived.
In response, Flemmi and Salemme fled Boston. After Salemme was arrested in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1972, Flemmi fled to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
In May 1974, Rico told Flemmi it was safe to return to Boston, which he did once the charges against him were dismissed. He moved back with his mistress, Marion Hussey, in suburban Milton, Massachusetts
Milton, Massachusetts
Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 27,003 at the 2010 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and architect Buckminster Fuller. Milton also has the highest percentage of...
.
Relationship with James J. Bulger
In 1967, James J. "Whitey" Bulger was released from Federal prison after serving a nine-year sentence for robbing banks. After a few years of working as a janitor, he became an enforcer for South Boston mob boss Donald KilleenDonald Killeen
Donald Killeen was an Irish-American mob boss who controlled criminal activity, primarily bookmaking in South Boston, Massachusetts, during the 1960s and 1970s...
. After Killeen was murdered by an enforcer for the Mullen Gang
Mullen Gang
-Gang members:Paulie McGonagle was a Boston mobster and onetime leader of the Mullen Gang, a South Boston street gang involved in burglary, auto theft, and armed robbery. During the war against Donald Killeen and his brothers, McGonagle successfully led the Mullens in a string of shootings which...
, Winter Hill Gang boss Howie Winter
Howie Winter
Howard Thomas "Howie" Winter is an American mobster. He was the second leader of the infamous Winter Hill Gang.-Early life:...
mediated the dispute between Bulger and the remaining Killeens and the Mullens, who were led by Patrick Nee
Patrick Nee
Patrick Nee is an Irish-American immigrant, former member of the Mullen Gang, Vietnam vet, and the bestselling author of the memoir A Criminal and an Irishman; The Inside Story of the Boston Mob-IRA Connection.-Early life:Nee was born in Ros Muc, an Irish language speaking village in the...
. Winter soon chose Bulger as his man in South Boston. Shortly afterward, Bulger became partners with Flemmi.
At this time, the Boston FBI office tried to convince Bulger to become an informant, but he refused.
Disgraced former FBI agent John Connolly (FBI)
John Connolly (FBI)
John J. Connolly, Jr. is a former FBI agent, who was convicted of racketeering and obstruction of justice convictions stemming from his relationship with James J. "Whitey" Bulger, Steve Flemmi, and the Winter Hill Gang...
, who grew up with Bulger in South Boston, always claimed that he reached an agreement with Bulger during a late night meeting inside an unmarked car. According to Flemmi, Bulger became an informant on his own and quickly learned of his partner's secret.
Bulger allegedly told Flemmi that he knew his secret. Flemmi has insisted that he did not know at the time that Bulger was also an informant. Weeks, however, insists that Flemmi's story is untrue. He considers it too much of a coincidence that Bulger became an informant a year after becoming Flemmi's partner. He has written of his belief that Flemmi had probably helped to build a Federal case against him. Weeks has said that Bulger was likely forced to choose between supplying information to the FBI or returning to prison.
However, Flemmi and Bulger were quickly able to turn their informant status to their own advantage. John Connolly, who had been assigned to keep an eye on them, soon came to look up to Bulger and viewed him like an older brother. Federal prosecutors have since stated that Connolly became a member of the Winter Hill Gang, allegedly supplying them with the names of informants and funneling bribes to at least one fellow agent.
In 1979, the U.S. Attorney indicted the leadership of the Winter Hill Gang, including boss Howie Winter
Howie Winter
Howard Thomas "Howie" Winter is an American mobster. He was the second leader of the infamous Winter Hill Gang.-Early life:...
, on extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
, gambling, and racketeering charges. Flemmi and Bulger were both listed as unindicted co-defendants. John Connelly
John Connolly (FBI)
John J. Connolly, Jr. is a former FBI agent, who was convicted of racketeering and obstruction of justice convictions stemming from his relationship with James J. "Whitey" Bulger, Steve Flemmi, and the Winter Hill Gang...
had convinced prosecutors that his two informants were too valuable to prosecute. At that time, Irish-American gangsters were not the FBI's main concern; they wanted to destroy the Patriarca crime family
Patriarca crime family
The Patriarca crime family, also known as the New England crime family and the Providence crime family, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in New England, specifically Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts, and is part of the Italian-American Mafia or "La Cosa Nostra"...
. Then, as now, arrests and trials of Italian-American mobsters garnered far more of the publicity on which the FBI's funding depends. After the conviction of Winter and his associates, the leadership of the Winter Hill Gang devolved on Bulger, who chose Flemmi as his lieutenant. The pair moved the gang's headquarters to the Lancaster Street Garage in Boston's West End.
Taking down La Cosa Nostra their own way
Although Bulger had some dealings with Gennaro "Jerry" AngiuloAngiulo Brothers
The Angiulo Brothers , were the leading Italian-American crime group from Boston's North End, during the 1950s and early 1960s...
, the Patriarca crime family's underboss
Underboss
Underboss is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss...
in Boston, he rarely spoke to the Italians personally, usually using Flemmi as a go-between. Through Vincent, he had become acquainted with his brother's handler H. Paul Rico, and as Vincent succumbed to heroin addiction in the late 1960s, Rico increasingly sought Stephen out for reliable information.
Flemmi was offered the privilege of becoming a made man
Made man
A made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
, as was Johnny Martorano
Johnny Martorano
John James Vincent Martorano also known as "Vincent Joseph Rancourt," "Richard Aucoin", "Nick," "The Cook" and "The Executioner" and "The Basin Street Butcher" , is a former hitman for the Winter Hill Gang in Boston, Massachusetts who has admitted to 20 gang-related killings.-Early life:Johnny...
, another Winter Hill Gang member. However, Flemmi declined the offer from Angiulo and Ilario Zannino
Ilario Zannino
Ilario "Larry Baione" Maria Antonio Zannino was the muscle and chief gambling honcho for Raymond J. Patriarca and the Patriarca crime family. Zannino was said to be the second-highest-ranking figure in the Boston faction of the Patriarca family...
and stayed with the Winter Hill Gang.
At one point, Bulger and Flemmi took out a $200,000 loan from Angiulo. When Angiulo asked them about repayment, Bulger and Flemmi stalled him. Angiulo was infuriated and a serious gang war appeared imminent. However, Flemmi had already been describing the layout of the Angiulo's headquarters, which was inside a Prince Street tenement in the North End, Boston. In 1986, the FBI planted a bug in the building.
The murder of John McIntyre
The second victim was John McIntyre, a 32-year-old drug smuggler of mixed Irish and German descent. Like many of Boston's Irish Americans, he was also an avid sympathizer of the Irish Republican ArmyProvisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
. McIntyre had informed on the Valhalla arms trafficking deal between the Winter Hill Gang and the Provos. Like Barret, McIntyre was lured to the house and killed in the basement. Bulger shot McIntyre in the back of the head with a .22 caliber rifle, killing him instantly. Weeks and Flemmi buried McIntyre's remains just like they had done with Barret.
Relationship with parents
In 1979 Flemmi's mother Mary was mugged in Mattapan, MassachusettsMattapan, Massachusetts
Mattapan is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. Historically a section of neighboring Dorchester, Mattapan became a part of Boston when Dorchester was annexed in 1870. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 36,480...
by a gang of African-Americans, and a photo of her sitting outside her car, on the pavement dazed and bloody, had appeared on the regional Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
wire. This infuriated Flemmi, who remained close to his ailing mother over the years. He felt the need to locate his parents to a nice, low crime neighborhood. After consulting Bulger, he was told that 832 East Third Street, next door to Bulger's brother William, happened to be up for sale. Flemmi's parents' house eventually became a place for him to meet with Bulger, Connolly, and Rico.
Married life
After his return to Boston, Flemmi began a common law marriage with Marion Hussey, a Boston divorcee with several children. With Marion he fathered two children, Stephen and Robert Hussey, and two daughters. He also became the stepfather of two daughters including Debra, from a previous marriage. He bought Deborah Hussey a Jaguar when she turned sixteen, and later he set her up in an apartment in the Back Bay, even as he continued living with her mother in Milton. By the age of seventeen, his stepdaughter had dropped out of high school and gone from working as a waitress in Dorchester to working as a stripper
Stripper
A stripper is a professional erotic dancer who performs a contemporary form of striptease at strip club establishments, public exhibitions, and private engagements. Unlike in burlesque, the performer in the modern Americanized form of stripping minimizes the interaction of customer and dancer,...
and occasional prostitute in Boston's Combat Zone
Combat Zone (Boston)
The "Combat Zone", in Boston, Massachusetts, was the name given to the adult entertainment district in downtown centered on Washington Street between Boylston Street and Kneeland Street. It extended up Stuart Street to Park Square...
.
It is thought that Flemmi, Bulger, and Weeks lured her to the house at 799 East Third Street in South Boston and garrotted her. Her body was then buried in the basement. According to Kevin Weeks
Kevin Weeks
Kevin Weeks is a former mobster of Irish-American descent and a longtime friend and confidant to James J. Bulger, the infamous boss of the Winter Hill Gang, a crime family based out of the Winter Hill neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts.After his arrest and imprisonment in 1999, he became a...
,
Relationship with the FBI
Rico first recruited Flemmi as an informant in 1965.In 1997, shortly after the Boston Globe disclosed that Bulger and Flemmi had been informants, former Bulger confidant Kevin Weeks met with Connolly, who showed him a photocopy of Bulger's FBI informant file. In order to explain Bulger and Flemmi's status as informants, Connolly said, "The Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
was going against Jimmy and Stevie, so Jimmy and Stevie went against them." According to Weeks,
Arrest and imprisonment
In December 1994, Connelly informed Bulger and Flemmi that several imprisoned Jewish-American bookmakers had agreed to testify to paying them protection money. As a result, sealed indictments had come from the Department of JusticeUnited States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
and the FBI was due to make arrests during the Christmas season. In response, Bulger fled Boston on December 23, 1994, accompanied by his common law wife
Common Law Wife
"Common Law Wife" is a song by the funk band Parliament. Recorded in 1972, it was released as a bonus track on the 2003 reissue of the album Chocolate City...
, Catherine Greig.
According to Kevin Weeks,
Flemmi, however, chose to remain in Boston and was swiftly taken into custody and incarcerated at the Plymouth County
Plymouth County, Massachusetts
Plymouth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of 2010, the population was 494,919. Its county seats are Plymouth and Brockton...
House of Correction. He believed he had protection, but not immunity.
With his lawyer, Flemmi planned to prove through the testimony of his self and others, that he had indeed had protection from the FBI, Judge Wolf would have no choice but to throw out the entire indictment. Stephens' problem was that he couldn't really come clean. Without immunity, he couldn't admit to killings he hadn't been charged with. And by the time Stephen took the stand, in August 1998, John Martorano had already started outlining the details of almost twenty murders he'd committed. Many of his murders had been done at the direction of Bulger and Stephen, who had paid him more than $1 million during his years as a wanted fugitive between 1978 and 1995. To many questions about the murders Flemmi was involved in, he pled the Fifth Amendment
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...
.
In 1999 Mary Flemmi died, and two of Stephen's illegitimate sons, borne by Marion Hussey, decided to case the Winter Hill Gang's old headquarters on East Third Street. They discovered $500,000 in cash which they spent over a period of a six-month shopping spree, as one of them later testified. The families of John McIntyre, Debra Davis, Brian Halloran, and Wimpy and Walter Bennett
Walter Bennett
Walter Bennett was a professional footballer who won the 1899 and 1902 FA Cup finals with Sheffield United. He also played on the losing side in the 1901 FA Cup final...
all filed civil suits against the U.S. Government, claiming that the FBI's protection of Bulger and Flemmi had resulted in the murders of their loved ones. In January 2003, Flemmi's brother Michael, then a retired Boston Police officer, pleaded guilty to selling a load of Stephen's stolen jewellery for $40,000.
The major witness against Flemmi was William St. Croix, formerly known as William Hussey, Stephen's illegitimate son born to his common-law wife Marion Hussey. St. Croix had turned against his father after learning that Flemmi and Bulger had strangled his half-sister, Deborah Hussey. In October 2003, Flemmi pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Boston to 10 counts of murder. He made the decision as a part of a deal to reduce the sentence for his brother Michael Flemmi, who is not scheduled to be released from prison until September 5, 2011.
In November, Flemmi's friend Frank Salemme
Frank Salemme
Francis P. Salemme [Salemone], also known as "Cadillac Frank" and "Julian Daniel Selig" , is a Boston, Massachusetts mobster who became a hitman and eventually the boss of the Patriarca crime family of New England before turning government witness.-Early years:In 1957, while in prison, Salemme...
led police to the Hopkinton's Sportsmen's Club in Hopkinton, Massachusetts
Hopkinton, Massachusetts
Hopkinton is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, just under 30 miles west and south of Boston. The town is best known as the starting point of the Boston Marathon, held annually on Patriots' Day in April, and as the home of computer storage firm EMC Corporation.For geographic and demographic...
, where he said he and Flemmi had buried the bodies of Wimpy and Walter Bennett
Walter Bennett
Walter Bennett was a professional footballer who won the 1899 and 1902 FA Cup finals with Sheffield United. He also played on the losing side in the 1901 FA Cup final...
in 1967. After days of digging, the police abandoned the search, claiming that the topography of the area had been changed by the dumping of millions of tons of dirt from the Big Dig
Big Dig
The Central Artery/Tunnel Project , known unofficially as the Big Dig and as the Big Dug since completion, was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the Central Artery , the chief highway through the heart of the city, into a 3.5-mile tunnel...
, the $15 billion public works project in downtown Boston.
On the same day that Kevin O'Neil and Kevin Weeks were arrested in Boston, Flemmi pleaded guilty in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
state court to the 1981 murder of business tycoon Roger Wheeler.
In April 2005, Flemmi was deposed in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
by a group of lawyers representing the families of his and Bulger's victims, who are currently suing the federal government. Among other things, he testified that he and Bulger had been paying off six FBI agents in the Boston office. Those who could be reached issued denials. Flemmi also named Patrick Nee
Patrick Nee
Patrick Nee is an Irish-American immigrant, former member of the Mullen Gang, Vietnam vet, and the bestselling author of the memoir A Criminal and an Irishman; The Inside Story of the Boston Mob-IRA Connection.-Early life:Nee was born in Ros Muc, an Irish language speaking village in the...
as the other gunman, along with Bulger, in the 1982 murders of informant Edward Brian Halloran and his friend Michael Donahue. Nee responded to The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
by calling Flemmi a "punk" and saying that "He should do his time like the rest of us." He was also questioned at length about the 1985 murder of his stepdaughter, Deborah Hussey, but declined to comment from the advice of his lawyer.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a federal law enforcement agency subdivision of the United States Department of Justice and is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system. The system also handles prisoners who committed acts considered felonies under the District of Columbia's...
, he is not in federal custody as of 2011 and his release date is unknown.
In popular culture
Flemmi is the basis of Frank CostelloFrank Costello
Frank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...
's chief enforcer and contract killer "Arnold French" portrayed by Ray Winstone
Ray Winstone
Raymond Andrew "Ray" Winstone is an English film and television actor. He is mostly known for his "tough guy" roles, beginning with that of Carlin in the 1979 film Scum and as Will Scarlet in the cult television adventure series Robin of Sherwood. He has also become well known as a voice over...
in the 2006 crime thriller The Departed
The Departed
The Departed is a 2006 American crime thriller film, fashioned as a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan...
. The character reenacts the murder of his stepdaughter Deborah Hussey, although in the film the character based on Deborah Hussey is said to be his wife. It shows a brief scene where he garrotes his character wife, the same way he murdered his stepdaughter.
Murder victims
- James Sousa
- Edward G. ConnorsEdward G. ConnorsEdward G. Connors also known as "The Bulldog" and "Eddie", was an associate of the Winter Hill Gang and successful bar owner in Revere, Massachusetts.-Biography:...
- Tommy King
- Richard CastucciRichard CastucciRichard J. Castucci was an Italian-American member of the Boston Winter Hill Gang who owned several strip clubs and was involved in illegal gambling...
- Roger Wheeler
- Debra Davis
- John Callahan
- Arthur Barrett
- Deborah Hussey
- John McIntyre
- Edward Bennett
- Walter Bennett
- William Bennett
- Richard Gasso
- Stephen Hughes Jr.
Further reading
- Deadly Alliance: The FBI's Secret Partnership with the Mob by Ralph Ranalli
- FBI, CIA, the Mob, and Treachery by Rodney Stich
- The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century by Howie Carr
- Brutal; My Life in Whitey Bulger's Irish Mob, by Kevin WeeksKevin WeeksKevin Weeks is a former mobster of Irish-American descent and a longtime friend and confidant to James J. Bulger, the infamous boss of the Winter Hill Gang, a crime family based out of the Winter Hill neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts.After his arrest and imprisonment in 1999, he became a...
.