A prosecutor and a defense lawyer presented jurors with dueling portraits of accused Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger on Wednesday: Was he a "hands-on killer" and top FBI informant or a small-time gangster who never squealed to the feds?
Nearly two decades after Bulger went on the lam, his federal racketeering trial is finally under way. The 83-year-old head of the Winter Hill Gang faces 32 counts, including 19 murders and accusations of money laundering, extortion, weapons and drugs.
In opening statements, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kelly described Bulger as a cold-blooded kingpin who corrupted law-enforcement officials and controlled a crew of criminals who "ran amok" in Boston for nearly 30 years.
"It's a case about organized crime and public corruption," Kelly said.
"At the center of all the murder and mayhem is one man...James Bulger," he added.
The prosecutors described several murders and said Bulger didn't shy from violence.
"He did the dirty work himself," Kelly said, calling him a "hands-on killer."
The accusation that may have really stung Bulger, though, was about spilling secrets — not blood.
"Bulger was one of the biggest informants in Boston," Kelly said.
Even though the FBI has acknowledged that Bulger worked for the agency, he has denied it. And he hopes to convince jurors that he never broke the code of the streets.
"The evidence will show Bulger was never an informant," defense lawyer J.W. Carney said in his opening.
