"Whitey" Bulger Told By Witness He Was Going to Kill Him
By MICHELE McPHEE
BOSTON July 2, 2013
William Shea was a South Boston cocaine dealer. He made his money. He paid tribute to the neighborhood's accused mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger and in 1986 he wanted out.
There was one problem, Shea testified at Bulger's trial today. Bulger didn't want to let him out, he said.
Shea was the latest confessed hitman, bookie or drug dealer to testify at Bulger's trial. The aging alleged mob boss is accused if 32 crimes, including 19 murders. Shea's testimony appeared to be intended to bolster the prosecutor's contention that Bulger was feared because of his reputation for ruthlessness.
"I told him I'm not looking for a pension plan,'' Shea told the court. "I put my a**, my butt, on that street for six or seven years. It was time for me to cash in."
Bulger said no, Shea recalled on the stand.
"He said it wouldn't run without you, Bill,'' Shea told the court.
But Shea was wiling to take his chances, he said. He went to Florida and didn't plan on coming back, until he got a call from Bulger.
"I angered him,'' Shea told the court. "He called me. He said, 'If you don't come up, I'll come down there."'
"Was he coming down there to vacation with you?" Kelly asked.
"No,'' Shea answered. "I came back."
When he came back he saw a side of his longtime friend "Jim" that he had heard about, but had never seen face-to-face. Shea told the court Bulger had "tell signs that he was getting aggravated" and those signs were showing.
"He makes it very, very clear I cannot leave,'' Shea told the court. "Now I'm back, I listen to the riot act."
It has been 30 years since Shea last saw Bulger and he still glanced at his old boss nervously in court today. Sometimes when Kelly asked a question, Shea answered it by addressing "Jim."
And when asked to point to Bulger in the court, Shea smiled and said: "He's that young fella right there in the green shirt."
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