Connolly portrayed as corrupt agent

Prosecution says leak provoked '82 slaying

Former FBI agent John Connolly (center) in court yesterday with his lawyers, James McDonald (left) and Bruce Fleisher. (PATRICK FARRELL/ASSOCIATED PRESS POOL)

MIAMI - A jury of Floridians was introduced yesterday to Boston's most notorious gangsters, a dizzying array of slayings, Byzantine betrayals, and a glimpse of a scandal involving the FBI's handling of informants, as testimony began in the trial of former FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr. on murder charges.

A federal prosecutor from Boston portrayed Connolly as a corrupt agent who recruited gangster James "Whitey" Bulger as an informant and then became "just another member of the gang" and leaked sensitive information that provoked the 1982 slaying of Boston business consultant John B. Callahan.

There's no dispute that Connolly was not present when hit man John Martorano killed Callahan, prosecutor Fred Wyshak told jurors. But by leaking information, Wyshak said, it was as if Connolly "loaded the gun and pointed it at Callahan's head."

Connolly, 68, a gray-haired former agent who is serving a 10-year prison term for racketeering, arrived at the Miami-Dade County courthouse in a red prison jumpsuit, leg shackles, and handcuffs.

"I'm innocent," he told reporters when he entered the courtroom minutes later, having changed into a black suit coat, tan pants, white shirt, and maroon tie. He sat at the defense table, alongside three lawyers, his hands free of handcuffs as he took notes on a legal pad while listening intently to opening statements and studying the faces of the eight-woman, five-man jury. The panel includes three alternates, in case any of the jurors need to be excused during a trial that is expected to take up to two months.

Defense lawyer Manuel L. Casabielle of Miami told jurors that the case is not as complex as prosecutors are trying to make it and urged jurors to focus on just the murder charges Connolly faces and not the 30 years of Boston underworld history.

"It is not fair to take a bunch of mud and throw it at someone and hope it sticks," Casabielle said. "That is not justice . . . But that is exactly what they are doing in this case. They are trying to dirty Mr. Connolly. They are trying to attack his character . . . That is not fair. Mr. Connolly is innocent."

Connolly, who retired from the FBI in 1990 after 22 years, is charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder and could face life in prison if convicted. He is accused of warning Bulger and his sidekick, fellow informant Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, that Callahan was being sought for questioning by the FBI and would probably implicate them in the killing of Oklahoma businessman Roger Wheeler.

Callahan lived a double life, Wyshak told jurors. By day, he worked as an accountant and consultant, but at night the Winchester, Mass., resident frequented nightclubs across Boston and socialized with gangsters.

"Like too many legitimate businessmen who like hanging around with gangsters, often they get in over their heads," Wyshak said. "And that's what happened to John Callahan. It cost him his life."

On Aug. 2, 1982, the bullet-riddled body of the 45-year-old father of two was found stuffed in the trunk of his Cadillac in a parking lot at Miami International Airport.

Wyshak told jurors that the man responsible was Connolly, who he said was also leading a double life. Flemmi will testify that Connolly socialized with him and Bulger, went on vacation with Bulger, and took $250,000 in payoffs and kickbacks from them, the prosecutor alleged. "If they made a big score, the defendant got a cut," Wyshak said.

Jurors were not told that Connolly was convicted of racketeering in Boston in 2002 for protecting Bulger and Flemmi from prosecution and warning Bulger to flee before his 1995 federal racketeering indictment.

The defense lawyer said the case hinges on the credibility of three killers, who cut deals with the government in exchange for leniency. Much of their information is secondhand and allegedly was told to them by Bulger, Casabielle said. Bulger, who fled just before his racketeering indictment, remains a fugitive on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.

Offering a chilling account of what to expect in the trial, Casabielle said Martorano will testify that he picked Callahan up at the airport, shot him several times in the back of the head, and left his body in a van overnight. The next day, as he transferred the body into Callahan's Cadillac, Martorano was startled when Callahan began moaning and shot him several more times, finishing the job, Casabielle said.

The government's key witnesses are: Flemmi, 74, who is serving a life sentence for 10 murders; Martorano, 67, who served 12 years in prison for killing 20 people and is now free; Kevin J. Weeks, 52, a gangster-turned-author who admitted assisting Bulger in five murders and is free after serving five years in prison; and former FBI supervisor John Morris, 63, who admitted pocketing $7,000 in bribes from Bulger and Flemmi and received immunity from prosecution.

"Now you might think all these people should go to jail forever," Wyshak told jurors. But, he added, "Don't think just because somebody got a deal they can't be telling the truth."

Wyshak said the prosecution will offer other witnesses, including Michael Solimando Jr., a real estate developer and friend of Callahan's who was handling his estate after his death. Solimando was summoned to Triple O's, a bar in South Boston where Bulger and Flemmi told him that Callahan owed them money and demanded that Solimando pay them $600,000 or his family would be killed, Wyshak said.

As Solimando left the bar, Bulger had a parting message, Wyshak said. "Don't go to the FBI," Bulger said. "If you go to the FBI, I will know in five minutes."

The prosecutor described Connolly as an "informant guru" who was known for recruiting organized crime figures as sources, then crossed the line. The defense countered that the FBI's own guidelines were contradictory. On one hand, agents were called to recruit top echelon informants who were violent criminals. At the same time, the guidelines required that informants not engage in violent activity.

"Guess who got stuck in the middle?" Casabielle said. "The agents that were handling the informants. And one of those agents was John Connolly."