Judge: FBI liable for slaying of two men allegedly killed by Bulger gang

By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff

A federal judge ruled today that the FBI was liable for the 1982 execution-style deaths of two men allegedly killed by James "Whitey" Bulger and his associates, saying the government acknowledged in several other criminal cases that the men were killed because a rogue FBI agent told mobsters that one of the victims was an informant.

Judge Reginald C. Lindsay granted a motion for summary judgment in civil lawsuits brought by the widows of Brian Halloran and Michael Donahue. The judge lost his patience with a federal prosecutor who failed to explain why the case should go to trial given the government's admissions.

Lindsay said he will schedule a trial early next year to determine what damages should be received by the widows of Halloran and Donahue.

However, the judge urged Assistant US attorney Andrew Kaplan to tell high ranking officials in the Justice Department to settle the case and several others stemming from the FBI's mishandling of criminal informants.

"Mr. Kaplan please take back to Washington my suggestion that now is the time to settle the case and indeed all of them, " Lindsay said, referring to the remaining civil lawsuits brought by the victims of Bulger and the Winter Hill gang.

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