Former FBI supervisor weeps, describing relationship with Connolly

September 26, 2008 11:34 AM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff

MIAMI -- Retired FBI supervisor John Morris wept today on the witness stand at the murder trial of former FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr., when asked to describe their relationship when both were respected colleagues in the FBI's Boston office in the 1970s.

John Connolly

"He was my best friend,'' said Morris, a 63-year-old white-haired man dressed in a black suit, white shirt, and gray tie. "He was like an older brother. ... I trusted him. I respected him. I trusted him with my life.''

Pulling a white handkerchief from his pocket and dabbing his eyes, Morris said, "I admired him ... he had qualities I didn't have. He was mentally tough. He was physically tough. He was from Boston. He knew the streets. He was charismatic."

The high praise from Morris, an admittedly corrupt former agent whose testimony helped send Connolly to prison for racketeering in 2002, drew no reaction from Connolly. His face remained expressionless as he looked at the former supervisor who went from friend to enemy.

Connolly, 68, is on trial on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the 1982 slaying of Boston business consultant John B. Callahan.

Connolly, once a decorated member of the Boston FBI office, is accused of warning gangsters James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi that Callahan was being sought by the FBI and probably would implicate the gangsters in the 1981 killing of a Tulsa businessman. Callahan's body was found Aug. 2, 1982, in the trunk of his car at Miami International Airport.