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Flemmi describes chilling murder of girlfriend

E-mail|Link|Comments () July 10, 2009 11:14 AM

By Shelley Murphy, Globe staff

Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi testified today that it was "a very traumatic moment in my life" when he watched his girlfriend being strangled by his longtime partner in crime, James "Whitey" Bulger.

Yet, 75-year-old Flemmi showed no emotion as he described in chilling detail the Sept. 17, 1981, murder of 26-year-old Debra Davis during a civil trial in US District Court.

Flemmi said he brought Davis to a vacant South Boston home he had purchased for his parents. Then Bulger, who was hiding in a bedroom, snuck up behind Davis and grabbed her by the throat.

"There was a struggle going on there," Flemmi said matter-of-factly.

"What did you do?" asked US District Judge William G. Young, who is presiding over the nonjury trial.

"I didn't do anything," Flemmi said.

"You watched it?" asked Young.

"Yes," said Flemmi.

Flemmi said Bulger brought Davis down to the basement with his hands still wrapped around her throat.

Flemmi said he didn't know if Davis was still alive at that point, but he recalled telling Bulger, "Let her pray."

Later Flemmi said they extracted Davis's teeth to make it more difficult to identify her remains, wrapped her body in plastic, and dumped it in the trunk of a car.

They buried her body in an unmarked grave alongside the Neponset River in Quincy.

Davis's sister Eileen, who came into the courtroom during Flemmi's gruesome testimony, cried softly.

It was the second day on the witness stand for Flemmi, who was testifying in a trial over wrongful death suits against the government brought by the Davis family and the families of two other victims, Deborah Hussey, 26, killed in 1985, and Louis Litif, 45, killed in 1980.

The families allege that the FBI is responsible for the slayings because agents failed to control Bulger and Flemmi and protected them from prosecution because they were longtime FBI informants.

Justice Department lawyers contend the FBI had no obligation to control the gangsters and did not know they planned to kill the victims.