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Government ordered to pay $1.85 million to families of victims of Bulger, Flemmi

E-mail|Link|Comments () September 30, 2009 07:25 PM

By Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff

A federal judge ruled today that the government should pay a total of $1.85 million to the families of two young women and a man who were allegedly slain by long-time FBI informants James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi in the 1980s.

After finding the government liable in the deaths, US District Judge William G. Young awarded $350,000 to the families of each of the three victims because of the conscious pain and suffering endured by Debra Davis, 26, who was strangled in 1981; Deborah Hussey, 26, who was strangled in 1985; and 45-year-old Louis Litif, who was stabbed and shot in 1980.

In addition, the judge awarded $800,000 to Litif's widow and two children, who were 15 and 20 when he died, for the loss of his financial and emotional support.

The judge found that even though the mothers of Davis and Hussey suffered enormous grief, they weren't entitled to additional damages for the loss of their daughters' companionship, comfort, and emotional support because the women were adults living on their own when they were slain.

In the two-page order, Young said briefs filed by both sides following a bench trial last summer on the wrongful death suits had not changed his mind about a tentative ruling he made in July finding the government was liable for the slayings because of the FBI's mishandling of Bulger and Flemmi.

"The court will issue a full opinion making all findings of fact and rulings of law in due course,'' he wrote today.

Framingham attorney Michael J. Heineman, who represents the Davis family, said the judge's decision was significant because "this is a finding that the FBI has liability for many of the things they did in protecting Bulger and Flemmi over all these years when they knew they were out killing people.''

However, he said, he may appeal the finding that the estate of Davis's late mother, Olga, is not entitled to damages for the mother's loss of her daughter.

Hussey's father, Thomas, of Florida, said he was happy that the government was found liable because "the FBI is definitely responsible for this, no doubt about it,''

A lawyer for the Litifs declined to comment.

Charles Miller, a Justice Department spokesman, said, "We've made no determination as to how we'll ultimately respond."

The families contended that the FBI was responsible for the slayings because it created a dangerous condition by failing to control Bulger and Flemmi and protecting them from prosecution.

The Justice Department said it had no obligation to control the gangsters and did not know they planned to kill the victims.

Bulger, 80, is wanted for 19 murders and has been a fugitive since his 1995 federal racketeering indictment. Flemmi, 75, is serving a life sentence for 10 murders.