Local Horrors
Well, for those of you who follow the news with any interest, you should be well aware that FBI Most Wanted List long-time Star James “Whitey” Bulger has been taken into police custody, and brought home to Boston. He was boss of Boston’s Irish Mafia during the 1980s until 1995, and Jack Nicholson’s character in the crime drama “The Departed” was based on him. My father, son of an Italian police officer, and a criminal investigations major in college, took particular interest in following the machinations of our local criminal organizations, so I heard this name floating about my childhood, even if I didn’t know what it meant at the time. I remember the AM talk radio shows having a “days on the lam” tally when the dude bolted back in ‘94, until it grew too long to be feasibly counted in days. Eventually, he slid into the rear of the public’s awareness.
He emerged again abruptly when I was entering college in the year 2000. The salt marshes on the Neponset River less than a mile from my house were being excavated to prepare for a new public park, and the workers discovered a body in a shallow grave. The remains were eventually determined to be those of Debra Davis, former girlfriend of Whitey’s henchman, Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, who was presumably whacked when she broke up with him and they needed to tie down the loose end. Those marshes were good spots to explore and nature-walk, and some of the neighborhood kids went down to where I-93 passed over the river to drink or smoke. The thought that I, my family and friends might have treaded over the body of a mob hit made me go a little crosseyed, but it sure made for a hell of a story to tell my new college buddies. My friend Joe, upon hearing my tale, proudly remarked with glee, “Wow, Allison! You live in the GHETTO!”
No, Joe. Not quite. But your awe at my fifth-hand connections to organized crime will be forever remembered with great fondness.
He emerged again abruptly when I was entering college in the year 2000. The salt marshes on the Neponset River less than a mile from my house were being excavated to prepare for a new public park, and the workers discovered a body in a shallow grave. The remains were eventually determined to be those of Debra Davis, former girlfriend of Whitey’s henchman, Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, who was presumably whacked when she broke up with him and they needed to tie down the loose end. Those marshes were good spots to explore and nature-walk, and some of the neighborhood kids went down to where I-93 passed over the river to drink or smoke. The thought that I, my family and friends might have treaded over the body of a mob hit made me go a little crosseyed, but it sure made for a hell of a story to tell my new college buddies. My friend Joe, upon hearing my tale, proudly remarked with glee, “Wow, Allison! You live in the GHETTO!”
No, Joe. Not quite. But your awe at my fifth-hand connections to organized crime will be forever remembered with great fondness.