Widow suing government over mob killing

REVERE, Mass., June 11 (UPI) -- The widow of a Massachusetts man slain by two gangsters alleges in a lawsuit the FBI failed to take immediate action in the 1976 killing.

Sandra Castucci, 76, alleges FBI officials knew in 1977 that mobsters James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi killed her husband, Richard, but did nothing because the men were FBI informants, The Boston Globe said Thursday.

FBI memos filed in Castucci's case confirm the FBI knew Bulger and Flemmi were suspects in the killing of the Revere, Mass., nightclub owner.

The Globe said the memos also detail how the Winter Hill Gang members attempted to pressure her into handing over control of her husband's popular nightclub, The Squire.

Flemmi testified in the 2008 trial of former FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr. he and Bulger decided to kill Richard Castucci after Connolly informed them Castucci was an informant.

The Globe said U.S. District Judge Reginald C. Lindsay ruled the government was liable for the man's death and the current non-jury trial is to determine the compensation to be awarded to Castucci's survivors.