Boston mob boss 'Whitey' Bulger says man in prison for 32 years is innocent

BOSTON, April 7 (UPI) -- Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger has offered to help a man who has spent 32 years in prison protesting his innocence in a 1980 shooting, lawyers say.

A court filing last Friday in Fred Weichel's case included eight handwritten letters from Bulger, the Boston Globe reported. In the letters, to an unidentified Weichel supporter, Bulger said the real killer sought his advice during an encounter in a South Boston bar about a young boxer, Bobby LaMonica, who was angry because the two had been involved in a street fight.

"If you don’t get him first I’d say he will get you -- he’s dangerous -- so again kill him and it’s over," Bulger said he told the man, someone he described as a buddy of Weichel. "And also never -- never repeat this conversation to anyone -- my only warning -- you know what will happen if you do -- he understood.”

LaMonica was shot outside his Braintree apartment. Weichel was identified as the shooter by a teenage witness who saw the gunman running away.

Bulger offered to give a sworn statement to Weichel's lawyers. But he said one thing he will not do is identify the real killer.

“I will not reveal his name -- can’t do that against my standards -- can only hope he would be brave enough to come forth,” he said.

Bulger, who was arrested in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2011 after years as a fugitive was sentenced last year to two consecutive life terms in federal prison. In his letters, Bulger, 84, said that if Weichel's lawyers want a statement they should move quickly because of his heart problems.

[Boston Globe]