BOSTON, July 8 (UPI) -- A second of James "Whitey" Bulger's former top associates testified against him Monday, alleging Bulger carried out multiple Boston-area gangland killings.
Kevin Weeks, who started as a muscle man in the late 1970s and Bulger groomed to be his replacement running the Winter Hill gang, testified about the first time he and Bulger allegedly killed someone, The Boston Globe reported.
Weeks said Bulger got a tip an associate, Brian Halloran, was giving information to the FBI. When Bulger located Halloran at a restaurant along the waterfront in South Boston, Weeks said Bulger allegedly assembled a hit team that included Weeks, who was to perform surveillance outside the restaurant. Weeks said when he gave Bulger the signal Halloran was leaving the restaurant, Bulger and several others sped up to the restaurant and gunned down Halloran and another man, Michael Donahue, who was not affiliated with any gangs and has been described as an innocent bystander who had offered Halloran a ride home.
"There was a lot of people there, they were diving, running around, they were screaming," Weeks said. "Jim Bulger just started shooting at him. Brian Halloran went down, and Jim Bulger just kept shooting. His body was bouncing on the ground."
Weeks said it was after that incident in 1982 he knew he was a member of Bulger's criminal enterprise for life.
"I was involved in a double homicide, so I knew there was no getting out. I knew I was really in," he said.
Weeks remained a loyal Bulger lieutenant until 1995 when Bulger fled after being charged in the 19-count indictment for which he is now standing trial.
In 1999, Weeks himself was indicted on racketeering charges and faced life in prison. Shortly thereafter, Weeks said he became aware Bulger had actually been an FBI informant all along -- a charge Bulger has steadfastly denied -- and Weeks began cooperating with federal prosecutors.
Weeks served five years in federal prison in exchange for his testimony against Bulger.
Weeks has since co-authored two books about his time in Boston's criminal underworld. Some of the proceeds have gone to benefit Bulger's victims' families as part of a bankruptcy court agreement.
Weeks is the second former Bulger hitman to testify for the prosecution at his trial. John Martorano, who described Bulger and another Winter Hill gang leader, Steve "The Rifleman" Flemmi, as two of his best friends, told jurors three weeks ago he, too, participated in gang killings and other criminal enterprises -- and said it was Bulger's interaction with the FBI that drove him to take a plea deal and testify against him.
