Opinion ID: 201862
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: News Reports of FBI Misconduct

Text: 15 As early as March 1996, Boston newspapers reported possible FBI complicity in the Callahan murder. A March 1996 article reported that Callahan, Bulger, and Flemmi had asked Halloran to kill Wheeler; Callahan told Halloran that Martorano had killed Wheeler with Flemmi's help; investigators were probing whether the Wheeler, Halloran, and Callahan murders were related; and sources and published reports have long said that Bulger was an informant for the FBI. Ralph Ranalli, The Jai Alai Murders, Boston Herald, Mar. 10-11, 1996. A July 1997 article stated that the FBI kept using Bulger and Flemmi as informants even though they were suspects in the murders of Wheeler, Halloran, and Callahan. Ralph Ranalli, FBI Used Whitey Despite his Ties to Three Murders, Boston Herald, July 7, 1997. A December 1997 article reported that federal court hearings will probe whether FBI agents and federal organized crime prosecutors violated any federal laws or guidelines in the way they handled informants like Bulger and Flemmi, and that Florida police investigating the Callahan murder are hoping [the] hearings . . . will lead to a break in the case. Ralph Ranalli, Police Reopen Mob Murder Probe, Boston Herald, Dec. 15, 1997. 16 National television broadcasts reported similar information. On March 15, 1998, the broadcast CNN Impact reported that Bulger and Flemmi were FBI informants and that possible connections existed between Bulger and Flemmi and the murders of Wheeler, Halloran, and Callahan. On May 10, 1998, the television program 60 Minutes reported that Flemmi stated that the FBI gave Bulger and him free reign to commit just about any crime. The broadcast also referred to the Callahan murder and stated that the FBI might have allowed [Bulger and Flemmi] to get away with murder.