Once feared in Boston, Bulger about to face jurors

BOSTON (AP) — People who believe their family members were killed by reputed gangster James "Whitey" Bulger will be allowed to testify at his murder trial but won't be allowed to describe the emotional impact of losing their loved ones.

Bulger's defense lawyers had sought to limit testimony from relatives of the 19 people he and his cohorts are accused of killing.

Attorney J.W. Carney Jr. argued during a pretrial hearing Monday that the families shouldn't be allowed to give victim impact statements like those given during sentencing hearings.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kelly said they would focus only on factual information, including asking the relatives to identify their loved ones in photos taken after they were killed.

"We do not intend to turn it into a sentencing hearing," Kelly said.

The issue was among more than a dozen pretrial motions heard by U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper on the eve of Bulger's trial. Jury selection is to begin Tuesday.

Bulger, 83, is charged with a long list of crimes, including participating in 19 killings, in a broad racketeering indictment. Authorities say he committed the crimes while he was an FBI informant.

Bulger fled Boston in 1994 and remained one of the nation's most wanted fugitives until he was captured with his girlfriend in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2011.

The judge ruled that Bulger's FBI informant file can be admitted as evidence during the trial. Prosecutors have said the file contains more than 700 pages of documents chronicling Bulger's role as an informant who provided information on the New England Mafia, his group's main rival.

Bulger's lawyers deny that he was an informant but had planned to use his claim that he received immunity from a federal prosecutor as a defense at trial.

The judge rejected that request in an earlier ruling, finding that any purported immunity agreement was "not a defense to the crimes charged."

Kelly, the prosecutor, argued Monday that Bulger's lawyers appeared to be trying to use the immunity defense despite the judge's ruling. He cited the defense witness list, which includes FBI Director Robert Mueller, former Gov. William Weld and U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns, all of whom worked in the U.S. attorney's office in Boston when Bulger claims he received immunity from another federal prosecutor in the office.

"It seems clear to us that they are trying to put that evidence before the jury in some fashion," Kelly said.

Carney, Bulger's attorney, said the defense has "other reasons" for calling the men as witnesses, but he did not elaborate.

The government's witness list includes a collection of notorious gangsters, including Bulger's former partner, Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, who's serving a life sentence after pleading guilty in 10 murders. Former hitman John Martorano, who admitted killing 20 people, also is expected to testify.

Beginning Tuesday, a pool of 675 people will be called for jury duty. Potential jurors will spend Tuesday and Wednesday filling out questionnaires to be used to screen out people with conflicts. Once the pool is winnowed down, potential jurors will be questioned individually.

The judge has said she hopes to complete the selection process Friday, with opening statements from prosecutors and defense attorneys expected June 10.

Twelve jurors and six alternates will be chosen to sit for the trial, expected to last three months. The judge said the jurors' names won't be made public until after they deliver their verdict.

Via Yahoo News!

Boston bombing suspect's family struggles to find burial site

BOSTON (Reuters) - The body of suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev remained in limbo on Monday as his family searched for a cemetery that would accept the remains.

Several Massachusetts cemeteries have refused to bury Tsarnaev, and protesters have staked out the Worcester funeral home holding the body. Despite a plea from the funeral home director, Governor Deval Patrick said on Monday he would not get involved.

The controversy marked a rare period of discord in a state that was largely united after the attacks on one of its marquee events.

Tsarnaev, 26, died in a gun battle with police on April 19, four days after bombs he is believed to have set with his younger brother Dzhokhar killed three people and injured another 264 near the finish line of the world-famous marathon.

Relatives have said they want him buried nearby. Under Islamic law, the body cannot be cremated, a procedure used for criminals including Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

"The whole situation is unprecedented," said David Walkinshaw, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Funeral Directors Association. The state of Massachusetts does not own its own cemeteries, he said, and the federal government has only cemeteries for war veterans.

"The challenge here is that there's no way to demand a cemetery allow for a burial to take place," Walkinshaw said.

Some Massachusetts residents want the body sent back to Tsarnaev's native Russia. William Breault of Worcester told reporters on Monday he had set up a bank account to raise funds to ship the remains.

"I not only don't want to see him buried in Worcester, Massachusetts. ... I don't think he should be buried in the state," Breault told CNN.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said he was not aware that anyone from Russia or Massachusetts had contacted the department about it. "We're unaware of any efforts to coordinate sending his remains to Russia," he said.

Gabriel Gomez, a Massachusetts Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, suggested disposing of Tsarnaev's body in the ocean as was done after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden in 2011.

"Bureaucrats worried about where to bury Boston Marathon terrorist #1. To me, it's simple: he should be buried at sea with Bin Laden," he wrote on his official Twitter account.

UNWILLING TO ACCEPT BODY

Tsarnaev's body was taken to Graham Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Parlors in Worcester last week after spending more than a week at a medical examiner's office in Boston. Several cemeteries have said they would not accept Tsarnaev's body for burial.

Graham Putnam funeral home owner Peter Stefan, chairman of a board that oversees funeral services and embalming in Massachusetts, said he has an obligation to accept the remains.

Stefan has said he would seek help from state officials if he could not find a resting place soon. His work has drawn support from other funeral directors, including Morgan Mitchell, another member of the state board.

"There are funeral directors in Massachusetts who have buried people who have been murderers or child molesters. As professionals, we need to put these things to one side," Mitchell said.

Tsarnaev's uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, said on Sunday that his nephew should be buried in Massachusetts, where he lived. Tsarnaev's parents, ethnic Chechens who returned to southern Russia several years ago, have suggested in various interviews and reports that their son should be buried in Cambridge or returned to Russia.

The Massachusetts governor declined on Monday to get involved.

"This is a family issue ... and the family needs to make some decisions. I understand they have some options. They need to exercise one soon," Patrick told reporters.

Cambridge officials urged the Tsarnaevs to look elsewhere.

"The difficult and stressful efforts of the citizens of the City of Cambridge to return to a peaceful life would be adversely impacted by the turmoil, protests and widespread media presence at such an interment," said Cambridge City Manager Robert Healy in a statement Sunday.

"The families of loved ones interred in the Cambridge Cemetery also deserve to have their deceased family members rest in peace."

By Ross Kerber and Aaron Pressman (Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria in Washington; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Doina Chiacu and Philip Barbara)

Via Yahoo News!

Blast reported at Boston College chemistry lab

Student left the scene of the blast, fire department saysProfessor is talking to emergency workers about chemistry experiment

(CNN) -- Emergency workers are evaluating a Boston College student who was at the scene of a chemistry lab explosion Saturday morning, authorities said.

The Boston Fire Department arrived at the Merkert Chemistry Center at 10:47 a.m. A Twitter post from Boston Fire said the student left the basement lab after the blast, but was found off campus at an apartment. No other injuries were reported.

Meanwhile, the chemistry building was evacuated and authorities were talking to a professor about a chemistry experiment.

CNN

Captured fugitive 'Whitey' Bulger could be taken to Boston Friday

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Captured alleged mobster James "Whitey" Bulger may be moved back to Boston Friday to begin facing the numerous charges of murder and other crimes connected to what authorities say were his days as the leader of the Winter Hill Gang.

Bulger, who vanished in 1995 into lore and became the inspiration for the 2006 Martin Scorsese film "The Departed," was nabbed by the FBI Wednesday night in southern California.

Bulger was arrested with his longtime girlfriend Catherine Elizabeth Greig, 60, who was also charged in the case.

Sporting glasses and a white beard, Bulger appeared relaxed Thursday at a Los Angeles hearing. The FBI says Bulger could be extradited back to Boston as earlier as Friday.

Waiting in Boston will be the indictments he fled in 1995. Bulger, 81, faces 19 counts of murder along with conspiracy to commit murder, extortion, narcotics distribution and money-laundering charges, the FBI said.

Bulger, who was subject of a $2 million FBI reward, had been living in a Santa Monica apartment and was arrested outside it, the FBI said.

Acting on a tip, members of the Fugitive Task Force staked out the residence Wednesday and arrested Bulger and Greig, 60, who was inside the home, said FBI Special Agent Richard DesLauriers. Greig is suspected of harboring Bulger.

Neither put up a fight, authorities said. After the arrests, members of the Fugitive Task Force, which included the FBI and police, searched the apartment.

More than $800,000 in cash, 30 firearms and fake IDs were found in the apartment, the FBI said.

The tipster called the FBI's Los Angeles office on Tuesday, and the information led authorities to the apartment, Martinez said. He would not divulge the city from which the call came.

"We were not aware he was in L.A.," Martinez said of Bulger.

Asked by reporters if it was embarrassing to the FBI that Bulger, who reportedly used an alias, and Greig were hiding in plain sight, Martinez said, "I wouldn't say embarrassing. I would say challenging.

"It's not the first time that a fugitive has evaded justice for many years," Martinez continued. "But he was not able to be successful ultimately."

Federal prosecutors have portrayed Bulger as a violent and dangerous man whose criminal enterprise included gambling, extortion, loansharking, narcotics and the alleged murders of people who got in the way or knew too much.

Tipped off by an FBI agent about an impending racketeering indictment, Bulger disappeared. The search even reached Italy, where a reported sighting of the South Boston crime figure didn't pan out.

The end of the manhunt for one of the nation's most notorious gangsters came within days of the FBI launching a publicity campaign, airing ads about Greig in 14 markets across the country where the couple were known to have ties, authorities said. The arrests were a "direct result" of the media campaign, authorities said.

Some of the allegations go back 40 years, and it is unclear how many potential trial witnesses survive.

Carmen Ortiz, U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said she believes the death penalty is not an option in the federal charges Bulger faces in her district, but that she believes he could face the death penalty for two cases outside the district.

FBI Director Robert Mueller traveled to Boston on Thursday to meet and congratulate staff involved in Bulger's capture. Mueller was an assistant U.S. attorney in Boston in the 1980s, during the height of Bulger's reign.

Bulger -- known to alter his appearance through disguises -- was "considered armed and extremely dangerous," according to his description on the FBI's Most Wanted list. "He has a violent temper and is known to carry a knife at all times."

"He's definitely a legend back there," Jimmy LeBlanc, who lives in California and used to live in Boston, told CNN affiliate KABC. "You've heard all the stories, things he's done, corruption and all that. A lot of people said, 'Oh he's dead,' or maybe they don't want to see him get caught. He might take down the whole FBI if he starts talking."

The agent who tipped Bulger about an impending indictment, John Connolly, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for racketeering and obstruction of justice. Connolly was later also sentenced to 40 years in prison for a mob-related killing of a witness who was about to testify against Boston mob members.

Prosecutors said Connolly was corrupted by his two highest-ranking snitches: Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi.

Bulger's brother William, former president of the Massachusetts State Senate, released a brief comment Thursday. William Bulger stepped down as president of the University of Massachusetts in 2003 after months of pressure by then-Gov. Mitt Romney. He had accused Bulger of being evasive during congressional testimony about his fugitive brother's whereabouts.

"I wish to express my sympathy to all the families hurt by the calamitous circumstances of this case," William Bulger said,. "As the judicial process takes its course, I shall make no further comment at this time. Along with everyone else involved, I look forward to a resolution of this matter."

CNN's Carey Bodenheimer, Michael Martinez, Carol Cratty, Paul Vercammen, Josh Levs and Deborah Feyerick contributed to this report.

CNN

Government-Financed Boston Tea Party Museum Skyrockets in Cost

AP

Shown in this Oct. 9, 2010, photo is the Fort Point Channel harborwalk by the Boston Harbor.

A new museum meant to honor the original Boston Tea Partiers is drawing scrutiny from the new wave of anti-tax activists, after the government-financed project skyrocketed in price. 

The Boston Herald reports that the projected cost of the museum has gone from $9 million in 2006 to more than $27 million. The museum is privately owned, but it's getting an $18 million low-interest loan from the semi-public Massachusetts Convention Center Authority and another $3 million grant from the Boston Redevelopment Authority. 

Though the rest will be fronted by the private company, the public assistance has raised questions among modern Tea Party activists. 

"The government shouldn't be involved in something like this," Christen Varley, with the Greater Boston Tea Party, told the Herald, while praising the project itself. 

But an official with the owner of the site said the project will be "good for the city." 

The old museum reportedly was shut down a decade ago after it was hit by lightning. The projected cost of a new museum rose, though, after a fire in 2007, the Herald reported. Then the credit crisis, and the fact that the owners wanted to build a giant, floating barge, made costs climb even more. 

Click here to read the story on the Tea Party Museum in the Boston Herald.

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The Boston Redsox

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The Boston Red Sox are the professional baseball team that belongs to Boston, and the state of Massachusetts. This team is not only a member of the Major League Baseball but also is a part of American League Eastern Division. This team was founded in the year 1901 as one of the American League’s eight charter franchises and is today among the top teams of the country of all time. The home ground of this team is the Fenway Park and this park was made its official home ground in the year 1912. The name of the Team was chosen by the great businessman and owner of the team at the time, John I. Taylor around in the year 1908. Previously, the team of this city was renowned by the name the “Red Stockings” and to keep it up and connected, the name, the Redsox was chosen. This is among the most dominant teams of the American League. The world series in the United States started in the year 1903 and by the year 1918, this team had won four championships by the year 1918. After that, they went into a draught, one of the longest that any team has ever faced. The fans called this the “Curse of the Bambino” that lasted for eighty six years.

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