Kevin Weeks
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Kevin "Two" Weeks (b. March 21, 1956) is a former Irish Mob boss and cooperating witness. His testimony is viewed as responsible for the convictions of John Connolly (FBI) and Stephen Flemmi. Since his release from prison, he has written the bestselling memoir, "Brutal; My Life in Whitey Bulger's Irish Mob" (ISBN 0-06-112269-6).
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[edit] Background
Kevin Weeks was born in South Boston, Massachusetts to a working class family of Irish-American and Welsh-American descent. He was the fifth child in a family of six and grew up in the Old Colony Housing Projects. His father, John Weeks, originally hailed from Brooklyn, New York. His mother, a full-time homemaker, suffered from severe arthritis and went about the family's tenement on crutches.
John Weeks changed tires for a living and later obtained a position with the Boston Housing Authority. When not physically abusing his children, he also trained his sons in boxing and earned extra money by coaching prizefighters.
Throughout high school, Kevin Weeks, was involved in extra curricular activities. When he wasn't boxing he was on a team traveling to swim meets all over New England. He also played basketball and ping-pong.
His memoirs vividly describe how the busing controversy transformed comparatively peaceful South Boston high schools into inner city war zones. Weeks also relates how his fights against African-American gang members eventually led him to lose a post graduation job at a neighborhood high school, thereby scuttling his own chances of attending college.
[edit] Criminal career
In 1976, after he gave up on college, Weeks became a bouncer at a popular neighborhood bar called the Triple O's. This was a frequent hangout of the Winter Hill Gang, an Irish-American crime family which was then bossed by the infamous James "Whitey" Bulger. It was here that Weeks first met Bulger, as well as Bulger's Italian-American partner Stephen Flemmi. Beginning in 1978, Weeks began working for Bulger part-time as muscle and a personal driver. Impressed by the way Weeks was handling himself and genuinely liking him, Bulger decided to bring him in closer than any other associate. Meanwhile, Weeks turned to running a loansharking business on the side.
In 1982, just four years after beginning to work as part of the Winter Hill Gang, Weeks left his legitimate jobs and became a full-time mobster.
[edit] The Halloran murder
On the night of May 11, 1982, Bulger was told the whereabouts of a former associate turned Federal informant, Edward Brian Halloran, alias "Balloonhead." After arriving at the scene, Weeks staked out the Pier Restaurant, where Halloran and construction worker Michael Donahue were dining together. As Donahue and Halloran drove out of the parking lot Weeks signaled Bulger by stating, "The balloon is in the air," over a hand held radio. Bulger drove up with a masked man armed with a silenced Mac 10; Bulger himself carried a .30 caliber carbine. Bulger and the other shooter opened fire and sprayed the Halloran and Donahue's car with lead. Donahue was shot in the head and killed instantly. Halloran lived long enough to identify his attacker as James Flynn, a Winter Hill associate who was later tried and acquitted. Flynn remained the prime suspect until 1999, when Weeks' agreed to cooperate with investigators.
[edit] The Three Murder House
Between 1983 and 1985 Weeks has also confessed to three additional murders; all of which took place between 1983 and 1985. Each killing was carried out at the same house, 799 East Third Street in South Boston.
The first murder was that of Arthur Barret, a safe-cracker and major drug trafficker reporting to Joe Murray (mobster) of Charlestown, Massachusetts. Three years earlier, Barret had masterminded a $1.5 million bank robbery in Medford, Massachusetts. Instead of paying protection to Bulger, Barret had given $100,000 to Frank Salemme, a "made guy" in the Patriarca crime family and close friend of Flemmi. Out of courtesy to Salemme, Bulger held off on shaking Barret down.
In 1983, however, Bulger learned that Barret was involved in selling stolen diamonds. Bulger persuaded Weeks to pose as a diamond fence and lured Barret to a meeting at the house on East Third Street. Bulger then tied him to a chair and spend hours grilling him on the drug business of Joe Murray, whom he intended to shake down. After he had all the information he needed, Bulger shot Barret in the back of the head. Flemmi then cut off his feet and hands and pulled his teeth out with a set of pliers. Weeks covered the corpse with lime and buried him in the basement.
The second murder was that of John McIntyre, a 32-year-old drug runner who, like Barret, reported to Joe Murray. Like many of Boston's Irish-Americans, he was an avid supporter of the Irish Republican Army. In 1984, Bulger and Weeks were collaborating with Winter Hill associate Patrick Nee on an attempt to smuggle seven tons of arms to the IRA aboard the Valhalla, a fishing trawler from Gloucester, Massachusetts. McIntyre was a member of the crew which carried the guns to a secret rendesvous off the Irish coast.
However, the cargo was intercepted by the Irish Navy and the Garda Siochana. The Valhalla's crew was arrested by U.S. Customs agents upon their return to port. Broken under interrogation, McIntyre revealed all he knew and agreed to wear a wire on his associates. Bulger was immediately notified by John Connolly (FBI). On November 30, 1984, McIntyre met with Joe Murray and Patrick Nee on the South Boston waterfront. He was taken to the East Third Street house and turned over to Bulger. Bulger grilled him for hours before offering to smuggle him to South America. Changing his mind, Bulger walked McIntyre to the basement and shot him in the back of the head with a .22 caliber rifle. Flemmi then put his head to McIntyre's chest and reported that he was still alive. Flemmi responded by picking McIntyre up by his hair as Bulger fired five or six more shots directly into his face. Weeks was yet again assigned to digging duty and buried McIntyre's remains.
In 1985, Stevie Flemmi walked into 799 East Third Street with a 26-year-old woman by the name of Debra Hussey. Debra, the estranged daughter of Flemmi's common law wife Marion Hussey, had been working as a stripper in the North End, Boston. Even more serious from Flemmi's perspective, she had also been bringing Black men to the suburban hous Flemmi shared with her mother. To make matters worse, she had threatened to tell her mother about her past affair with Flemmi.
Weeks was in a separate room of the house and did not enter the parlor until he heard a thud. When he did so he saw Bulger on the floor with his arms wrapped around Hussey's throat and legs wrapped around her torso. After Bulger released his grip, Flemmi insisted that she was still breathing. Flemmi then garrotted her with a length of clothesline. Just as in the previous murders inside the house, Flemmi and Weeks buried her remains in the basement.
Debra Hussey was the last person murdered inside the house on East Third Street; six months later, the house was sold. On Halloween weekend in 1985, the three bodies - Barret, McIntyre, and Hussey - were relocated to an isolated gully overlooking the Southeast Expressway in Dorchester, Massachusetts.
[edit] Narcotics
Beginning in the early 1980s Bulger, Weeks, and Flemmi began to partake in the illegal narcotics trade. Their involvement began with shakedowns of major traffickers and branched out into actually micromanaging the New England drug trade. Ironically, they limited their associates to cocaine, hashish, and marijuana and did not want any other drugs on the streets of South Boston. Weeks has stated that, according to Bulger, a cocaine addict can still function, while heroin addicts become "zombies."
A carefully chosen crew of prizefighters under John Shea (mobster) handled most of the work of the drug business. Dealers of heroin and PCP were routinely beaten up and driven out of the neighborhood. Meanwhile, Shea and his associates smuggled large ammounts of cocaine from Colombian and Cuban-American drug cartels based in South Florida.
Beginning in the late 1980s, a joint task force of the DEA, the Boston Police Department, and the Massachusetts State Police set out to bring the Winter Hill Gang down. In 1990, "Red" Shea and his associated were all rounded up and imprisoned. To the disappointment of investigators, Shea and his associates refused to violate the neighborhood code of silence by implicating their bosses.
Meanwhile, Bulger and Weeks listened to reports of the arrests on the radio. Weeks would later describe how the drug trade had been good money while it lasted but how after the arrests, the gang returned to more conventional crimes.
[edit] Mob Boss
On December 23, 1994 Bulger fled Boston ahead of a massive Federal indictment charging him with shaking down bookmakers throughout the Boston Metropolitan Area. Flemmi was arrested less than a month later. The leadership of the Winter Hill Gang then devolved on Kevin Weeks.
For the next five years, Weeks ruled the neighborhood rackets assisted by Kevin O'Neil, his former employer from his days as a saloon bouncer.
Weeks also remained in frequent touch with Bulger, with whom he had several clandestine meetings in New York City and Chicago, Illinois.
[edit] Arrest
On November 17, 1999, Weeks, his partner Kevin O'Neil, and other Winter Hill associates were arrested in South Boston by agents of the DEA and the Massachusetts State Police. The next afternoon, he was presented with a 29-count indictment under the RICO Act. At first refusing to cooperate, Weeks was transferred to a Federal penetentiary in Rhode Island.
[edit] The informant
Imprisoned in Rhode Island, it took about two weeks for Weeks to decide to co-operate with authorities, leading some to dub him "Squeals". He has stated that he was approached by one of his fellow prisoners, a made guy in the Patriarca crime family, who asked him, "Kid what are you doing? Are you going to take it up the a-- for these guys? Remember you can't rat on a rat. Those guys have been giving up everyone for thirty years."[1] In addition, Weeks was also deeply affected by the cooperation of John Martorano, a legendary hit man for the Winter Hill Gang.
He led authorities to six different bodies buried by the Winter Hill Gang, including the triple grave of Debra Hussey, John McIntyre, and Bucky Barrett. He implicated Bulger in the murder of Brian Halloran, as well as agreeing to testify against Stephen Flemmi, Special Agent Connolly, and Whitey Bulger. He was then sentenced to five years in federal prison. Upon his release in early 2005, Weeks was given the option of entering the Witness Protection Program, but, he turned the offer down. He has stated that if anyone were to come after him he'd rather face his problems than hide like a coward.
[edit] Urban legends
Although he is referred to by many in South Boston as "Two" Weeks and "Kevin Squeals", many believe that his testimony was planned by his mentor James "Whitey" Bulger. Many have speculated that he was told by Bulger to give up the bodies' hiding spots and testify against Agent Connolly and Stephen Flemmi. According to this scenario, Bulger and Weeks had known that Flemmi would plead guilty rather than risk the death penalty.
As if to grant a kernel of truth the rumors, Weeks has related how a fugitive Bulger once advised him during a clandestine meeting, "If anything comes down, put it on me."
[edit] Family
Kevin Weeks married his longtime girlfriend, Pamela Caveleri, on April 26, 1980 at the Gate of Heaven Roman Catholic Church in South Boston. They have two sons, Kevin Barry Weeks, to whom Bulger stood godfather, and Brian Weeks. Although the couple has since separated, Weeks continues to describe Pamela as the love of his life.
His older brothers, John and William Weeks, both attended Harvard University and have led productive lives. However, their father was prouder by far of Kevin's position with the Winter Hill Gang and his close relationship with Bulger.
[edit] Current status
Weeks was released from Federal prison in early 2005. After a major bidding war over his memoirs, he chose to collaborate with journalist Phyllis Karas, a former writer for People Magazine. His account of his life with Bulger and Flemmi was published in the spring of 2006 and quickly shot up the bestsellers list.
In a recent interview, he has stated that, were it not for the fact that his face is now recognizable, he would long ago have returned to his old habits.
[edit] Quotes
"Shortly after that, a week or so before my wedding, Louie was found stuffed into a garbage bag in the trunk of his car, which had been stuffed in the South End. He'd been stabbed with an ice pick and shot. 'He was color coordinated,' Jimmy told me. 'He was wearing green under wear and was in a green garbage bag.' At the wedding, when I went around to greet his table, Jimmy pointed to the empty chair beside him and said, 'Say hi to Louie.' Stevie picked up a napkin and made a show of wiping his face. 'He keeps on drinking and it keeps on leaking out of him,' she said, reminding us that Louie had been shot in the head and any drink he might have put in his mouth would pour right out of his face. And they all broke out laughing."[2] --Weeks describing the 1980 murder of Louis Litif, an Arab-American bookmaker from South Boston. The names Jimmy and Stevie refer to Bulger and Flemmi.
[edit] References
- Weeks, Kevin and Phyllis Karas. Brutal; The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger's Irish Mob.
- Shea, John. Rat Bastards; The Story of South Boston's Most Honorable Irish Mobster. ISBN 0-06-083716-0 (Hardcover), ISBN 0-06-083717-9 (Paperback)
