Tom Foley
In this book, John Sedgwick and I have made every effort to tell the exact truth about what happened in the Bulger investigation. While this book has largely been drawn from my memory of the case, my recollection has been well buttressed by a six-hundred-page, heavily detailed account that I set down at the time, as the events were unfolding. I have also gone through thousands of pages of court documents, other contemporaneous records, and published accounts to fill out my recollections of what happened. Wherever possible, the dialogue in Most Wanted has been drawn from written sources, and where it has not been, I have done my best to recall exactly what was said. Because the Bulger investigation began over twenty years ago, is extremely complex, and still continues, I can’t guarantee that all the quotes are verbatim. But they are always true to my understanding of the speakers and to my knowledge of the facts.
It is difficult to name the many people who have helped me in my life and career, but there are some who deserve special recognition. It was my honor to work with professionals like Fred Wyshak, Dan Doherty, and Steve Johnson. No account anywhere, anytime, can give them the true recognition they deserve. These committed professionals put their lives and careers on the line, following an unpopular path and working under enormous pressure. It was the skills and personal commitment of Danny and Steve, who met with all of the victims’ families to keep them informed as best as possible of the developments in the case. It was Fred’s skills as an outstanding attorney that guided us through the legal minefields that seemed to change each day. My gratitude, appreciation, and respect for them cannot be put into words. I want to add a special thanks to Steve Johnson.
There were many others who played key support roles that I would like to mention. Special Agent Jim Marra, Inspector General’s Office, joined us late in the investigation, but his involvement proved invaluable in getting the investigation to its final level. Jim Marra will always have my respect and admiration for his courage, hard work, and commitment. Dave Lazarus and Sandy Lemanski, IRS; Brian Kelly, USAO; Sam Buell, USAO; and Tom Duffy, Mark Caponette, Darlene Decaire, MSP, all played important roles. Mike Von Zampt, Florida assistant state attorney, for his courage, determination, and commitment in taking on a prosecution that was not encouraged or popular with federal authorities. We received outstanding support from Dan Doherty’s agency, the Drug Enforcement Administration, by committing Danny full-time to the case and applying DEA resources. Thank you to DEA SACs John Gartland, Mark Trouville, and Vince Mazzilli, along with ASAC Jack Mahoney.
The investigators’ hard work and dedication brought about this successful investigation but not without a price. Not only did this burden fall on these investigators and prosecutors, but also on their wives and families, who had to live with the consequences of our work resulting in long hours, nights, and weekends; missed holidays, birthdays, Little League games, school functions, and numerous other events where they had to act like two. The calls in the middle of the night, the worry about our well-being, the years of our frustration and the appearance that our likelihood to succeed was minimal all took their toll. Thank you to Marguerite, Marie, Mary, Joan, Carrie Marie, Bette Jeanne, and the families of others who worked on this investigation, for without their understanding and support we would not have been successful. I want to thank my three children—Kellianne, Patrick, and Mike—for their understanding that I could not always be there and for their support and encouragement.
I want to thank my friend Detective Lieutenant Kevin Horton for all of his support and friendship over the years. Kevin and I recently lost a close friend and mentor. Detective Lieutenant Pat Greaney passed away but his presence will always be felt. Pat was not only a true professional but also a very close friend. I also want to thank Deputy Superintendent Lt. Col. Brad Hibbard for his loyalty, dedication, and support during my term as the Superintendent.
Thank you to Cols. Charles Henderson and John DiFava for your confidence and support over many difficult years. I have utmost respect and admiration for former Massachusetts attorney general Tom Reilly for his commitment and courage. His early support and encouragement were critical in getting this investigation off the ground.
This book addresses some of the court hearings that the families of the victims of Bulger, Flemmi, and the FBI had to endure. They have been tortured and ridiculed in a manner that might be even worse than their loved ones have suffered. The Department of Justice continues its legal maneuvering to avoid responsibility. They have tried to discredit witnesses who have already been brought before the court and established as reliable by other prosecutors from the same Department of Justice. Their legal machinations have been shameful, relying on technicalities and personal attacks. More than three federal court justices have ruled against the government in favor of the families. Yet the DOJ continued to appeal some of these findings. The same DOJ that ignored the law for years that brought about this embarrassment now wants to hide behind the law to avoid responsibility. Congressman Stephen Lynch has filed a bill to compensate the victim’s families where the courts don’t. As frustrating as this is, that a bill has to be filed to deal with this inequity, and as frustrating as it is we do not have a Department of Justice that can see what we are all seeing, I am still confident that some aspects of the system still work because of the people like those who brought this case forward against all odds.
As a novice writer I relied upon some talented people. In 1999, the book Black Mass was written by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill. It was the most accurate account at that time about the ongoing Bulger investigation. When they wrote their book we were still actively engaged in the investigation. Steve Flemmi’s son, Billy Hussey, was furious that his father had killed his stepsister, Debbie Hussey. As a result in 2000 we traveled down to Florida where Hussey turned over two large suitcases loaded with numerous weapons from the Bulger arsenal. Dan Doherty had scheduled the DEA jet to bring us back to Boston but it was rerouted to an emergency. So we had to travel via commercial airlines. On board, Danny and I struggled to lift one of the suitcases into the overhead luggage bin. As we did so we looked down and saw a passenger reading Black Mass. He never was aware how close he really was to the story he was reading. I met with Lehr and he provided me direction, encouragement, and an introduction to his agent Dan Conaway from Writers House. I am grateful for his support and his advice.
Dan Conaway has been an outstanding guide and advocate for this book. His vision and knowledge of the business has made this book possible. In finding an author to work with, Dan recommended an accomplished author, John Sedgwick. Often Dan served as a sounding board and voice of reason, steering us through the process into the hands of our editor, Matthew Benjamin, and the group at Touchstone. It has been a pleasure to work with a real professional like Matt and everyone at S&S.
I want to thank John Sedgwick for his hard work and dedication to this book. John is a professional in his field and is committed to his work. This is a very complex and lengthy story that offered so many challenges in being able to put it on paper in a way that is understandable to the reader. John has met those challenges and has produced an outstanding piece of work. Thanks, John, for your effort and understanding.
Thanks to Dave Boeri for his technical help and advice in putting this book together. Dave was one of the few courageous Boston reporters who aggressively pursued this investigation over many years.
Last but not least I want to thank my parents, John and Roberta, for all the love, support, and encouragement over the years. My father passed away in 2009 but his concern and advice was greatly appreciated throughout my career. I have been fortunate to have parents that have supported me the way mine have.
John Sedgwick
I’d first like to thank Colonel Foley—Tom to me now—for opening up his life, thoughts, and feelings to me, so that I could gain an understanding of his experience on a case that, for its depth and complexity, would otherwise have seemed utterly impenetrable. I depended heavily on his own six-hundred-page account, and on extensive—he might say endless—interviews about just about every aspect of his work. I cannot thank him enough for entrusting his story to me; few things can be more frightening then letting someone else tell your tale. I’d also like to thank my own inimitable agent, Dan Conaway, of Writers House, for assembling this project and then working so hard to see it through. Thanks, too, to all the good people at Touchstone, but especially Matthew Benjamin, who has been an astute editor, reliable partner, and peerless champion of this book from the first. For all this, he has my boundless gratitude.
Beyond Tom’s own writing, and his spectacularly detailed recollections, I have turned to a few books in what is now a sizeable library of Whitey-ology to round out his account. One is The Underboss, about the rise and fall of the Boston mafioso Jerry Angiulo, by the Boston Globe investigative reporters Gerard O’Neill and Dick Lehr; it helped establish the context for Whitey’s own operation. Another is O’Neill and Lehr’s indispensable Black Mass, which stands as both encyclopedia and Bible for all things Whitey. And Kevin Weeks’ memoir, Brutal, written with Phyllis Karas, offered important insights into Whitey’s mind and capacity. And finally John Martorano’s powerful memoir, Hitman, written with Howie Carr; it provided a useful angle on the case, in detailing the life of another deadly mobster whose criminality interwove with Whitey’s.