The brother of a woman who allegedly died at the hands of Whitey Bulger said he was sickened that a jury failed to convict the former mob boss in his sister’s death.
“My stomach turned. I was beside myself. I didn’t know what to think,” Steven Davis said Tuesday on TODAY.
Davis said Bulger was responsible for the 1981 strangulation death of his sister, Debra Davis, who was 26 when she was fatally choked for supposedly knowing too much about Bulger’s criminal activities.
On Monday, a Boston jury found Bulger guilty of racketeering and conspiracy based on a sweeping case involving 11 murders, and various extortion and drug trafficking charges. The jury, however, reported “no finding” in Davis’ case.
Bulger, the 83-year-old leader of notorious Winter Hill Gang, will probably spend the rest of his days in prison for his conviction, but that won’t ease Steven Davis' pain.
“I had no part in that. I have my sister’s murder still in limbo there,” Davis told Matt Lauer.
Attorneys for Bulger said they plan to appeal their client’s conviction.
Bulger was once a secret FBI informant who tapped corrupt law-enforcement officials for tips that allowed him to avoid prosecution for decades. His lawyer, Hank Brennan, said he had wanted the trial to bring transparency to all the government corruption that took place, but that court rules prevented his client from presenting a full picture of what happened.
“To get up and simply give a confession served no purpose. He wanted to tell not only the truth but the whole truth,” Brennan told Lauer. “He would have been one of the most compelling witnesses in this case.”
Bulger was scheduled to be sentenced in November. Davis said he’s not sure what he plans to tell the mobster if he gets the chance to face him during the sentencing hearing.
“I’m not even thinking that far ahead yet, I’m still disappointed (in) the evidence that was brought,” he said.
Davis said Bulger’s crimes resulted in enough victims that filled three cemeteries near a home he once owned.
“His condo was so many yards away from this where he could oversee all these cemeteries,” he said. “My sister wasn’t planted there by some act of God. She was put there by him and his cohorts.”